What is POWER+ ??? (Part One)

I hope it's OK to ask another question, first.

What is the problem most-often found when looking at installing LED lighting strips once you have the type of strip picked out?

Image from a great Intermit.tech video you can find here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1mjDb_P0EM

If you said Supplying Power, you are not alone. Both beginners and experts have told me that getting power where it is needed is the biggest challenge. To do it for many strips, very heavy gauge wire has to be added to inject power down-stream, as shown below with 8AWG wire.

As an example, this great video from Andries Faassen (Quindor!) really illustrates the challenges of power injection on longer LED light strips:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Umo6jKLfwsQ

But what if we use a little basic electrical math and boost the input voltage to reduce the current, and use a Point Of Load (POL) buck converter to reduce the voltage down to what the LED needs?

That is the first part of what POWER+ is all about; to extend the length and number of LEDs that can be supported when the generally-accepted maximum of 8 Amps of strip input current is provided.

POWER+ 24V and POWER+ 48V are the first two designs that make longer runs work in places where power is simply not available to be injected down-line on the strip. Since the strips are designed for out-of-the-way places like rooflines and high ceilings, the LED density is dropped to 50mm pitch and 100mm pitch, with a 20mm pitch available if warranted.

50mm Pitch

 100mm Pitch

In addition to the power being able to go farther, these APA102C based strips allow the Clock and Data OUTs to be routed all the way back to the beginning of the strip, so long spurs or dead-ends can forward the data on to another strip when the only connection is at the origin.

Just place a solder blob to short the outputs to the EXT lines next to them at the very end. Every 500mm the signal is regenerated with a Schmitt-Triggered Non-Inverting buffer.

This system will come in 3 levels of encasement:

1. No Encasement - Bare PCB, with or without double-sided tape on the back

2. Silicone Tubing without double-sided tape

3. Silicone Overmolding with double-sided tape
   

Part Two will be Real-World Prototype Testing!

Keep the Light in your life!