The electrolytic capacitor (Al-Cap) is widely considered as one of the reliability-critical components in LED driver applications. A realistic lifetime prediction of Al-Caps would be beneficial to the sizing of capacitors to fulfill a specified design lifetime. This paper investigates the impact of electrolytic capacitor parameter shifts on the LED driver performance and the capacitor reliability. The operation condition, degradation, and tolerance are considered as the main reasons that deviate the parameters from nominal values. A method to model the degradation of Al-Cap parameter is introduced as well. In the case study of a flyback LED driver for street lighting, the contribution of parameter shifts to the electrical performance of LED drivers and Al-Cap core temperature is evaluated based on both theoretical analysis and simulation. A quantitative comparison of the estimated lifetime of Al-Cap in the LED driver is given with and without the consideration of capacitor parameter shifts within the service life. The proposed method enables a more realistic way for electrolytic capacitor lifetime prediction in LED drivers, which would otherwise have the risk of overestimation.
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