The boards are still in the making, delivery schedule is 190515. Crash test will follow later. I still have no idea what is the maximum wattage this board can handle. Nothing fancy here, just normal good quality MCPCB.
I’m getting to like mid power LED these days. Spent few weeks designing the boards and browsing through hundreds of pages of data sheets for a project (that led to this VS35SP36). And as I dug deeper, I like the idea even more. I know the idea of high efficiency lighting is not widely appreciated in BLF but here’s my thoughts to share.
The beauty of mid power LEDs are: low power - low cost - high efficiency - power in numbers. Of course you can get the same output from a single XHP70.2 pushed very hard, but there’s no way you can get the efficiency (wattage/output, cost/module) of multiple mid power LED. I don’t see any benefit for manufacturers to use high power LED in general lighting unless smaller form factor is to be desired. Especially driven at below to max OEM rated current for reliable and predictable L70 life. This explains why more than 80% of Nichia’s LED sales come from low to mid power LEDs. I believe the same also applies to Cree and other manufacturers.
With high power LED, you can get slightly higher efficiency than mid power LED if they’re driven at the same low current. But what’s the point? At whooping 10x - 20x the cost? Development in high power LED is very similar to F1 racing. While mid power LED development is closer to 24 hours Le Mans racing. The latter has more real world applications. It would takes years before F1 technology applied to your public bus transport.
High power LED development from version 1 to version x doesn’t attract manufacturers to get the newest LED. For example the move from 319A to 319B, or XHP70 to XHP70.2 only gain marginal efficiency (within OEM spec), too small to think about for most luminaire manufacturers. Perhaps the most significant gain is the beam quality, not the efficiency. On the other hand, flashlighting is very similar to premium super car world. Anything faster or better, even those with decimal point advantages are still the better choice.
319B vs GR-V3 (both R70), 3000K, Target OTF output = 3500lm:
Nichia NF2W757GR-V3 R70 (6V)
Condition: 1400mA (116,67mA/LED), CC driver, 3S12P
Output = 3959 lm
Efficacy = 162 lm/watt
Wattage = 24,4 watt
LED# = 36pcs
LED cost* = $4,3
*$0,1176/pc @</=10.000pcs MOQ
Nichia NVSW319BT R70 (3V)
Condition: 1400mA (116,67mA/LED), CC driver, 3S12P
Output = 3914 lm
Efficacy = 179 lm/watt
Wattage = 21,5 watt
LED# = 73pcs
LED cost* = $59,86
*$0,82/pc @</=3500pcs MOQ
To get reasonable cost, we have to change existing driver to match 319B performance. To get at least the same efficacy as GR-V3, thus:
Nichia NVSW319BT R70 (3V)
Condition: 5760mA (480mA/LED), CC driver, 3S12P
Output = 4017 lm
Efficacy = 162 lm/watt
Wattage = 24,8 watt
LED# = 19pcs
LED cost* = $15,58
*$0,82/pc @</=3500pcs MOQ
See? There’s no way high power LED will win over mid power LED in terms of cost or efficacy. And FYI, almost all higher current LED driver are more pricey than their lower current output counterparts.
With such low current and power density, GR-V3 can use any good cheap laminated MCPCB reliably. While 319B with its higher power density is about to enter the DTP zone or at least very good laminated MCPCB
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[Clemence]
