Self-exciting electronic ballast, of small size, and low cost, and high power, with no stroboscopic effect, no noise, is widely used in the general lighting market. This paper describes the cause of high switching loss of self-exciting electronic ballast, based on its operational principle; then, to reduce the switch temperature and increase the reliability of the product, the drive circuit has been improved, to achieve soft-switching. The theory analysis, simulation and experimental result prove the feasibility and compatibility of this new method in practice. Finally, the design procedure and winding method of the self-exciting current transformer are introduced.