A lighting apparatus (1) according to the present invention includes: a voltage supply unit which supplies voltage; and a plurality of solid state light emitting devices (31) which emit light using the voltage supplied by the voltage supply unit. The plurality of solid state light emitting devices (31) are series-connected, the voltage supplied by the voltage supply unit is applied to the plurality of solid state light emitting devices (31) which are series-connected, and the voltage supplied is set to a voltage such that a current flowing through each of the plurality of solid state light emitting devices (31) is equal to or less than 1/N of the maximum rated current, where N is a number equal to or greater than 2.
