SSL Performance Testing and

Measurements Techniques

September 23, 2009

Greg McKee
Director Systems Business Unit
Labsphere Company Information
A subsidiary of Halma p.l.c. Systems Business
Part of the Halma Photonics Unit
Group
Ocean Optics Standard and Custom solutions in
Fiberguide Industries Light Measurement and Light
Sensor Calibration
Founded in 1979
70 employees, 20 with technical
degrees
ISO 9001:2000 certified
80,000 sq. ft. facility in New
Hampshire
Factory and sales office in
Shanghai
 IESNA LMs for Traditional Lamps
LM-9-09 Electrical and Photometric Measurements of Fluorescent Lamps
LM-66-00 Electrical and Photometric Measurements of Single-Ended Compact Fluorescent
Lamps
LM-45-00 Electrical and Photometric Measurements of General Service Incandescent
Filament Lamps
LM-51-00 Electrical and Photometric Measurements of HID Lamps
LM-54-99 Lamp Seasoning
LM-59-00 Electrical and Photometric Measurement of Low Pressure Sodium Lamps
LM-40-01 Lift Testing of Fluorescent Lamps
LM-47-02 Life Testing of High Intensity Discharge (HID) Lamps
LM-49-01 Life Testing of General Lighting Incandescent Filament Lamps
LM-60-01 Life Testing of Low Pressure Sodium Lamps
LM-65-01 Life Testing of Single-Ended Compact Fluorescent Lamps
LM-58-94 Guide to Spectroradiometric Measurements
LM-78-06 Total Luminous Flux Measurement of Lamps Using an Integrating Sphere
Photometer
 IESNA LMs for Traditional
Luminaires
LM-41-98 Approved Method for Photometric Testing of Indoor Fluorescent Luminaires
LM-46-04 Photometric Testing of Indoor Luminaires Using HID or Incandescent Filament
Lamps
LM-10-96 Photometric Testing of Outdoor Fluorescent Luminaires,
LM-31-95 Photometric Testing of Roadway Luminaires Using Incandescent Filament and
HID lamps
LM-35-02 Photometric Testing of Floodlights Using High Intensity Discharge or
Incandescent Filament Lamps
LM-11-97 Photometric Testing of Searchlights

LM-75-01 Goniophotometer Types and Photometric Coordinates

LM-63-02 Standard File Format for the Electronic Transfer of Photometric Data and
Related Information.
 Points to Note
LED sources generally cannot be separated from LED
luminaires by users.
The luminous efficacy (lm/W) of the whole luminaire (called
Luminaire efficacy) needs to be measured and evaluated.
Traditional lamp luminaires are commonly measured relative to
measured luminous flux of the bare lamp(s) used in the
luminaire (Relative photometry), which does not work for LED
luminaires.

Luminous efficacy (thus, total luminous flux) of small LED

luminaires can be measured in a similar way as LED lamps.
Problems/Concerns in the Industry
Some very low quality products in the market
(dim, short life, bad color).
Inaccurate performance claims
Insufficient information on product labels
Many questions on color quality (rendering)
Lighting designers still do not trust SSL
products. They say more standards are
needed.
Still high cost (but government incentives to
use SSL products are high.)
DOE Laboratory to Market Support

Y Ohno, NIST
IESNA (Illuminating Engineering Society of
North America)

Testing Procedures Committee

Subcommittee A Indoor Luminaires

Subcommittee B Light Sources
Subcommittee C Outdoor Luminaires
Subcommittee D Solid State Lighting
ENERGY STAR Program
Requirements for SSL Luminaires
Required standards for
Test method and measurement.... IESNA LM-79
Chromaticity specification ANSI C78.377
Test method for lifetime of LEDs.................. IESNA LM-80
Laboratory accreditation for measurement NVLAP EELP-SSL
Terminology . ANSI/IESNA RP-16
IESNA LM-79 Approved Method for Electrical and
Photometric Measurements of SSL Products
Test method used for DOE SSL Energy Star
Covers LED luminaires and integrated LED lamps.

Covers measurements of
Total luminous flux (lumen)
Luminous efficacy (lm/W)
Chromaticity, CCT, CRI (4 integrated)
Luminous intensity distributions
Methods using
Sphere-spectroradiometer
Sphere-photometer
Goniophotometer
Method Using a Sphere Spectrometer
Total spectral radiant flux standard lamp

4 geometry 2 geometry
Method Using a Sphere Photometer
Total luminous flux standard lamp

4 geometry 2 geometry
Method Using a Goniophotometer

9.3.7 Calibration
calibrated against the illuminance or luminous intensity
standards traceable to national standards
shall be validated by measurement of total luminous flux
standard lamps traceable to national standards.
ANSI C78.377 Specifications for the Chromaticity of
SSL products

For indoor
application only

No standards
for outdoor
lighting
IES LM-80-08 Approved Method for Measuring
Lumen Maintenance of LED Light Sources
Covers LED packages, arrays and modules
only (not LED luminaires).
Lifetime of LEDs is strongly dependent on the junction
temperature.

Model 0

Lifetime of LEDs can be very long Model 1

Model 2
Model 3
Model 4

(e.g., 50,000 h) so it is predicted

Model 5
Model 6
Model 7
Data

by extrapolation.

Final purpose is to determine lifetime of SSL products

(required by Energy Star).
IES LM-80-08 Approved Method for Measuring
Lumen Maintenance of LED Light Sources
Defines Lumen Maintenance Life:
L70 (hours): 70% lumen maintenance
L50 (hours): 50% lumen maintenance
Does not consider failure rate.
Does not cover predictive estimations or extrapolation.
Test Method
Testing (aging) at the LED case temperatures 55C, 85C, and a 3rd
temperature selected by manufacturer, for 0 to 6000 h or longer, at every
1000 h. Ambient temperature within - 5C from the case temperature.
Measured color and any failures shall also be reported.
The ambient temperature during lumen and chromaticity measurements
shall be 25 1C.
 Large Gap between LED manufacturers and
Lighting Industry
LED Manufacturer Lighting Industry
LEDs measured in LEDs in luminaires are
production. Pulse vs. DC hot (Tj= 60 C to over
LEDs are measured LED Performance varies 100C)
with short pulses. with temperature Photometric
LEDs are binned and measurements in steady
rated at Tj=25C. DC mode.

Performance of LEDs Performance of SSL Products

An example of the temperature dependence of
luminous flux and CCT of a high-power white LED.

Relative Luminous Flux

CCT (K)

Y Zong, NIST
Goal for Measurement of High-power
LEDs

Y Zong, NIST
IESNA LM-xx Method using a sphere
spectroradiometer
DC mode operation of LED

2 geometry 4 geometry
IESNA LM-xx Method using a sphere spectroradiometer
IESNA LM-xx Method using a sphere photometer

2 geometry 4 geometry
 Key Integrating Sphere Photometer
Features
Diffusely reflecting coating High reflectance coating Baffle(s) to screen direct view
between sample or light
source and detector

Spherical cavity

Ports to let light in or out

Substitution Method
Spectrometer Spectrometer

Spectrometer Spectrometer

Dt As
t = s k
Ds At
SSL Test Methods
4 Substitution Method 2 Substitution Method

Reference
Reference standard Substitution
standard SSL
product

Cosine-
Cosine- response
response Baffle

SSL Auxiliary
Auxiliary product lamp
lamp
Baffle

Spectro-
Spectro- radiometer
radiometer

Source: IESNA LM 79
Trend for Larger Spheres
LM-79
4 geometry
less than 2% of total area
of the sphere (ex. 30cm
in a 2M sphere
2/3 diameter for linear
lamps
2 geometry
1m or larger for compact
lamps
Less than 1/3 of sphere
diameter
2m for 500W or larger
How Practical?
Integrating Hemisphere

Spectraflect
Coating
Integrating Hemisphere
Base-UP lighting

Base-Side lighting

Base-Down lighting
Surface Radiance
i
Ls M
A
Integrating Sphere (IS) Integrating Hemisphere (IH)

m
M= M = +
1 (1 f ) 1 (1 2 f ) 1 m (1 2 f )

Relative Efficiency Comparison
1.00

0.90

0.80

0.70
Reflectance

0.60

0.50

0.40

0.30

0.20

0.10

0.00
350 400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850
nm

Integrating Sphere Integrating Hemisphere

Application: SSL Down Lighting

Smaller Footprint
Orientation: Test in same orientation
it will be used
More accurate
Can mount sample in center of
hemisphere plane and associated
control/cooling electronics outside of
sphere
More sensitive
Surface radiance ~2X that of same
diameter integrating sphere for
same light source
Lower cost of ownership
Can go much longer without
recoating due to lower need to open
up interior to room contaminants
Application: Street Light
 Luminous Flux Sensitivity: Ambient Air

34
Ambient Air Control: Luminous Flux
LM-79 & LM-80
states: 25 +/-1oC
Input and Output vents
Baffles
Heat Exchanger with
temperature feedback
loop
 Spectral Flux Sensitivity: Case
Temperature
Spectral Radiant Flux
Spectral Radiant Flux (mW/nm)

Tc (K)

Wavelength (nm)

36
Thermal Electric Control
Characterize photometric, colorimetric, electric and efficiency as a function of
temperature.
Calibration
What is a Forward Spectral Flux
Standard?
Calibrated total forward spectral radiant flux standard light
source.
Provides a projected beam of light for situations where
calibration calls for the standard source to have a geometry
similar to the source being measured
SSL fixtures
Flashlights
Projectors
Minimizes substitution error in an integrating sphere
measurement since the standard and the device under test are
both external to the integrating sphere.
Need for a Forward Spectral Flux
Standard
Solid state lighting flux measurements using an integrating
sphere
IESNA LM-79
IESNA-LM XX
Flashlight flux measurement using an integrating sphere
ANSI/NEMA FL1-2009
Labspheres Integrating Hemisphere Light Measurement
Systems
Requirements of a Forward Flux
Standard
Requirements
Robust
Stable
Repeatable
Reproducible
Continuous
Current
Regulated
Luminous Flux Uncertainty Budget
MI
S S V
LT = T LR = T LR 0 R (1 t )
SR SR rR J R 0
Description Symbol u value units type DOF Sensitivity contribution

calibrated luminous flux of

working standard wl1 LR0 4.74E+00 1.65E+03 lm A 25 1.00E+00 4.92E+00

working standard wl1

current monitor voltage VR 1.00E-05 2.68E-01 volt A 16 4.39E+04 4.39E-01

working standard wl1

rR 5.00E-06 1.00E-01 A 10 1.18E+05 5.88E-01
current monitor resistor

working standard wl1

current-flux relationship factor MI 1.44E-01 6.87E+00 NA B inf 6.39E-01 9.20E-02

t
working standard wl1
1.41E-03 9.80E-04 NA B inf 1.71E+03 2.42E+00
aging factor

detector reading of luminous

flux output from wl1 SR 1.00E-10 7.45E-07 Amp A 25 3.75E+08 3.75E-02

detector reading of luminous

flux output from FFS lamp ST 1.00E-10 1.30E-07 Amp A 25 2.22E+09 2.22E-01

Luminous flux repeatability ST 1.14E-09 1.30E-07 Amp A 18 2.22E+09 2.52E+00

combined uncertainty (lm) 2.70

expanded relative uncertainty (k=2) 1.35%

Spatial Distribution
Thank You

Questions / Inquiries?

Greg McKee
Director Systems Business Unit
Labsphere
E-Mail: gmckee@labsphere.com