Conducted electromagnetic emissions of compact fluorescent lamps and electronic ballast modeling

The higher frequency electromagnetic (EM) emission in low voltage power systems is rising continuously due to the increasing use of modern electronic devices. The electronic ballast of a compact fluorescent lamp (CFL) is one of the sources of conducted EM emission in the power system. Conducted EM emission measurements are performed on compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) in the range of 2–150 kHz and compared with simulation results. The LTSpice simulation of typical 11W compact fluorescent lamps is used to analyze the measured values. Comparisons are made in both the time and frequency domains. The EMI filter in the ballast circuit can reduce the level of high-frequency EM emission. However, in order to get a more accurate result, it is necessary to find out the main cause of conducted EM emission in the ballast circuit, as the HF distortion spreads through the LV network in current signal between electronic devices.