Four-part harmony of a luminaire

Four-part harmony of a luminaire

The LED configuration is an important part of the luminaire design. A typical LED system has four components: the LED light source, optics, a heat sink and a power supply.

An optic is placed over or around the LED, helping extract the light from the die, and forming the scattered light emission into a specified shape. The LED is mounted to a heat sink which diverts and dissipates heat to keep the LED cool.

Most LED systems require a DC (direct current) power source. The electricity in a building is typically AC (alternating current) so a power supply is used to convert the AC power to DC power.