Ripple-free, single-stage electronic ballasts with dither-booster power factor corrector

A general approach to synthesizing single-stage inverters (SSIs) with power factor correction is first presented and an application example of electronic ballast with dither boost is then addressed in the paper. The proposed method is based on the concept of dither-effect from which eligible power factor corrector (PFC) cells can be generated. Existing inverters associated with proper PFC cells to form SSIs can fulfil power factor correction and its original function. In particular, many families of SSIs are developed, which have not been discussed in literature. To further reduce the system cost and size, a coupling inductor is employed to achieve ripple-free input current. A typical application of an electronic ballast with the proposed ripple-free PFC is analyzed. Simulation and measured results from the system with four GE TBX 26 W compact fluorescent lamps have demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed approach to single-stage electronic ballast applications.