Cree Corporation launched a TEMPO Luminaire Testing and Evaluation Project for LED component customers, which contains 21 important test data: Thermal, Electrical, Mechanical, Photmetric, and Optical design elements. .

Barriers One of the main reasons for the promotion of solid-state lighting (SSL) is the complexity and difficulty of developing reliable LED lighting systems. Cree's test service is to use its TEMPO lamp test program to help LED component customers solve this problem. The luminaire designer can use Cree's service to evaluate the product before sending it to the LM-79 test lab.

LED components customers can use this service to participate in the entire cycle of lighting design, TEMPO lighting test program contains a total of up to 21 test points. For example, Cree can give optical and thermal simulation aids early in the luminaire design, and a light engine test named SPOT (single-point test) later in the luminaire design.

After the TEMPO-21 test is over, Cree will provide the customer with a number of data files that provide third-party verification performance. The figure above shows an executive summary of one of the TEMPO-21 reference designs.

According to Mark McClear, director of global application engineering at Cree, the introduction of the TEMPO concept is due to the fact that luminaire manufacturers in this area often have poor results after components are installed in the luminaire and blame the component suppliers for their introduction. For example, a luminaire manufacturer may choose to use the wrong glue to cause the gas in the luminaire to increase its temperature and damage the LED.

McClear said that luminaire manufacturers rarely hand over products to the LM-79 or ENERGY STAR tests, so they can't know if the product design goes through. There are also individual companies that spend a lot of money just to test and evaluate thermal designs. The cost of LM-79 testing is as high as $1,000 or more, and manufacturers often have to wait for long test cycles.

Testing of TEMPO-21 in the electrical field also includes driver efficiency, transient analysis, dimmer compatibility, power analysis, and high-voltage test for dielectric breakdown. Tests in the fields of thermals and mechanics include verification of joint temperature monitoring welds, infrared camera thermal imaging and chemical compatibility analysis. The test also includes some basic data, such as the estimation of product life included in the heat dissipation design, and whether the assessment can pass the review of the Energy Star standard.

Although Cree has not yet fully implemented the LM-79 test but Cree is making improvements, it plans to install a moving mirror type C goniophotometer necessary for the LM-79 test. This led to the question whether Cree would seek official recognition as a certification body to enable it to provide customers with LM-79 and Energy Star testing. However, McClear said the company does not have such a plan.

Cree claims that he can control the test cycle within a few days to help customers accelerate time-to-market. With a sampling test cost of only $300 and a full TEMPO-21 test costing $1,200, the company apparently can't profit a lot from it, but this may be another way that Cree expresses its mission of accelerating the popularity of LED lighting. The TEMPO test service was officially launched in late September and Cree has provided services for several companies.