INTELLIGENT ENERGY SAVING STREETLIGHT

MAY 2013

2.2 LIGHT DEPENDING RESISTOR

Fig.2.2 LDR

A light depending resistor is also called a photoresistor which has a resistance that decreases with increasing light intensity. This principle behind working of LDR is photoconductivity. It checks the intensity of the light & switches the lamp. Normally the resistance of an LDR is very high, sometimes as high as 1000 000 ohms, but when they are illuminated with light resistance drops dramatically. A photoresistor is made of a high resistance semiconductor. When the light falling on the LDR is of high intensity, photons absorbed by the semiconductor give bound electrons enough energy to jump into the conduction band. The resulting free electron (and its hole partner) conduct electricity, thereby lowering resistance. The voltage drop across the LDR is low in this case. Thus the lamp doesnt glow . When the light falling on LDR is low intensity, the resulting current flow will be low. The resistance of LDR will be high with a high voltage drop making the lamp glow with maximum brightness.

Dept. of ECE

SBCEW, Elavumthitta