Solid State aluminum housing for a 150 watt LED array
Most LED arrays are cooled with aluminum heat sinks and fans
attached to an outer housing with screws and thermal paste. The circuit with
the LED array was designed to be laid out and assembled using a robot that
attached directly to a thin aluminum plate which in turn was attached to a heat
sink. This was outfitted with a constant current power supply and designed with
replacing street and parking lot lighting in mind. Using existing designs and
manufacturing considerations I advised three changes.
1.
Print the circuitry directly on the housing
invariably grounding the housing and protecting the design with fewer parts.
2.
Try a fin type aluminum extrusion design for the
housing to eliminate a need for fans and decrease manufacturing costs.
3.
Create two power supplies and attach directly to
the housing. One to rectify voltage and provide surge suppression and the
second to keep the current constant. The voltage rectifier would be most likely
damaged in a lightning situation and would be replaced but its cost is a
fraction of a constant current power supply with no surge suppression. In
general I do not like to add parts and would prefer a more integrated design
but in this case with respect to field maintenance, it is most practical.
