Contents I. Introduction
There has been a trend of using electronic ballasts to replace magnetic ballasts in the last two decades. Up to 2007, it was often believed that electronic ballasts were more energy efficient than magnetic ballasts [1], [2]. However, the short lifetime of electrolytic capacitors commonly used in electronic circuits in lighting applications has been a serious concern, because it limits the lifetime of the entire lighting products [3]–[5]. Typical rated lifetimes of electronic ballasts for compact and tubular fluorescent lamps are 10 000 h (i.e., 1.1 years for 24-h operation) and 15 000 h (1.7 years), respectively. Such short lifetimes mean that a huge amount of electronic waste would have been accumulated due to the use of these electronic ballast products. The health consequences of electronic waste accumulation in the environment and their adverse impacts on environment are very serious, as pointed out in many research papers [6], [7]. Efforts in reducing electronic components in electronic ballasts have been made [18], and a large-scale lighting network based on recyclable magnetic ballasts has found to be successful [19].
