Speed Design and Improve the Performance of LED Driver Circuits

Lighting the Way for Inductor Selection

LED lighting is an exciting and fast-growing application area. LEDs provide low-cost, reliable, and energy-efficient lighting for a wide variety of applications, including automotive, architectural, signage, solar lighting, and handheld devices. Designers face the challenge of choosing from a vast array of LED manufacturers and device styles. Equally challenging can be the selection of components for the LED driver circuit. Fortunately, powerful online tools can streamline power inductor selection.

All LED applications require a DC power supply to provide power to the LED. Inductors are used in these power supplies to smooth out the ripple current typically seen at the output of the supply. High ripple current may result in changing light intensity, leading to higher AC losses in the inductor. Selecting the right inductor for optimal ripple current requires comparing the size, performance, and efficiency of the proposed inductors. Coilcraft’s powerful online tools help remove the guesswork and simplify such comparisons.  

• Coilcraft’s DC-DC Optimizer Tool is perfect whether you are selecting an inductor for step-down (buck), step-up (boost), or both (buck-boost).  

• If you know your inductor requirements, use our Power Inductor Finder Tool to view a sortable list of  possible solutions.  

• Looking for a coupled inductor for a SEPIC or ZETA topology? Contact us with your requirements, and we’ll respond with a list of our best options.

• Core loss and winding loss calculations are built into the tools, facilitating your efficiency comparison and analysis.