Microsemi Unveils Revolutionary Driver for LED Street Light Fixtures

Microsemi Corporation unveiled a new LED driver designed specifically for North American street light installations. The efficient LXMG221D-0700040-D2F™ LED driver eliminates bulky step-down transformers typically used in street light fixtures in these markets, providing a single-step conversion from 347VAC or 480VAC down to less than 57VDC as typically required by LED fixtures. This allows manufacturers to design lighter fixtures, which can lower product development and transportation costs. Unique features include integrated fault detection and management functionality which enable operators to respond more quickly to light fixture failures.
According to estimates from industry analyst firm Strategies Unlimited, the LED street and area lighting market in 2010 was $327 million. The market is expected to increase at a compound annual unit growth rate of approximately 26 percent from 2010 to 2015. North America, Europe and China lead in the deployment of LED lighting technology.
"The deployment of high-performance solid state lighting fixtures is accelerating and customers are beginning to benefit from the improved efficiency and longer lifetimes these products deliver," stated Roger Holliday, vice president of Marketing for Microsemi's Analog Mixed Signal Group. "Microsemi's leadership in power conversion and light management, combined with our analog mixed-signal design expertise and unique supply chain setup, is why fixture manufacturers globally are choosing us as their lighting solutions technology partner."
"Street lights often represent one of the highest operating expenses for municipalities because of electricity, maintenance and replacement costs," said Irene Signorino, director of Marketing for Microsemi's Analog Mixed Signal Group. "LEDs help solve this issue by minimizing energy consumption and reducing replacement frequency. If dimming and thermal protection are supported in conjunction with the elimination of the step-down transformer losses as in our new driver, operating costs can be decreased even further."
In Canada and in the United States, power is often distributed to an outdoor lighting fixture at 347V or 480V. The fixture must then convert the power to much lower voltages (often less than 60V in the U.S.) to properly drive the LED. Until now, this conversion was accomplished using bulky and inefficient step-down transformers. Microsemi's LXMG221D-0700040-D2F eliminates the need for these transformers, accomplishing the voltage conversion in one step. In addition, since multiple power supplies can be used in a modular fashion, many models of street lights (40W, 80W and more) are supported.
Undetected and unreported non-functioning fixtures are a key issue for municipalities responsible for the illumination of public areas. Microsemi's new LED driver includes fault detection and management capabilities, which can allow operators to address this issue and respond more quickly to light fixture failures.

LEDs weighed for long-term savings

A proposed Arkansas River Power Authority electric rate hike has Trinidad pursuing energy-saving light-emitting diode equipment, which will save money in the long run, according to City Manager Ed Gil de Rubio. LED lights will increase the original $200,000 lighting budget by $80,000. That figure is $40,000 less than projected costs using traditional lights, and would stretch the payments from three to seven years. That would lower the city’s 2012 payment from $156,000 to $75,400.

Fabrizio Ferri: LED Lights for Digital Capture

Photographer and studio owner Fabrizio Ferri first became interested in experimenting with LED (light-emitting diode) lights as a way to address the needs of photographers working on motion projects. “Moving photographs,” as Ferri calls them, which are essentially stills that come to life and have no narrative, have become increasingly popular for online and tablet usage, especially with fashion clients. However clients rarely have the time or the budget to retouch the motion projects frame-by-frame. “When you are doing video particularly, you need to have control [of the light] so you don’t have anything to fix after,” Ferri says. “That’s a big thing.”

Cree keeps course in ‘tough market’

Chuck Swoboda, CEO of Durham-based Cree Inc., said he believes the LED lighting products maker did “quite well” despite a tough market in fiscal year 2011, with growth in its lighting systems and its components businesses. Swoboda spoke on Tuesday at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Durham’s Research Triangle Park. He reviewed highlights of fiscal year 2011, when he said the company, whose mission is to lead the “LED revolution” through sales of LED components, chips and systems, had mixed results amid high expectations.

Philips sheds new light on Night Watch

Royal Philips announced  that starting on October 26, one of the world’s most renowned paintings will be bathed in a new light. Philips, Founder of the renovated Amsterdam Rijksmuseum, presents Rembrandt van Rijn’s Night Watch in innovative LED light, bringing out the best of the painting’s color palette while offering increased sustainability and energy efficiency. Through the project, the two Masters of Light are reinforcing their intensive collaboration aimed at joint innovation in the area of LED lighting, setting the new standard for museum lighting.
The 5-year extension of the partnership was sealed this afternoon in the Rijksmuseum by Frans van Houten, CEO of Philips, and Wim Pijbes, General Director of the Rijksmuseum. The Night Watch was relit for the occasion by Philips, combining innovative LED lighting with an advanced light control system. The new lighting will help reduce the Rijksmuseum’s energy consumption.
LED technology has been developed to the point that the Rijksmuseum felt it needed to adopt this innovation. The new lamps ensure optimal color rendering, lending an even greater expressive quality to the objects. In terms of light quality, the LED solution easily outstrips the halogen spot, praised for its warm color and broad spectrum.
A key element in the partnership between Philips and the Rijksmuseum lies in the intensive exchange of knowledge between the two parties with regard to the development of LED solutions for lighting art and architecture.
As Founder, Philips has been involved since 2001 in the biggest restoration and renovation project in the 126-year history of the Rijksmuseum. During the renovation, the highlights of the Golden Age have been on display in the Philips Wing, attracting an average of 950,000 visitors a year since it opened in 2003. Starting in 2014, major exhibitions will be held in the wing, which will be permanently named the Philips Wing. From 2013 onward, the Rijksmuseum expects to welcome about 2 million visitors each year.

Strategies in Light adds LED manufacturing track

Strategies in Light, an annual tradeshow on high-brightness LEDs and lighting hosted by Strategies Unlimited and PennWell Corporation, will take place February 7-9, 2012 in Santa Clara, CA. New this year, the conference will include a full parallel track on LED manufacturing. SIL 2011 hosted a half-day track on LED manufacturing, and attendees called for more information on the topic at SIL 2012. The HB LED industry is heading increasingly into high-volume manufacturing (HVM), bringing increased attention to fabrication issues and trends. LED equipment suppliers and traditional semiconductor tool makers are serving the LED industry. The trend is to move LEDs to larger wafer sizes for better economies of scale. Concurrent trends are pushing increased automation and improved yield and throughput. The LED Manufacturing Track is sponsored by SEMI.

Bridgelux Inc. raises $15 million

Bridgelux Inc, which raised $60 million this summer and then cut 53 jobs in the fall, raised $15 million more. The Livermore company seeks ways to make more efficient lights using LEDs. It hopes to have a product on sale in 2013.

Diamond Jo Casino Hits the Green Jackpot with Cree Lighting

Iowa-based Diamond Jo Casino, a gambling establishment located on the popular Port of Dubuque, recently installed energy-efficient LED (light-emitting diode) lighting by Cree, Inc. The casino upgraded its existing lighting to Cree’s LRP-38™ LED spotlights throughout the 188,000 square foot entertainment facility, including the gaming floor, hallways, reception and meeting rooms.
Diamond Jo Casino replaced 750 of its existing incandescent down lights with Cree LRP-38 LED lamps. Since the casino lights remain on at all times, installing LRP-38 lamps, which are designed to last 35,000-50,000 hours (depending on application), can result in significant energy and maintenance savings. By eliminating the need for regular bulb replacements and associated labor costs, Diamond Jo anticipates reducing maintenance costs by nearly $23,000 a year while providing high-quality lighting throughout its facility. According to Chad Darter, Director of Facilities at Diamond Jo Casino, the long lifetime and high color quality of the LED lighting is a great match for the 24/7 operation of the casino.
According to lighting contractor Crescent Electric Supply Company, switching to Cree’s LRP-38 lamps, which consume only 11 watts of power compared to 100 watts from the original PAR-38 incandescent lamps, can save Diamond Jo Casino more than $46,000 in electrical costs annually. These savings, combined with anticipated maintenance savings result in a payback calculation of nearly one year for the installation with an ongoing annual savings of almost $70,000.
The casino was built in 2007 specifically to achieve “carbon neutral” certification under the Clean Air Conservancy's NetZero program. In addition to the energy-efficient LED lighting, the casino’s other green features include: a white roof designed to reflect heat and conserve energy, bar floor of reclaimed wood and a central plant heating and cooling system. In its partnership with the Clean Air Conservancy, Diamond Jo initiated the “Go Green Challenge” for Dubuque residents and businesses, as well as the Diamond Conservation Fund, including an annual commitment from the casino to help fund conservation efforts within its community.

Which Light Bulbs are the Greenest?

For decades, those concerned with energy savings have been touting the benefits of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) over incandescents. CFLs use only one-fifth of the electricity of incandescents to generate the same amount of light, and they can last six to 10 times longer. But CFLs’ cooler color and inability to be dimmed have made them less desirable. Another hindrance to the widespread adoption of CFLs has been their higher cost (though most consumers would save plenty in energy costs over the life of a bulb). Also, CFLs contain mercury, a dangerous neurotoxin that is released when the bulbs break. And once CFLs do burn out they must be disposed of properly to avoid releasing mercury into the environment.

Ikea to sell low-cost LED bulbs from Lemnis

Swedish retailer Ikea will sell LED lightbulbs from Lemnis Lighting starting in the fourth quarter of this year, a move that will help push efficient LEDs toward broader use. The two companies have a multiyear partnership to sell LED bulbs through Ikea stores starting in Europe, Lemnis Lighting CEO Warner Philips said today. The partnership was first reported by trade publication LEDs Magazine.

How LEDs are changing your life

If you haven’t noticed them yet, than chances are you are going to. LED lights are becoming more and more popular and are gradually being used in a variety of uses. This state of the art lighting technology is being utilized in both traditional auto lights as well as some intriguing and innovative custom mounted lighting. Despite the fact that many people still believe that LEDs are far more expensive than traditional lighting, these remarkable, small, and light weight bulbs are nearly the same price as most conventional bulbs, yet they come with some strikingly different features.

Magnalight.com Introduces Rechargeable LED Light Stick

Designed for use anywhere, the WL-LED-12-M LED light stick from Larson Electronics’ Magnalight combines the convenience of rechargeable portability with the versatility of magnetic mounting.
Containing 60 LEDs powered by an integral Ni/Hm battery, this LED light stick produces enough light to cover an area approximately 25 foot long by 20 foot wide, and will run for over four hours on a single charge. An impact, shock, and vibration resistant housing provides durable operation and makes this light suitable for indoor or outdoor use. The long life LEDs have a 100,000 hour lifetime rating and will provide years of reliable operation.
This LED light has two built in 20 lbs grip magnets that allow the unit to be attached to any ferrous metallic surface. This feature is ideal for automotive and work applications where the user needs effective illumination that leaves their hands free. This unit also has predrilled through holes to allow mounting the unit with screws for permanent or semi-permanent mounting such as would be found in machine light applications.

More tough LED business: Cree slumps

LEDs may represent the energy efficient future of lighting, but for the second time this week a leading manufacturer has demonstrated that it’s a rocky business at present. Durham, N.C.-based Cree Inc. reported that first quarter sales ending Sept. 25 sales nudged up a mere 0.2 percent to $269 million, compared to the same quarter a year ago, even though this year’s results include sales from Ruud, the Racine, Wisc. outdoor LED specialist that Cree acquired for around $525 million in August.

CFLs, LEDs saved region $135M in 2010

Skeptics of energy-efficient light bulbs and machinery should take note of a survey by the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, which reported a 2010 savings of $135 million to electricity ratepayers in the Pacific Northwest. According to a recent analysis by the council, the efficiency of electricity in the region improved last year by 254 megawatts, the equivalent power use of 153,900 homes. It represents the largest one-year gain since energy-efficiency programs began more than 30 years ago.

British designer's innovative lamp is an illuminating experience

Picture a clear acrylic hanging lampshade. Look inside the cone. Now what do you see? What you don't see is the key. And what you don't see is a light bulb. What you do see is soft light flowing out. British designer Paul Cocksedge created the conical lamp as part of a special Sestosenso exhibit in the showroom of lighting manufacturer Flos during this year's Milan Furniture Fair. You may think that Milan design never affects Indianapolis, but this one may....

Laser Beams into Automotive Lighting Future

Since Thomas Edison perfected the electronic light bulb over 130 years ago, our ability of creating artificial illumination has brightened up the coldness of night. An evolution especially important as the automobile progressed, vehicle lighting has taken strides in becoming brighter and more efficient. At first existing as clumsy lanterns, electric lighting quickly emerged in the time of the motor vehicle reach global acceptance. From tungsten to halogen headlight bulbs, the recent phase apparent is HID (High Intensity Discharge) which uses xenon gas to bring a near perfect white light to the road at about one-third of the power needed for a halogen setup. However, as HID headlamps are coming of age, a new challenge coming from full LED lighting systems (equipped on the Audi A8). Appearing that a competition between HID and LED headlamps is now foreseen on the horizon, a future automotive lighting solution could be found in lasers.

LED highway lighting project in China features a million Cree LEDs

A major highway-lighting upgrade in Shenzhen has seen the installation of more than 10,000 Kingsun LED lighting fixtures. In related news, Cree has released a 140-lm/W version of its XP-G LED. More than 10,000 LED street lights from Kingsun Optoelectronic Co. Ltd. have been installed along nearly 75 miles of roadways in Shenzhen, China. The LED fixtures, which were installed along one tunnel and four highways, together use more than a million Cree XLamp XP-G and XP-E high-efficiency white (HEW) LEDs. Kingsun, a leading China-based LED lighting company, illuminated Jihe highway number G15, Nanguang highway number G9411, Longda highway number S318 and Yanba highway, as well as the Dameisha Tunnel.

Companies strive to build a better (more expensive) light bulb

Ed Crawford wants to unscrew 130 years’ worth of the light bulb’s history. But how many MBAs, engineers and lobbyists will it take to help him do that? As retailers and governments begin phasing out incandescent light bulbs, lighting companies are scrambling to introduce products and change public mind-sets about how much a light bulb should cost. Crawford has a big challenge ahead of him: He’s chief executive of the North American lighting division of the world’s largest lighting company, Philips Electronics.

Cutting energy use a priority for Champaign

Think your home energy bills are rough? Try powering an entire city. Taxpayers in Champaign spend tens of thousands of dollars every month to keep the city running. There are the obvious costs, like heating, cooling and lighting at the police department, fire stations and City Building. On Oct. 6, the city paid a $5,834.41 power bill for the library. LED street lights use one-third the electricity of a traditional light, said Glen Berger, the city's traffic and lighting supervisor. The energy-saving lights also cost four times what a traditional light costs: $1,000 for LEDs compared to $250 for a traditional light. The expected payback on LED lights is about 15 to 20 years.

Optogan Opens New LED Chip Production Site in Europe

Optogan’s new production location has been opened by the German Federal State of Bavaria’s Minister of Economic Affairs. Landshut’s LED chips have been considered to be important for this century’s lighting technology. Significance of LED lighting will be more in future as green technology is gaining importance. The energy usage should be more efficient for this green development, which can be done by utilizing high-performance LEDs that save up to 80% of energy. The operating life of a LED lamp is up to 50,000 h. Lack of mercury and lead is an added benefit of LEDs.

LED inventor Holonyak joining hall of fame

A University of Illinois inventor will join Thomas Edison, Enrico Fermi and the Wright Brothers in a very exclusive club. Nick Holonyak Jr., who invented the LED, will join the scientists and inventors inducted into the Engineering and Science Hall of Fame on Nov. 3. Besides the first practical light-emitting diode, Holonyak has worked extensively with semiconductors.

Osram red LED prototype breaks 200lm/W efficiency barrier

Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH of Regensburg, Germany says that its R&D lab has achieved a record electro-optical efficiency of 61% for a red high-power LED. The 1mm2 chip housed on a laboratory package emits at a wavelength of 609nm (λ-dom) and has achieved a record luminous efficiency of 201lm/W at an operating current of 40mA. At a typical operating current of 350mA its luminous efficacy is still 168lm/W, so even at this high wattage more than half of the electrical energy is converted into light.

Intematix Phosphor Blend Accomplishes Near Perfect Light Quality for LEDs

Intematix Corporation announced that it has demonstrated a phosphor blend that provides a near perfect color rendering index (CRI) of 98 and R9 value of 99 when applied to a reference LED package. The results highlight Intematix's unique phosphor leadership in the LED lighting industry, as the phosphor blend combines three separate material families, all offered by Intematix. CRI is a light quality measurement grading how well a light source renders color on a scale of 1 to 100 with sunlight producing a CRI reference of 100. This achievement paves the way for designers to develop LED lighting systems for retail, hospitality, residential and museum locations that greatly enhance the appearance of apparel, environments, skin tones and artwork.
"Reaching 98 CRI is huge -- it means that by adding Intematix phosphor, an LED package can render true color," said Dr. Yiqun Li, chief technology officer and executive vice president at Intematix. "That's the efficiency of Silicon Valley with the light quality demanded by the finest New York City gallery, Milan boutique or Hong Kong hotel. This benchmark gives our customers the ability to create the highest quality lighting designs and fixtures."
The 98 CRI milestone was demonstrated in Intematix's laboratories using a blend of three of the company's patented phosphor product platforms. Intematix provides lighting manufacturers with competitive advantages in the development of innovative LED systems for display and general lighting applications, including high quality light and energy efficiency. More information on the company's broad range of phosphor products can be found at www.intematix.com .

High Intensity LED Wall Pack Light

Larson Electronics' Magnalight.com has announced the addition of the LEDWP-250 LED wall pack light to its extensive line of high grade LED lighting solutions. Designed to provide a vapor and weatherproof lighting solution for demanding environments, this LED equipped wall pack light offers versatile voltage options, and light output comparable to 250 watt halogen fixtures. Ruggedly constructed and boasting a 50,000 hour LED operational life, this wall pack light offers highly efficient operation coupled with extreme lamp life that can help to reduce energy and maintenance costs without compromising performance

Cree boosts XLamp XP-G LED efficiency to 140lm/W in production

LED chip, lamp and lighting fixture maker Cree Inc of Durham, NC, USA has boosted its XLamp LED family with new levels of performance for its XLamp XP-G LEDs. The cool-white XLamp XP-G provides brightness of up to 148 lumens and luminous efficiency of 141 lumens per watt, while the outdoor-white (4000K) delivers up to 139 lumens and 132 lumens per watt, and the warm-white (3000K) offers up to 122 lumens and 116 lumens per watt, all at a drive current of 350mA. The firm says that the XP-G can help lighting manufacturers to reduce system cost and complexity as well as making existing designs brighter and more efficient.

Cooper Lighting Introduces the Next Generation LED LightBAR System

Cooper Lighting has announced it has upgraded its outdoor LED LightBAR technology. Internally developed at Cooper Lighting's accredited state-of-the-art LED Innovation Center and integrated in multiple product lines, the new system's unmatched optical performance delivers improved lumen output and efficiency, while continuing to offer up to 75% in energy savings over traditional High Intensity Discharge (H.I.D.) outdoor lighting sources.
Designed to meet today's demanding energy and environmental needs, Cooper Lighting's LightBAR technology features the company's patented AccuLED Optics, which sets the industry benchmark for reliable photometric performance, scalability and energy efficiency. The system's unique application-specific design allows lumen and energy output to be customized to fulfill the exact needs of the outdoor space--eliminating wasted energy and obtrusive spill light. Designed for both new construction applications or to replace inefficient luminaires, the next generation LightBAR technology is available in two versions (7 LEDs and 21 LEDs), three standard color options (3000K, 4000K and 6000K correlated color temperatures (CCT)), and offered in 13 different optical distributions, providing versatility for every outdoor need, including street lighting, area/site, floodlighting, wall mount, parking garage, canopy and pathway solutions.
The updated LightBAR technology offers an increase in efficiency in all optical distributions without degrading optical performance, lumen depreciation or lumens per watt (lm/W). Boasting more task lumens per watt, the high efficiency 21 LED LightBAR optical fixtures deliver up to 100 lm/W or 2400 lumens per LightBAR, which outperforms the original 21 LED LightBAR fixture (1800 lumens) by 600 lumens - (using the same number of AccuLED Optics) -, while the 7 LED LightBAR optical choice (1900 lumens) also increases its lumen output over the original 21 LED LightBAR.
The efficiency and performance improvement roadmaps of LED technology guarantee the availability of improved lm/W packages in the future. To address future retrofits of higher performing packages, Cooper's unique LightBAR design is backwards compatible or future-proof both electrically and thermally, meaning there are no changes to the driver or the heat sink, making future LED upgrade replacements to its fixtures simple.
Cooper Lighting also expanded the color options to include a 3000K and 6000K CCT as standard in addition to the preferred color choice, warm white color of 4000K CCT. While typical LED outdoor solutions are standardized on a cold blue color temperature (6000-6500K CCT), Cooper Lighting LightBAR-equipped fixtures, by comparison, provide specifiers and end-users a desired color choice.
Cooper Lighting's LightBAR technology provides energy savings between 30-75% over standard H.I.D. systems while also providing a 50,000+ hour rated life-six times longer than the traditional metal halide sources found in most outdoor commercial applications.
The LightBAR technology, integrated into the industry's leading portfolio of outdoor product lines represented across four of Cooper Lighting's company brands - Invue, McGraw-Edison, Lumark and Streetworks, - offers lighting solutions that qualify for many local utility rebates.

Strategies Unlimited lowers 2011 HB-LED revenue growth forecast to 9.8%

Revenues for high-brightness light emitting diodes (HB-LEDs) grew 108% to $11.2bn in 2010, driven by applications in TV backlight units, according to the ‘High-Brightness LED Market Review and Forecast – 2011’ by Strategies Unlimited. Growth is quieting down though, as expanding supply and a slowdown in overall TV demand in 2011 pushed LED prices drastically lower, says the market research firm.

Church refuses to change light bulb due to 'overzealous health and safety rules'

Health and safety rules mean scaffolding is required whenever a bulb needs replacing in the 30ft internal roof at St Mary's Church in Cottingham, Humberside. The church says the rules mean they cannot simply use ladders to change the bulb. The staggering cost of performing the basic task means the church has to wait until a number of lights have popped before using scaffolding to replace the bulbs.

Samsung reports LED breakthrough

Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday that its researchers reported a breakthrough in light-emitting diode technology that will allow production of ultra-large advanced display panels on ordinary glass, such as window panes. Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology succeeded in fabricating nearly single crystalline Gallium Nitride on amorphous glass substrates, a milestone that will enable production of super-sized LEDs using glass substrates, Samsung said.

Lighting Science Group upgrading Villa stores with LEDs

Lighting Science Group is performing an LED lighting upgrade for Villa, the Philadelphia-based urban-inspired apparel and footwear retailer. Villa estimates the lighting upgrade will pay for itself in one to two years, with energy and maintenance savings continuing to shave costs from its bottom line going forward. The project kicked off at Villa’s store in Toledo, Ohio, where Lighting Science replaced traditional 75-watt PAR halogen bulbs with its 15 watt PAR LED bulbs.

A New Use for LEDs: Mind Control

“Biological specific lights,” tuned so as not to interfere with an individual’s normal production of melatonin, the hormone secreted from the pineal gland linked to sleepiness, could begin to hit the market in about two years, according to Mr. Maxik, a founder of the Lighting Science Group, which specializes in LED bulbs. With a biological bulb, you could read at night without experiencing the nagging irritability that can occur after using a computer or sitting close to a lamp near bedtime.

Grant secures light upgrade

Things may be a little brighter on campus after the sun goes down. The University of North Dakota was recently awarded a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which gives the university $1 million to redo some of the lights around campus. This grant will mainly be put into use installing eco-friendly lights around campus. The bulbs used in this project are more efficient than the current bulbs. "Each light bulb will be using about 1.8 megawatts less than the high pressure sodium that are in place," said Randy Bohlman, an industrial electric systems analyst for UND. The new lights will be placed mainly near the campus parking lots. These parking lots include the parking ramp, by the Memorial Union, and residence hall parking lots, in addition to the city's street lights.

Philips Lighting earns 2011 Leader of Change Award

For its longstanding commitment to sustainability through the development of innovative lighting, including light-emitting diode (LED) technologies, Philips Lighting has been selected as a 2011 Leader of Change Award winner by the Foundation for Social Change and the United Nations Office for Partnerships.
Philips will receive the award today during the Global Conference for Social Change: Turning Social Responsibility into Business Opportunity at the UN Plaza. Philips is one of 11 organizations and individuals to be so honored.
“Philips has long been at the forefront of innovation to boost sustainability, and today we continue to be pioneers in light,” said Zia Eftekhar, CEO, Philips Lighting North America. “We are grateful to receive this prestigious Leader of Change Award. It recognizes our commitment to providing lighting solutions that enhance the health and well-being of humans everywhere while ensuring environmental and economic efficiency.”
The Leader of Change Award recognizes visionary companies and individuals that have demonstrated an exemplary commitment to the pursuit of sustainability, demonstrating that “doing good is good for business”. The winners have embedded sustainability, environmental concern and social performance as part of their competitive business strategy.

Cooler LED Light Bulb Good for 37 Years

The CSYS lamp sets a new standard in environmental performance according its developer, Jake Dyson. The secret is heat pipe technology, borrowed from the electronics industry, where tiny copper pipes with a vacuum inside are used to remove heat from the computer components. The lamp, which gets its name from the CSYS coordinates on a designers electronic drawing board, moves smoothly through three axes, staying where it's put.

Osram Fully Acquires Encelium Technologies

Siemens AG's (SI) light manufacturer Osram AG said Wednesday it has signed an agreement to gain full control of Encelium Technologies, as it aims to enhance its position in LED based technologies and Light Management Systems. Encelium, headquartered in Teaneck, N.J., is a leading software technology development company focusing on advanced lighting control and energy management systems for commercial and industrial buildings; it employs approximately 70 people in the United States and Canada. No financial details were disclosed.

FoxFury Announces New Rook White / UV LED Flashlights for Security

FoxFury Lighting Solutions, designer and manufacturer of professional portable LED lighting, announces its new Rook SM3 and MD3 LED flashlights. These lights feature white light and UV light (also known as black light) and serve as general illumination lighting tools than can also inspect currency and identification. Both lights can be used by anyone but were specifically designed for law enforcement, security guards, TSA and other government security personnel.
The Rook SM3 and MD3 are compact with a black exterior, strike bezel and UV transmitting quartz lens. Both employ a powerful white CREE LED for general illumination along with four UV (395 nm) LEDs that can help determine whether money or identification (driver’s license, etc.) is authentic or counterfeit. Other items including body fluids, antifreeze and scorpions will also fluoresce (glow) under ultraviolet light.
The Rook SM3 and MD3 both feature three modes: white light, UV light and a disorienting Turbo-Strobe. The SM3 is ultra compact, 65 torch lumen and runs on a single AA battery. The MD3 is slightly larger, 130 torch lumen and can be powered by either two CR123 batteries or a single 18650 (rechargeable lithium ion) battery.
"We’re excited to offer compact LED flashlights with both white and UV light. The ability to quickly search, inspect and/or disorient all in one tool can be a major asset for security personnel,” said Tim Ellwood, LE / Military Sales Manager for FoxFury.

Dow Electronic Materials Launches LED Technologies Business

Dow Electronic Materials, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, announced the formation of a new LED Technologies business segment to capture current and future demand for light emitting diodes (LEDs) in the global solid state lighting (SSL) market. “Dow is in a unique position to capitalize on this rapidly growing market because we offer the broadest technology today and we bring a deep knowledge of LED materials processing,” said Jim Fahey, global general manager for Dow Electronic Materials’ Growth Technologies business. “For more than 35 years, Dow has been an important player in the SSL market as a leading supplier of metalorganic CVD precursors, so we understand the technology needs. Additionally, our long history with semiconductor materials, processing and methodologies allows us to meet the exacting needs of semiconductor companies – many of which are Dow’s existing customers – as they migrate into the SSL market.”
In addition to the metalorganic CVD precursors, which are used to make the active light-emitting areas in LEDs, the new LED Technologies business will supply photoresists, related ancillaries for lithographic processing, and pads and slurries for CMP – all of which are used in the manufacture of LEDs.
“SSL – especially for general illumination – is in many ways in its infancy,” said Rick Hemond, global business director for LED Technologies. “The current market growth is largely driven by backlighting for displays, mobile devices and HDTVs, but wider adoption of LEDs into commercial and residential lighting is expected to expand market growth over the next decade and beyond.” Hemond added, “There are many opportunities for materials suppliers, and we look forward to expanding our portfolio and capabilities – in some cases by leveraging Dow’s core materials and competencies – to make further inroads in the SSL market.”

LED Grid Luminaire features frameless design

Sealed to protect integrity of optical system, 22GP LED Premium Grid Troffer performs well in both open areas and corridors. Solid state lighting platform combines color rendering index of 80 with 50,000 hour rated life. Illumination can be customized from offering of lumen packages ranging from 2,300-3,800 lumens. Since frequent switching does not affect life LED life, luminaire is suited for use with controls.

PennWell acquires The LED Show, plans 2012 event in Las Vegas

Tulsa, OK-based PennWell Corp., the parent company of LEDs Magazine, announced that it has acquired The LED Show conference and exhibition from founder James Highgate who will now serve as a consultant to PennWell. PennWell will hold the solid-state-lighting (SSL)-centric event in 2012 at the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV from July 30 to August 1. Highgate founded the conference in 2009, focused on lighting design and technology in the SSL segment of the lighting industry. The show has featured participants including leading LED manufacturers and the top SSL luminaire manufacturers, and is poised for growth in concert with the growing LED-lighting segment.

Philips Shows New Jersey What LED Lighting can do for the Home

First Philips Lighting brought LED light bulbs to your home, and now they are bringing it to New Jersey with the Philips LED Light Experience, a fun, educational and free interactive mobile exhibit. The Philips LED Light Experience will provide hands-on exhibits for visitors to explore what LED light can do for their homes and see firsthand where science meets style – with light bulbs.

Diodes Incorporated's LED Driver Reduces EMI in Low-Cost Lamps

Diodes Incorporated, a leading global manufacturer and supplier of high-quality application specific standard products within the broad discrete, logic and analog semiconductor markets, announced the AL8807 buck LED driver. Switching at a frequency of up to 1MHz and ensuring closely controlled rise and fall times, the AL8807 reduces EMI issues in the lower cost MR16 LED lamp market. To achieve required higher output powers, the driver can operate at input voltages between 6V to 30V and provide up to eight series-connected LEDs with a constant 1A current.
The driver's current accuracy of 5% means it will meet the requirements of most general low-voltage lighting applications and lead to an improvement in inter-lamp luminance matching in 3W LED lighting systems. The driver is up to 96% efficient and its output current is simple to set using a single external resistor.
Dimming control is via the application of either a DC voltage or PWM signal on the driver's control input, which also protects against any over-driving of the LED current. The AL8807's 1000:1 PWM dimming ratio and DC dimming range from 16% to 100%, provide users with flexible and wide-ranging lamp brightness control.
The AL8807 is available in the small footprint SOT25 package and will soon be available in the MSOP-8EP package. For further information, visit the Company's website at www.diodes.com .

Curtiss-Wright Controls Introduces Family of Rugged High Definition Dual LED Backlit Displays

Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing (CWCEC), a business group of Curtiss-Wright Controls and a designer and manufacturer of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) VME, and OpenVPX products for the rugged deployed aerospace and defense market, has announced the availability of its new enhanced family of Skyquest rugged displays for use on airborne platforms. The new family of Dual LED Backlit Skyquest Displays, available in configurations from 10.4" to 20", provides a new way of delivering Night Vision Goggle (NVG) filtering, and features LED illumination with wider color range, less heat dissipation and less light performance degradation than experienced with older cold cathode tube displays.
Traditional NVG filtering is achieved by fitting a filter to the full display area, which dims the image and adds an undesirable green tint that is visible in both daytime and nighttime operations. With CWCEC's Dual LED Backlit Skyquest Displays, this filter is removed from the front of the screen. Instead, the filtering occurs in the backlight located behind the LCD. A simple toggle switch enables the selection of either white daylight LEDs or green NVG-filtered LEDs integrated in the backlight within the display, providing complete control over the type of light emitted from the screen. The result is a very high brightness, full color image readable in direct sunlight during daytime operations, and a fully filtered display ideal for NVG operations.
"Our new Dual LED backlit Skyquest displays provide a high performance upgrade to older cathode tube technology and a truly unique way of achieving Night Vision Goggle compatibility," said Lynn Bamford, vice president and general manager of Curtiss-Wright Controls Embedded Computing. "We are introducing new LED displays across our product range, that can be used by system integrators as standalone displays or as part of an intelligent, centralized Skyquest multi-display video management system."
The new LED displays provide a number of significant advantages over older cathode tube technology. Because they use solid state devices instead of glass tubes, the LED displays are much more rugged as issues associated with the mounting of glass tubes and shock breakage are eliminated. LED displays, which offer highly precise brightness control, enable the system integrator to create different lighting regimes for different application areas.
About Skyquest VMS systems The Skyquest VMS surveillance system uniquely delivers video switching, recording, and display capabilities. It provides extensive, flexible video management capability including touch screen control, multiple video sources on any display, and direct control of recorders all from any of the on-board rugged video displays. The Skyquest VMS is currently fielded with leading law enforcement and military customers throughout the world, including UK Ministry of Defense (MOD), most UK law enforcement operators, and the U.S. Army Air National Guard.

Sharp to Introduce High-Power LED Lighting Devices

Sharp Corporation has developed and will introduce a high-power LED lighting device that features the industry's highest luminous efficacy of 93.3 lm/W (lumens/watt) in the 50W input power class as a light source for applications such as downlighting in retail stores.
LED lighting is rapidly increasing in popularity based on its superior characteristics such as long service life and low energy consumption. In the future, lighting sources for applications such as downlighting and spotlights in retail stores are expected to shift to higher-power LEDs.
This newly developed device, the GW5DME30MR5, incorporates an LED chip with high emission efficiency combined with a proprietary blend of phosphors. As a result, it achieves a luminous efficacy of 93.3 lm/W, the industry's highest in the 50W input power class, at the 3000K color temperature commonly used in downlights for retail stores and with a color rendering index (Ra) of 83. It achieves high energy-saving performance. In addition, proprietary package technology provides for greater color consistency, contributing to higher quality in the design and development of lighting fixtures.
The lineup also includes high-performance models that feature a color rendering index (Ra) of greater than 90 to meet the need for light sources which require higher color rendering properties.