Electroluminescence

What Is Electroluminescence?

If you are new to our site, then you may be new to Electroluminescent (or EL for short) lighting technology. Have no fear, you've come to the right place! Our site is a wealth of knowledge for EL technology, and for new lighting technologies in general. If you are looking for more information on How Electroluminescent Technology Works, visit our learning center below. We’ve recently redesigned our site to have everything easier to find, including inverters or battery packs. These are required for EL Technology to work. When we refer to Battery Packs, these include an inverter inside. What the inverter does is change the low voltage DC power to a higher voltage (around 100V) and ramps up the frequency to around 400Hz. Our in-house made inverters we have completely redesigned the way the EL receives its power. This allows us to use a lower voltage which makes your Electroluminescent products last longer.

Generally speaking, EL has a lifespan of about 4,000-6,000 hours, however with our MEGA series of inverters, this lifespan is increased to about 6-8,000 hours, but we've seen products last well over 10,000 hours using these inverters. Any inverter made overseas you will find at any store (including ours) runs at a much higher frequency (generally between 1000-2000Hz), which actually decreases the lifespan of the phosphor. At best, you will see a decrease of 1-2,000 hours. Many other stores have higher frequencies than even this, which causes an even bigger decrease of lifespan. We’ve seen companies use frequencies up to 6,000Hz, which would give your EL a lifespan of about 100 hours.

When using Electroluminescent lighting in permanent installations, using a quality inverter will not only increase the lifespan of the technology, but also decrease the headaches caused by cheaper inverters. In wearable applications, Ellumiglow can custom make an inverter to fit (virtually) any specification, so it is not only safe to the user, but also runs bright and allows the product to last as long as possible. For more information on making a custom EL Inverter for your next project, call or email one of our specialists at info@ellumiglow.com or 877-615-6556.