Grants and Contributions:

Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2020-2021).

Due to their higher efficiency, safety, and reliability, Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are currently replacingx000D
other kinds of lights on the market, such as incandescent lights and Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs). Everyx000D
day lighting significantly contributes to the burden on the power grid. Thus, the efficiency of LEDs will play ax000D
crucial role in future energy savings. In the near future, LEDs will dominate the lighting market because ofx000D
their superior efficiency. The digital LED signage industry has been growing very quickly due to the expansionx000D
of marketing and advertising. In North America, more than 3 million digital signage displays are installedx000D
annually and the industry has recently experienced an overall revenue growth of more than $6 billion. Thus,x000D
energy efficient digital LED signage can not only generate substantial revenue for the economy, but will alsox000D
save energy and result in a cleaner environment.x000D
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Digital LED signage displays currently utilise separate power converters along with LED drivers to providex000D
electricity for LEDs. This architecture is very inefficient, bulky, heavy and produce a lot of heat. The mainx000D
objective of the proposed research program is to provide an entirely new power architecture for future digitalx000D
LED signage. The new architecture is based on an integrated solution distributed along the LED signagex000D
display. The integrated solution takes advantage of recent advances in high frequency power electronicx000D
converters, and nano-technology in order to offer a highly efficient and compact solution for this application.x000D
This approach has several advantages such as: higher efficiency, compactness, less wiring, and simpler heatx000D
removal. The novel architecture enables future digital LED signage displays to achieve optimal performancex000D
for each individual LED, leading to a highly efficient final product. This research aims to deliver "nextx000D
generation" digital LED signage that will utilize the new advancements in nano-technology and powerx000D
electronics in order to achieve very high performance at a lower cost. The research program will directlyx000D
benefit the Canadian energy sector by providing energy-efficient LED power modules for the signage industry.