SL. No

Features of the Technology

Benefits due to the said features

1

High Power factor-  Unity Power Factor ( Pf values of the 3 versions are 0.98,0.99& 1) (Refer feature sl no:16)

• Very high REAL Power Savings.

• Lower operating cost.

• Ballasts pay by itself for its costs- within the shortest time period.

2

Less than 3% Harmonics (THD-Phase A Current of the three versions are 2.4%, 1.3% & 2.9 %)-[ Note:  IEC standards consider the input supply to be corruption free, even for testing, if its THD is less than 3% ]

• Very high increase in lamp-ballast life. Hence fewer replacements of both.

• Virtually zero distortion caused in the supply line due to lamp-ballast operation. So any number of lamp-ballast units can be safely connected in a single supply line.

• Lesser chances of failure of costly electronic equipments like computers, servers, etc operating in the same supply line as the one in which large numbers of lamp-ballast operates.
  
• Shows the uniqueness of our ballast circuits as none of the existing ballasts have a THD < 3%.

3

Total Harmonic Power- THP is 0.002 Watt, 0.001Watt and 0.004 Watt only for the 3 versions.

• Negligible power loss in the form of decipitated heat from the ballast during normal operation. More power saving, least probability of critical component failure and longer ballast life.

4

No heat sinks are used in our circuits for the transistors, nor are they required during normal operation and during the occurrence of Abnormal conditions and Operational tests for Abnormal conditions.

• Shows that the circuits are stable enough to handle the thermal rise during normal operations and during the occurrence of situations depicted under Abnormal conditions and Operational tests for Abnormal conditions without the aid of any heat sinks.
• Reduction in manufacturing cost as the cost of heat sinks is saved.

5

Unaffected by Mains Transient Voltages of both polarities. Ballast operates without the aid of earthing.(Main transients voltages of either polarity, randomly phased and superimposed on the mains voltage.)

•  Ballast is fully protected against very high voltage transient pulses of either polarity with varying phase angles; without any damage. The lamp-ballast combination is totally undisturbed by these high voltage transient pulses. Result is a remarkable increase in ballast’s operating life. Reaffirms consumer safety.
• Lamp does not flicker and hence steady light is produced even under situations where there is varying transient impulses in the supply line.
• Some of the latest ballasts have earthing to protect itself during the occurrence of “Mains Transient Overvoltage” situation. However, this not only causes problems during installations in large numbers, but also has a failure chance due the earthing getting disconnected by any chance, leaving the ballast-lamp susceptible to transient impulses; thus compromising the safety of the consumer, not to mention the longevity of ballast-lamp.
• For an unearthed ballast like ours, withstanding high voltage transient pulse is very important as this enables it to have practical product application in  an universal manner in various environments, and also easy installation in any operating situation.
• Hence longer lamp-ballast life is ensured than the latest ballasts and universal application of the product is easily possible as retrofit to existing lamps and luminaries.

6

Withstands Abnormal conditions without the aid of safety switch off system. The situations of Abnormal conditions include:
1. The lamp is not inserted.
2. The lamp does not start because one of the cathodes is broken.
3. The lamp does not start although the cathode circuits are intact (de-activated effect).
4. The lamp operates, but one of the cathodes is de-activated or broken (rectifying effect).

• Unlike contemporary ballasts that use a  safety switch off system to protect their ballast circuits during the occurrence of the situations depicted in abnormal conditions, our ballast withstands the situations of abnormal conditions without the aid of a safety switch off system and operate the lamp normally afterwards. This ensures that our ballast  technology ensure 100% consumer safety over contemporary ballasts, as their safety switch off system too can fail in real life during the occurrence of abnormal conditions, leaving the consumer safety compromised.
• Since our ballast circuits withstands the parameters of abnormal conditions without the aid of a safety switch off system , the critical parameters of starting conditions like open circuit voltage, impedance current and cathode current can be easily measured and set according to the specifications of the lamp the ballast is operated with. For contemporary ballasts with a safety switch off system to protect itself during abnormal conditions, the accurate measurement of these parameters of starting conditions is not possible.

• Contemporary ballasts which have a safety switch off system to protect their ballasts circuits fail to comply with the specifications of rectifying effect testing. The test condition specifies that “the lamp operates but one of the cathodes is de-activated or broken”. The clause further specifically says that “If necessary, the lamp shall be started using a suitable starting device”. This simply means that the lamp has to start and operate during the entire duration of test and that the test ballast has to be operational to deliver its output to the lamp.  The latest ballasts in the international lighting market with safety switch off goes to a cut off stage during this test, and hence the lamp connected to it does not start and operate.
• Our ballast circuits starts and operates the lamp during this difficult “rectifying effect” state, in both rectifier polarities, at even 110% of the rated voltage, and withstands this adverse situation without any damage to itself or to others. 
• For our ballasts, even when these situations of abnormal conditions occur at 110% of the rated input voltage, consumer is fully protected and ballast and lamp are preserved without failure or damage of any sort. Hence no loss is incurred to the consumer in any form during the occurrence of these situations when our ballast is operating.
• Heat sink is not required for transistors even during abnormal conditions testing. This shows the stability of the circuitry.

7

Withstands situations depicted in Operational tests for Abnormal conditions without the aid of safety switch off system. The situations include:
1. Removal of lamp.
2. Lamp fails to start.

• Contemporary ballasts with a safety switch off system goes into a safety cut off mode during the occurrence of these situations  and won’t recognize when the lamp has been re-connected back to it, and hence would require a line reswitch on to operate the lamp when its connected back. For the latest ballasts, that has either “Automatic restart after lamp replacement” features or “Safety switch-off” or both, go into a cut of state during the occurrence of Lamp fails to start situation, and the ballast won’t be delivering the output to the cathodes. They restart the lamp when its connected back to the ballast, on line re-switch on. If these ballasts are in a safety switch off state, it would require a line re-switch on to detect the lamp when the lamp is connected back to it. This hampers the practical on-field application of the product as when the consumer replaces a faulty lamp with a new one without switching off the input supply to the ballast, these contemporary ballasts would not automatically detect the lamp if the consumer does not perform a line re-switch on, and as a result they might end up believing that the ballast has failed, where as it is actually at that time only in a cut off state. This will end up negating the brand image of the ballast.
• Our ballast circuits withstand these situations and no line re-switch on is required for it to operate the lamp when its connected back to it, as it automatically detects when the lamp is connected back to the ballast circuit, and then operate it normally. This is a practical product specification that is highly useful in the consumer end. Further, it also shows that the ballast detects by itself when the lamp is connected to it and when not, and act accordingly, thereby preserving both the lamp and the ballast and also ensuring the consumer safety.

8

Ideal operating conditions
( Lumen factor of 0.9 + for all versons. Lux / watt as high as 53. ).

* The reference Lamp used for testing all the 3 versions of the Electronic Ballast Technology is 4 feet long 40 Watt T12 Fluorescent Lamp. Rated Colour of the lamp is 6500K and Rated Lumen Flux is 2400 Lumens.
Ballast Efficacy Factor is 2+ for all the 3 versions.

• Input power drawn by the lamp-ballast combination is in line with the rated wattage of the lamp and the lamp-ballast combination. Hence longer lamp life is assured.

• Highly efficient lamp-ballast combination gives more lux/watt without compromising on any critical parameters like Pf, THD, starting parameters, cathode current etc. Better lighting solution all around by itself and with any luminary.

• Operating / running cost is much reduced.

• This type of Fluorescent Lamp is the basic one with a cold cathode and is neither High Efficiency (HE) variety nor High Output (HO) category. Our ballast technology has Non-preheat starting more and hence, with a HE or HO Lamp, the lamp efficiency, power saving and Lumen output (LPW) will be much higher.   

9

Ballasts complies in full to the Starting Conditions parameters-(Our ballast technology has non-preheat starting mode).
Complies with the stipulated values of 1. open circuit voltage, 2. impedance current, 3. cathode current as specifed in the relevent lamp data sheet. ( Please read explanations to starting conditions from the test reports)

• Non- preheat starting mode ensures smooth and quick instantaneous lamp starting without repeated attempts to start lamp.   Lamp quickly passes through the glow current stage of discharge to full arc stage. Unduly high and/ or long lasting glow discharge current is not present during starting. This prevents excessive”lamp-end” blackening that leads to early lamp failure; thereby preserving the lamp and ballast it operates for a much longer period of time.  It has many advantages like longer lamp life, least lamp failure etc in comparison to “Current / Voltage controlled Pre-heat starting mode” of lamp starting as followed by many a contemporary ballasts.

• The critical difference between our ballast technology and others is the fact that we can uninterruptedly measure the parameters of “starting conditions” like “Open circuit voltage”, “Impedance current”, and “Cathode current” for our ballast technology and ascertain it’s conformity to the specifications of the same as detailed in the lamp data sheet of the lamp it operates with. Contemporary ballasts with the either ““Current / Voltage controlled Pre-heat starting mode”  or “Non-preheat starting mode”, which has a safety switch off feature in its circuit to protect it during the occurrence of the situations depicted in “Abnormal conditions” or “Operational tests for Abnormal conditions”, have difficulty in measuring and controlling the parameters of starting conditions that are mentioned above, and as a result their circuits cannot be fine tuned to deliver ideal starting conditions to the lamp it operates with.
• Our ballast circuits, with non-preheat starting mode, and with the ability to withstand all the parameters of abnormal conditions without the aid of a safety switch off/ cut-off feature, deliver ideal starting conditions as requisite for “non-preheat starting mode”, clearly demarks its advantages over the latest ballasts in the global markets.

• This is the key feature that ensures universal application of our ballast technology. The parameters of the starting conditions are the ones to be matched for any ballast circuit, with that of the lamp it operates with, to ensure longer lamp-ballast life. The principles of operation of Linear Fluorescent Lamps are the same irrespective of the wattage or the input line voltage at which it operates. Since we can uninterruptedly measure the parameters of “starting conditions” like “Open circuit voltage”, “Impedance current”, and “Cathode current” for our ballast circuits, these 3 versions of ballast circuits developed for perfectly compatible operation with one wattage and operating voltage of LFL can be “fine tuned” or directly “customized” in a cost effective manner (by just adjusting the values of the components and coils in the circuitry) with ideal starting conditions, in accordance with the requirements of the lamp it operates with, all the while maintaining key performance features, for perfectly compatible operation with all the different wattages of LFL’s, and different input line voltages as in use around the world. This is evident from the fact that we have presented three different versions with similar key features, but yet delivering varied test results (including different reading for the parameters of starting conditions) as evident from the BMI snap shots and test results, showing the versatility of the circuits, all the while maintaining the common DNA (when it comes to critical performance features and results like THD, THP, PF, Cf etc), and this by itself demonstrates the scalability of the circuits and their integrity.
• Adequate cathode current is provided to ensure quick start at low voltages (as low as 150/125 volts).

10

Compliance to Maximum Current in Any lead to a Cathode.

• Lamp can start and operate normally even at reduced starting voltages (as low as 125/150 volt AC).

• Excessive”lamp-end” blackening is reduced considerably. Lamp life is appreciably extended as instantaneous lamp starting is there without repeated attempts.

11

Compliance to lamp operating  current wave form- (crest factor of input current is 1.4 and output current is max 1.5)

• Consistent wave shape of the current that operates the lamp ensures the deliverance of ideal starting and operating current to the lamp thereby resulting in steady light, smooth lamp operation  and increased lamp life.

•  The consistency in waveform of both the input and the output current wave shows the real power saving feature of the ballast and the stability and the longevity of its circuitry.

12

Harmonics content (THD) low even from starting voltage (the voltage at which the ballast starts and operates the lamp properly). High power factor (Pf) even from the starting voltage itself ( after lamp stabilisation).

• Addition of a dimmer circuit to ballasts with high harmonic content and low power factor at low voltages, cause early failure of both the Lamp and the ballast. As our ballasts have low harmonics distortion and high power factor even in lower voltages, easy addition of a dimmer circuit to the ballast is possible without affecting the efficiency and longevity of the ballast and the lamp.

• Neither safety of the consumer nor the life of the lamp ballast combination is compromised even at low voltages. 

• Due to these features there is no real power loss even when operating at lower voltages than rated voltage and with a dimmer circuitry.

13

Low starting voltage( as low as125/150 V AC)

• Lamp starts and operates efficiently even when the supply voltage is low in the supply line. Ensures easy application in areas with low supply voltage.

14

Safely withstands Protection against Electric shock and Electric strength tests.
Ballast requires no  seperate earthing connection.

• Compliance to these tests ensures cent-percent consumer safety.

• As earthing is not required, it’s easy to install and operate the ballast in any environment. Application of the product is easily possible as retrofit to existing lamps and luminaries.

15

Compliance to General requirements for starting and operating lamps

• Ballast can start and operate the lamp even when the temperature around the lamp is as low as 10oC and as high as 50oC at 92% and 106% of rated voltage.

16

Operating frequency ideal between 30KHz and 40KHz(Please check the Explanation to ”Lamp operating current waveform” of Electronic Ballast test report version 1 at our website for viewing oscillogram snap shot ).

• No audio-noise disturbance or radio interference problems.

17

Compliance to the various parameters of Endurance testing.

• The ballast can endure multitudes of repeated and continuous switching on and off and long hours of continuous operation without any damage or causing reduction of performance to the lamp and the ballast. Longer ballast life than its contemporaries are ensured.

18

A2BAT compliance of the electronic ballast technology with ballast efficiency as high as 96%

• We have used the 40 W Linear Fluorescent Lamp-T12 LFL (this 40 W LFL is 4 feet in length) as the standard reference lamp model for development of our Electronic Ballast Technology. This a cold cathode type of lamp, and even with this lamp, the ballast efficiency value of version 3 is nearly 96%, thus making its Ballast Efficiency much above the requirements of the A2BAT. Ballast Efficiency will be much higher with a HE/HO Lamp.

19

Ballast performance  results complies with the requirements specified  in the lamp data sheet of common Linear Fluorescent Lamps used internationally( refer TFL standards under Ballast standards and Lamp-ballast compatabilty at our website)

• Linear fluorescent lamps with cold cathode that are originally designed for conventional (magnetic) ballasts can operate in perfect compatibility with our high frequency electronic ballasts and give superior performance results in comparison, without compromising on power saving, lamp or ballast life or consumer safety. Hence high frequency lamp is not required to ensure best performance from the electronic ballast.

• Ballast can be directly retrofitted with any operating LFL and get the desired results. Hence better lighting technology that have universal application at lower cost. Can be used to cater to all market segments due to this cost effectiveness.

• Further, Electronic Ballast Technology can be easily fine tuned for compatible operation with the entire range of Linear Fluorescent Lamps in common use around the globe.

20

Low cost of manufacturing(refer the ”Electronic Ballast component list & cost” at our website)- cost is very much low in comparison to other high power factor Electronic ballast’s that are available in the international market.

• Cost of technology procurement can be recovered by the manufacturer within a very short period of time.

• Break even time of the project is reduced radically.

• High competitive marketing advantage in all markets around the globe over any market leader in this segment.

21

Indigenous components freely available in the market used.

• Simplifies manufacturing process credibly.

• Production process won’t have bottle necks due to the non-availability of components.

22

Pioneering technology  that is complying to all the important test specifications  of IEC and the corresponding Indian Standards. Technology available in 3 different versions.
The Indian standards have been prepared by taking assistance from the following IEC documents:
• IEC publication 928: 1990 "AC supplied Electronic Ballasts for tubular fluorescent lamps: General and Safety requirements" issued by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
• IEC Doc 34 C (Central office) 173 "AC supplied Electronic Ballasts for tubular fluorescent lamps: Performance requirements".
• IEC Pub 555-2 (1982) " Disturbances in supply system caused by household and similar electrical equipment, Part 2: "Harmonics" issued by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

• International marketability as these standards is directly derived from the corresponding IEC standards.

•  Licensing of the technology on a country wise basis is easily possible for the manufacturer.

• Early bird advantage in the global markets including government and institutional purchase.

• Availability of the technology in 3 different versions provides that much more versatility and scalability for the manufacturer to provide the ideal product performance according to the market requirement.

23

Consumer benefits due to compliance to the said standards.

• Fewer lamp and ballast replacements due to failure.

• 100% user safety ensured.

• Consumer satisfaction ensures brand loyalty in recurrent purchase.

* A reading of the link "Differentiating features of the technology” is a must to ensure correct comprehesion of our electronic ballast  technology’s merits over the existing technolgies in the global lighting industry.