Fluorescent Lighting Controller Integrates PFC

The IR2166 fluorescent ballast control IC eliminates external circuitry requirements by integrating power factor correction (PFC) on chip. The chip employs a patent-pending, critical-conduction-mode boost PFC control method that reportedly maximizes PFC performance by adapting to the mode of the ballast dynamically. As a result, THD is specified as less than 10% and power factor is greater than 0.99 at 120 Vac. A reference design kit, IRPLLNR4, is available for a 35W T5 lamp and universal input of 90 to 260 Vac. Price for the control IC is $1.92 each/10,000, and the development kit costs $200 each. INTERNATIONAL RECTIFIER, El Segundo, CA. (310) 252-7105.