Aluminum PCB in LED Industry

Aluminum PCB has some of the best qualities for heat transfer, because it conducts thermal energy fairly easily, transferring it away from critical parts and minimizing thermal damage to the PCB. Comparatively, fiberglass is much less conductive. This difference results in PCB boards that are much more efficient at thermal energy transfer .

Because of these qualities, specifically the incredible ability to dissipate heat, aluminum PCBs have become the new PCBs of choice within the LED lighting industry. This growing popularity within the LED industry is due to a few incredible capabilities and improvements upon LED PCB designs made possible with aluminum PCBs. These include:

•Increased LED Density: Each PCB design allows for a greater number of LEDs to mount onto it. Each of these LEDs produces heat, heating up the PCB more quickly. This can be a serious problem for the longevity of the LED lights, because each LED must stay within a strict range of temperatures in order to function properly.

Traditional fiberglass-based designs have a cap on the density of lights per board, purely because the board can get too hot. This is because fiberglass transfers heat relatively slowly, causing the heat to build up. With aluminum boards however, more LEDs can function simultaneously without exceeding the specified temperature tolerance. This is because in an aluminum-core PCB, heat transfers quickly and efficiently, due to the high thermal conductivity of the material.

•Longer Operating Time: As with most electronics, the longer you use them, the hotter they get. This can negatively impact the functionality of the system and alter its operation, especially in more complex systems. In the case of LEDs, the quality and color of the lights change depending on how hot they get, and operating at a hotter temperature reduces the overall lifespan of the LED.

With aluminum LED PCBs, the improved heat transferring qualities of the material results in the LEDs operating at a lower temperature for a longer amount of time. This means aluminum PCB LEDs can operate for much longer before they finally fail.