Tyco announces solderless socket for new Philips LEDs

Tyco Electronics has announced a new solderless LED socket to complement the new Philips Lumileds Luxeon S LED that targets general-lighting applications. Both products were announced at the Strategies in Light conference. The socket complies with UL-1977 specifications. The socket is designed for un-lensed applications and the design ensures that emitted light is unobstructed. Tyco asserts that 98% of the light is unimpeded by the socket. The socket is offered with or without an snap in connection that can hold a secondary optics in place. The design supports reflectors manufactured by Ledil. The company offers the Venla series in a variety of beam angles and the reflectors snap directly onto the socket.

PowerSecure Receives $10 Million in Smart Grid, LED Lighting Awards

PowerSecure International, Inc., a provider of energy and smart grid solutions to electric utilities, and their commercial, institutional and industrial customers, has received $10 million in smart grid power system and LED lighting awards. Officials with PowerSecure International said that the new Interactive Distributed Generation (IDG) System awards total $7 million, and include installations for a broad base of customers, including hospitals, municipal water systems, educational facilities, and retailers.

New Cree XLamp MT-G LED Delivers Performance

Cree, Inc.  announces a new lighting-class LED designed for high-output, small form-factor directional lighting applications. The XLamp MT-G LEDs are optimized for 35-50 Watt halogen MR16 retrofit bulbs and other accent, track, display and down lighting used in retail stores, residential settings, museums, art galleries, hospitality and landscapes and are the first commercial LEDs to deliver sufficient light output for these applications.
“To date, there are no energy-efficient alternatives for many high-lumen, small form-factor, directional lighting applications. Until now, LED-based MR16 lamps have been a tremendous challenge for the lighting design community in terms of both light output and color consistency due to their small size and limited capacity for thermal management”
The multi-die XLamp MT-G LED features Cree EasyWhite technology to deliver consistent color in a small, highly efficient package. This innovative LED is designed for the high-lumen, small-footprint requirements of 35 and 50 Watt halogen retrofit lamps. Cree engaged driver, thermal and optic providers to create an MR16 lamp reference design to further enable its LED customers to quickly address this market. The reference design is available for free at mtg.cree.com.
The XLamp MT-G LED is the first in the industry binned and tested at 85 degrees C which can simplify luminaire design calculations and speed time-to-market. With a 9mm x 9mm footprint, the MT-G LED delivers up to 560 lumens at 1.1A at 85 C or up to 1525 lumens at 4A at 85 C in warm white (3000K). Samples are available immediately and production volumes are available with standard lead times.

More Americans using energy efficient light bulbs

A new poll finds more Americans are switching to energy efficient light bulbs. USA Today found nearly three-quarters of adults say they have replaced standard light bulbs in their home over the past few years with compact fluorescent lamps or LEDs. Eighty-four percent reported being very satisfied with the alternatives

LED Microsite for Design Engineers

Leading North American electronics distributor Newark and its element14 engineering community have launched an innovative microsite dedicated to LED lighting technology. The new site at Newark provides engineers with a comprehensive LED lighting destination, offering solution-based guidance for applications such as street lighting, solar power signals and RGB color mixing, as well as access to a wide range of design and collaboration tools. 
In addition to application notes, white papers, training resources, design tools, and videos, the new LED site enables engineers to view and purchase from a best-in-class product portfolio available for same day shipping.  Engineers have access to a wide range of lighting components from top brands such as Cree, Avago, Bridgelux, Ledil and Lumex to design a complete lighting solution, including high power/high brightness LEDs, LED modules and arrays, indicators, thermal and power management products, optics, and lamps.

From an oil wick lamp to LEDs

From a bonfire lit by a fisherwoman to guide the menfolk to the shore, to the latest LED lights and a radon that can detect and guide ships, lighthouses have come a long way. These structures have played a crucial role in the growth of Chennai from a small fishing hamlet to a sprawling metropolis. The lighthouses at Chennai and Mamallapuram use dischargeable lamps, which rotate inside a bowl of mercury. Now, LED lights are preferred, say experts. According to Prasad, the Marina lighthouse maintains a range of 28 nautical miles for vessels and is one of the tallest lighthouses in the country.

LED Dog Collar

If your dog does not respond to you after a grueling hunting trip then there’s surely something wrong and it’s the LED Dog Collar that will lead you to your beloved pooch.

LED Market Looks Overcrowded

Several companies in the industry who specialise in LED products have suffered significant selloffs already. The light-emitting diode (LED) market has been on the upswing in recent years due to the rise in sales of consumer electronics products such as mobile phones and television screens. In addition, LEDs are on the verge of overtaking both incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs in terms of use as governments, businesses and consumers seek to curb emissions. The rise in LED popularity has led to an overcrowded industry and a sudden surge in government-backed Chinese LED makers has eaten into the market shares held by the likes of Cree and Veeco Instruments.

Sharp develops High-Output and High-Color-Rendering LED

Sharp has developed and will introduce high-output, high-color-rendering 25W-class LED lighting devices. These 25W-class devices have achieved incredibly low energy consumption through the adoption of LED chips and phosphor, which both have excellent high-temperature properties

Comprehensive Report on European OLED Market

According to a new report, currently the OLED market is in its infancy stage. The growth of the OLED industry relies on the adoption of new OLED technologies including active-matrix OLED AMOLED. The market report examines the application sectors, namely, lighting and display as well as the technologies, namely, LED and OLED. It offers the existing and future trends in the OLED market in Europe. In addition, the report offers information on the market restraints and market drivers.

New light bulbs have steep price

LED lights and CFL’s may be energy-saving in the long run, but $8 for a CFL or $20 for an LED, when you can buy four incandescents for $3, is a shot in the pocketbook. Of course, the LEDs and CFLs are intended for a longer life span, thereby costing the consumer less in the long run, but it’s not easy to digest when you are on a limited or fixed income or are earning only $8 an hour (the cost of one CFL)

Some Consumers Stockpiling Old Lightbulbs

Turning the lights on inside your home is soon going to cost everyone a little bit more. That's because a phase-out of the old-style light bulbs start next year and that is causing an unusual response. People are stockpiling the old-styled bulbs. Bill Gillespie of Charleston has seen the light -- and it's the incandescent ones he wants.

Consumers hoard old light bulbs

By law the traditional bulbs will be phased out beginning next year. They will be replaced by the more energy efficient CFLs, halogen or LEDs. However, a lighting-industry survey found 13 percent of consumers plan to stockpile the old bulbs and continue using them, consumers complain the CFL lighting is dimmer and doesn't turn on right away.

Analog Clock with Digital Guts and LED Animations

Philips Lumileds Extends LED Portfolio for Automotive Signaling

Philips Lumileds announced release and immediate availability of its new SignalSure mid-power LEDs for automotive signaling applications. The new surface mount LED is intended to be the most robust and reliable surface mount LED available to the automotive industry today and undergoes a rigorous Multi Environment Overstress Testing (MEOST) regime that exceeds the testing required by today’s standards for automotive signaling LED sources. SignalSure is available in red-orange and amber colors per automotive specifications.
“Reliability and confidence in a surface mount signaling product has been our design objective for SignalSure from the start” The MEOST testing for SignalSure goes well beyond datasheet maximums to ensure ongoing reliability and performance. As part of the MEOST testing regime, developed in conjunction with the company’s tier 1 customers, SignalSure LEDs are exposed to extreme heat, humidity, and high levels of sulphur gas. Philips Lumileds simulates high-voltage jump start and high voltage alternator failure to ensure that the SignalSure LEDs will continue to operate without degradation in performance, quality, and light output. The MEOST test regime is outlined in the SignalSure Reliability Datasheet that is available from Philips Lumileds website. SignalSure LEDs are AEC-Q101 Qualified and meet Japanese and SAE/ECE requirements.
“Reliability and confidence in a surface mount signaling product has been our design objective for SignalSure from the start,” said Paul Martin, Senior Director for Philips Lumileds’ mid-power automotive LEDs. “There are certainly other surface mount LEDs in use today, but it was clear that the automotive industry’s needs were not being met. Only SignalSure achieves the automotive industry’s desired level of reliability for a surface mount product. No other automotive SMD product we know of goes through the extreme testing applied to our LEDs and as a result, we are delivering a superior SMD with a wide design margin for signaling applications.”
SignalSure surface mount LEDs expand the portfolio offering that includes Philips Lumileds’ SnapLED and SuperFlux LEDs. SnapLED has become the auto industry’s standard for performance, flexibility, and reliability and its unique clinch frame assembly has made it the choice for signature styling on vehicles around the world. Philips Lumileds expects SignalSure to become the surface mount product of choice for a variety of applications where thin, low profile designs are preferred, including: center stop, side-marker, tail, mirror turn, rear fog, and motorcycle signaling.

Rubicon Bounces On Positive Analyst Comments

LED stocks have struggled lately as disappointing earnings reports and lukewarm analyst comments have plagued the sector, leading the LED Stocks Index to a decline of almost 6% over the past month, but LED bulls are seeing some relief with the Index moving higher by 1.8%. Rubicon Technology (RBCN) is helping lead the charge with a gain of 5% after JPMorgan said Wall Street has become too bearish on the stock regarding LED wafer pricing and supply concerns.

Tyco Gets Into LED Lighting

Tyco Electronics, a conglomerate that makes everything from military hardware to medical equipment, has contracted LED fever. The company today unfurled the Nevalo system, a set of plug-and-play components for assembling solid state lighting systems for retail establishments, hotels, public areas and other locations. Bridgelux, one of the leading startups in solid state lighting, will supply LEDs and LED modules adapted for street lighting and commercial establishments to Tyco for Nevalo.

Corporation to use LEDs for street lighting

As part of greening the city Kochi (India), the Kochi Corporation is planning to convert all the street lights in the city into energy efficient light emitting diode(LEDs). If the Corporation Council approves the project, the civic body will implement the project, which can save up to 30 percent on its electricity bills for street lights, in association with sponsors.