A low cost electronic ballast for a 36 W fluorescent lamp based on current-mode-controlled boost inverter: design example for a greenhouse application with a 120 DC bus power distribution

A nonresonant electronic ballast based on one power switch and on one reactive element-one inductance-is described in this paper. The special current mode control implementation provides an intrinsic short circuit protection and a very simple control circuitry. Filament heating time, current during the heating period and the protection against broken tube can be easily implemented with the proposed circuitry. A greenhouse application with a 120 V DC bus power distribution is presented in this paper. A high power factor and the DC bus voltage are easily obtained (in this particular application) from a classical series-connected 12-pulse rectifier in combination with a transformer with two secondary windings (one in Wye connection and other one in Delta connection).