Losses in inductor-less piezoelectric transformer ballast for compact fluorescent lamps

In this study an inductor-less piezoelectric transformer (PT) based ballast for a 5 W CFL has been designed and simulated. The predictions of circuit currents and losses closely match experimentally measured values. The total simulated loss figure was confirmed against practically determined losses using a precision mini-calorimeter. Using simulation to disaggregate the total loss figure, it is seen that the PT makes the largest contribution to the total losses in such ballast.