Design Methodology for Light-Emitting Diode Systems by Considering an Electrothermal Model

The knowledge about thermal, electrical, and photometrical characteristics of Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) is essential to achieve a good performance to the lighting system. This paper presents a methodology for designing LED systems. The main purpose is to provide an optimal operating point, considering the electrothermal design to achieve the maximum luminous flux for a given LED system. Based on two design routines, the proposed methodology brings the possibility to consider driver output current, heatsink size, and LED junction temperature in the system design. A mathematical analysis taking into account an LED electrothermal model is presented. Computational fluid dynamics simulation employing finite element method and experimental results validate the proposed methodology.