Patent ID: 7872430

Claim:
A lighting panel system, comprising: a lighting panel including a string of solid state lighting devices; and a current supply circuit having a voltage input terminal, a control input terminal, and first and second output terminals coupled to the string of solid state lighting devices, wherein the current supply circuit is configured to supply an on-state drive current to the string of solid state lighting devices in response to a control signal, wherein the current supply circuit comprises: a charging inductor coupled to the voltage input terminal and an output capacitor coupled to the first output terminal; a controller including the control input and first and second control outputs; a first control transistor that is coupled to the first control output of the controller and that is configured to cause the charging inductor to be energized responsive to a first control signal from the controller; and a second control transistor that is coupled to the second output terminal of the current supply circuit and that is configured to cause a voltage stored in the output capacitor to be applied to the first output terminal of the current supply circuit responsive to a second control signal from the controller; and wherein the current supply circuit is configured to operate in continuous conduction mode in which current continuously flows through the charging inductor while the on-state drive current is supplied to the string of solid state light emitting devices.