A method for manufacturing a large area LED array, comprising providing two stacks (21) of electrodes (26), each electrode arranged in a meander pattern (4) on a substrate (3), at least two U-turns (7) on one side of the meander each being connected to a LED mounting surface (8) to form a row (9) of mounting surfaces, arranging the stacks so that rows and columns of mounting surfaces intersect each other at a plurality of intersection points (24), and mounting LEDs (22) at these intersection points. The substrate material is then removed, and the stacks are stretched in two directions thereby separating said intersection points (24) from each other. According to the invention, the LEDs can be mounted to the LED mounting surfaces when these are still located close to each other, preferably adjacent to each other enabling a simple and cost efficient mounting process. Further, the size of the substrates on which the conducting layer is formed can be limited. This further increases the cost effectiveness of the process.