What’s inside a solar-powered LED light

The design of Nokero solar-charged battery-powered LED lighting for developing countries comes with certain dimming and microcontroller choices. In developing countries, where kerosene is an expensive and potentially hazardous energy source, solar-charged battery-powered LED lighting can be a money-saving, safer alternative. Nokero (“kero” being the shortened name for kerosene) was one of the first companies to venture into the emerging market. Here’s a look inside to see what design decisions were made.

Launching the Brand-New GaN-Template Product from Hitachi Cable

Hitachi Cable, Ltd. has developed a new mass-production technology for GaN-templates, in which a high-quality gallium nitride (GaN) single-crystal thin film is grown on a sapphire substrate, and it will start selling these templates.
Using this product as a base substrate for an epitaxial wafer for white LEDs (hereinafter referred to as "epiwafer for white LED epiwafers") makes it possible to drastically improve productivity of white LED epiwafers and the LED properties. Therefore, this product is expected to become an effective solution to improve the position of white LED manufacturers in the industry, where there is severe competition.
The demand for white LEDs is rapidly expanding and they have come to be used in backlight unit in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and ordinary lighting devices in recent years thanks to their energy efficiency and long service life. The structure of an white LED epiwafer consists of a thin active layer and a p-type GaN layer with a total thickness of about 1μm over an n-type GaN layer with a thickness of about 10μm, grown on a sapphire substrate. All these crystal layers are produced by the MOVPE method in ordinary manufacturing processes.
The MOVPE method is suitable for growing active layers which require atomic-level control of the film thickness. Meanwhile, a disadvantage of this method is that it takes a long time to grow a high-quality and thick n-type GaN layer. White LED epiwafers can be grown about once or twice a day at the most, and thus there is a need for a high-efficiency production method.
To solve this problem, Hitachi Cable developed a GaN-template used as a base substrate for growth in the MOVPE method. The GaN template consists of an n-type GaN layer grown on a sapphire substrate. Using a GaN-template means LED manufacturers do not need to grow an n-type GaN buffer layer and this reduces the time required for growth by about half compared with conventional methods. The GaN-templates of Hitachi Cable are also suitable for high-output LEDs which require large currents because they allow both low resistance and high crystal formation.

Cree Sees China, Low-Cost LEDs Lighting Up Business

A nation of 1.3 billion people needs a lot of light bulbs — and a lot of energy to power them. That's why officials in China have developed a plan to increase the use of light-emitting diode (LED) technology to help light its buildings, factories and homes. LEDs require much less power than traditional lighting sources. Officials in China hope that by expanding use of the technology, the country will cut energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Will LEDs Uproot the Weed Business?

Let's face it: For all marijuana's crunchy ties to sustainability and "being in tune with the Earth," growing considerable amounts of weed is fucking awful for the environment. Not all grows do more harm than good, if you want to call it that. Chris Walker wants to change that. Walker is with Radiant LED, an American weed-lighting company powered by the Stockholm-based lighting manufacturer Heliospectra. He says it's a matter of shedding a new sort of light on weed as the domestic marijuana industry stems its way out of the darkness and above ground.

Marvell Builds the Smarts Into Networked LEDs

LED lights, which are far more versatile than their incandescent and fluorescent cousins, also benefit far more from being connected into building-wide “smart” lighting networks. Think of controlling every light in the building to save energy by turning them off when people leave the room or dimming when daylight shines through the windows. Then, add data collection and analysis, on everything from which lights are starting to fail to which parts of the building are showing signs of energy waste or misuse, and the light fixture becomes the new node of an energy-smart building.

DEKOR Becomes CREE LEDs Branding Partner

DEKOR has made its name by making innovative LED lighting products that transcend the deck industry. Now DEKOR has joined CREE in promoting quality LED lighting as a CREE LEDs Branding Partner.
DEKOR has been committed to bringing LED technology to the home since its early days. This new partnership is the latest step in DEKOR’s evolution. The value and meaning of becoming a CREE LEDs Branding partner cannot be understated.“It means legitimacy and credibility. Consumers now understand LED technology is here. It’s going to be even more pronounced as time goes on, so what separates one LED lighting product from another is going to be the pedigree of the LED.”

Living night light with glowing algae

LEDs: In The Beginning

In 1961, American experimenters working at Texas Instruments applied for and received the patent for the infrared LED. Hewlett Packard introduced red LEDs in 1968 that were bright enough only for use as indicators on calculators and equipment. Gradually, other colors became available. As LED materials technology grew more advanced, light output rose, leading to the invention and development of the high-power white-light LEDs that we know today. With rising power output, it has grown increasingly necessary to shed excess heat to maintain reliability, and more complex packages have been adapted to do so. Packages for state of the art high-power LEDs now bear little resemblance to early LEDs.

Soraa Revolutionizes Lighting Customization with a Snap

Soraa, the world’s leader in gallium-nitride on gallium-nitride (GaN on GaN™) LED technology, unveiled today the SORAA SNAP System—the first magnetic-attach LED lamp and accessory system for lighting. Coupling its recently announced high output SORAA PREMIUM 2 or VIVID 2 LED MR16 10° lamp with a breakthrough prismatic lens and an innovative array of magnetic filter and lens attachments, the system allows users to customize the light directly on lamps, rather than on fixtures, opening up a new and exciting world of design possibilities for lighting.
Accessories are an important tool in lighting designers’ palettes as they allow designers to configure and fine-tune lighting scenes with dedicated light distributions and colors. They also give designers the flexibility to optimize a design on site, with any lamp beam spread. But until now, using these accessories was a tedious and costly process that involved heavy glass or metal accessories that could withstand the heat from halogen lamps, and required expensive fixtures built for such purpose.
With the SORAA SNAP System, the company has radically transformed the experience and economics of using accessories. Due to its bright, single LED light source made possible by Soraa’s proprietary GaN on GaN LED technology, and breakthrough prismatic optic, the SORAA LED MR16 10° lamp can accept a magnet in the center of the lens without any major effect on light output. This in turn, enables a simple attachment mechanism that can accept all kinds of accessories. Also, the relatively low operating temperature of the Soraa lamp allows the use of new accessory materials, such as advanced polymer films. Examples of typical accessories include: beam spreads such as 25°, 36°, 60°; hex-louvers and snoots to reduce glare; grates to create linear light patterns; filters for color temperature shifting and color tint effects. In addition, Soraa will also deliver a series of never-before-possible beam distributions such as flat tops with even illumination for specialty markets.
With the SORAA SNAP System, the company continues its groundbreaking innovative design in LED lighting products. With its elegant simplicity, dramatically smaller and lighter material footprint, and unlimited possibilities for future expansion into many types of lamp/fixture solutions, the system is another example of Soraa’s leadership in transforming ordinary lighting into extraordinary lighting.

Making Dumb LEDs Smarter for Just Pennies

Building intelligence into LED fixtures can be like sending your kid to a fancy boarding school: they might come out much smarter, but it will probably cost you a lot of money. Digital Lumens, one of the leaders in intelligent lighting, wants to create the charter school for LEDs. Today, Digital Lumens said it plans to work with manufacturers to integrate its Digital Light Agent communications technology into any kind of "dumb" LED fixture, thus expanding the company's intelligent platform beyond its own proprietary system.

100We and First 3-Way LED A-Lamp to Begin Shipping in May

SWITCH Lighting, makers of true LED replacement A-Lamps, today announced that their 100 watt and 3-way equivalents, the SWITCH100 and the first-of-a-kind SWITCH3-Way, will begin shipping in early May, following LIGHTFAIR® International. Both products will be on display along with the rest of SWITCH’s award-winning product line at LIGHTFAIR in the Philadelphia Convention Center from April 23 – 25.
SWITCH holds a number of broad patents on the SWITCH3-Way and is the first LED A-Lamp that works in three-way lighting fixtures. For the first time in LED lighting, users can select different levels of lighting - low, medium, and high (300, 800, 1,100 lumens and in 30/60/75 watt-equivalents) - for different applications at the flip of a switch on a table or floor lamp. The three power settings give users control over the amount of light, ambiance, and energy used, with no changes in the warm color temperature.
The SWITCH100 will be among the first 100 watt-equivalent LED A-lamps available to commercial and consumer customers when it ships in May. It’s designed on a small A-21 form factor. With its 4000K color temperature and 1600 lumen output, the SWITCH100 provides the same level of performance as the now obsolete 100W incandescent A-Lamps, at a fraction of the energy consumption at 20 Watts.
SWITCH LED A-Lamps provide the same warm, familiar glow of an incandescent A-Lamp, while using up to 80% less energy and lasting 25 times as long. They fit into standard light sockets, are dimmable, and can be used in the same manner as any incandescent or compact fluorescent A-Lamp - in any orientation, any fixture, anywhere. SWITCH A-Lamps solve the challenge of providing energy efficient lighting solutions with no environmental hazards or no toxic ingredients.
SWITCH's family of LED A-Lamps use the company's patented LQD Cooling System™ - the most innovative and effective thermal management system on the market today. The LQD Cooling System is a blend of the company's overall electronic design and proprietary technologies: a coolant made of liquid silicone, and a patented, highly efficient and reliable electronic driver. SWITCH is up to 40% more effective at diffusing heat and cooling LEDs than typical air-cooled LED A-Lamps.

Surprisingly Stylish Lamp Out of Three Sticks and a Lightbulb

The best DIY projects are useful, simple, and inexpensive. On rare occasions they're also beautiful. Such is the case with the Tres Lamp, a small source of lighting created out of three sticks and a lightbulb by Instructables user Tim Wikander.

LED price battle heats up as Osram launches 10-euro bulb

Germany's Osram is launching a new LED light bulb that costs less than 10 euros ($13.10) to battle rivals, such as Cree and Samsung Electronics, for a share of the fast-growing market. Light-emitting diodes (LED) - known for lighting flat-screen televisions and tablet PCs - are increasingly replacing other lights in homes, stores and on streets because they use less energy and are more durable. But they cost much more than incandescent bulbs or compact fluorescent lights, putting off consumers from buying LED lighting for their homes.

This Crazy Giraffe Floor Lamp Could Be a Pixar Mascot

A floor lamp isn't typically a place you'd expect to find a lot of personality, but this one showcased at the Milan furniture fair has plenty of it. You'd half expect to see it prancing around on screen before a Pixar movie. Fittingly named "Giraffe" and desgined by Bernhard | Burkhard, the lamp's extendable neck doesn't just look crazy, but actually provides some functionality too.

Consumers warm to LED bulbs as prices fall

If consumers are willing to spend $5 for a cup of coffee, how about paying $25 for a light bulb? An LED version of the 60-watt bulb just broke $13. The price of LEDs is finally following the lead of high-definition TVs, said Mike Connors, CEO of Bulbs.com in Massachusetts. “They’re getting to a point where more people are willing to splurge,” he said.

Make a Surprisingly Stylish Lamp Out of Three Sticks and a Lightbulb

The best DIY projects are useful, simple, and inexpensive. On rare occasions they're also beautiful. Such is the case with the Tres Lamp, a small source of lighting created out of three sticks and a lightbulb by Instructables user Tim Wikander.

Injectable LEDs Send Light Coursing Through Your Brain

People inject all kinds of unhealthy things into their bodies for fun, but most stick to illegal drugs and stop short at electronics. But that doesn't mean it's not possible; scientists have developed LEDs so small you can shoot them up, and they literally light up your brain. Designed by researchers at the University of Illinois, the new tiny LEDs are small enough to fit through the eye of a needle, operate wirelessly, and are flexible for minimum discomfort and danger. You'd never inject these into your arm though. Instead, they're designed to be brain implants. Many neurons can be activated with bursts of light, and the wireless LEDs could allow for deep brain stimulation without any pesky, invasive electrodes.

Philips creates the world’s most energy-efficient warm white LED lamp

Royal Philips Electronics announces a new innovation in LED lighting, creating the world’s most energy-efficient LED lamp suitable for general lighting applications. Philips researchers developed a tube lighting (TL) replacement TLED prototype that produces a record 200 lumens per watt of high-quality white light (compared with 100lm/W for fluorescent lighting and just 15lm/W for traditional light bulbs). This prototype TLED lamp is twice as efficient as predecessor lamps, basically halving the energy used.
With lighting accounting for more than 19% of the world’s total electricity consumption, this innovation promises to drive massive energy and cost savings across the globe. The 200lm/W TLED lamp is expected to hit the market in 2015 for office and industry applications before ultimately being used in the home.
The new TLED prototype lamp from Philips marks the first time that lighting engineers have been able to reach 200lm/W efficiency without compromising on light quality [1], with all parameters required to meet the stringent requirements for office lighting. “This again is a major breakthrough in LED lighting and will further drive the transformation of the lighting industry,” explains Rene van Schooten, CEO Light Sources & Electronics for Philips Lighting. “After being recognized for our quality of LED light (mimicking traditional light bulbs) to creating new experience with Philips Hue (the connected light system for the home), we now present the next innovative step in doubling lighting efficiency. It’s exciting to imagine the massive energy and cost savings it will bring to our planet and customers.” 
The TLED lamps are intended to replace fluorescent tube lighting used in office and industry, which currently account for more than half of the world’s total lighting. Conversion to the twice-as-efficient 200lm/W TLED lamps will generate significant energy and cost savings.
In the US alone, for example, fluorescent lights consume around 200 terawatts of electricity annually. If these lights were all replaced with 200lm/W TLEDs, the US would use around 100 terawatts less energy (equivalent to 50 medium sized power plants) saving more than US$12 billion and preventing around 60 million metric tons of CO2 from being released into the atmosphere.[2] 
This new LED innovation from Philips underlines the value and power of its lighting business, bringing together its expertise in LED technology, lamps, applications and systems. Market leading innovations from Philips Lumileds, as in phosphor technology and blue LEDs, together contribute to the high quality of light and advances in efficiency.

LED Engin announces high-CRI daylight LED

Targeting broadcast and studio lighting, LED Engin has introduced a new 5300K white LED, and added to its RGBW portfolio with an LED delivering a 30% performance gain. LED Engin is now offering the Studio White family of LEDs that produce 5300K CCT light at a CRI greater than 85 for lighting products that will target broadcast and studio applications. Targeting solid-state lighting (SSL) for stage applications, the LZ4 flat-lens family of LEDs packs red, green, blue, and white (RGBW) die into a single package.

New Rijksmuseum illuminated with Philips LED lighting

Royal Philips Electronics announces the illumination of the renovated Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and its entire art exhibition with its LED lighting. As one of the lead partners in the renovation, Philips has been working closely with the Rijksmuseum on the lighting design with a strong focus on the visitor experience and the conservation of the artworks. The renovated Rijksmuseum opens its doors on April 13, showcasing collections of the Dutch Masters such as Rembrandt and Vermeer, all illuminated with Philips LED lighting.
The LED lighting solution creates effects and visual contrasts that closely mimic the color rendition of natural daylight, presenting the artwork in the best way and enhancing the visitor experience. With more than 9,500 square meters and 7,500 artworks illuminated, it is the largest gallery space ever lit by LED. In addition, Philips’ LEDs light the museum’s public spaces including the shop, the atriums, the restaurant as well as the outdoor area and building façade.
Philips developed, implemented and detailed the lighting of the new Rijksmuseum. Philips cooperated closely with the museum staff, the museum’s architects Wilmotte & Associés and Cruz y Ortiz to realize the interior lighting design and also worked with the Rijksgebouwendienst (the Government Buildings Agency part of the Ministry of Interior and Kingdom Relations, the owner of the building) to realize plans for the outdoor lighting.

Quantum Dot and Quantum Dot Display (QLED): Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts

Quantum dots will cascade into the marketplace. They offer lower cost, longer life, and brighter lighting.
According to Susan Eustis, the commercialization of quantum dots using kilogram quantity mass production is a game-changer. High quality, high quantity and lowest price quantum dots increase product quality in every industry. The rate of change means speeded products cycles are evolving.
Once manufacturers learn to integrate higher efficiency luminescent quantum dots into their products, each vendor will need to follow or dramatically lose market share. This level of change brought by quantum dot and quantum dot displays (QLED) represents a new paradigm that will create new industries, products and jobs in science and industry. The list of possible quantum dot applications is ever expanding. New applications are waiting for the availability of more evolved quantum dots.
Quantum Dot LED (QLED) commercial focus has remained on key optical applications: Optical component lasers are emerging as a significant market. LED backlighting for LCD displays, LED general lighting, and solar power quantum dots are beginning to reach the market. Vendors continue to evaluate other applications.
Quantum dots QDs are minute particles or nano-particles in the range of 2 nm to 10 nm diameter. Quantum dots are tiny bits of semiconductor crystals with optical properties that are determined by their material composition. Their size is small to the nanoparticle level. They are made through a synthesis process. QD Vision synthesizes these materials in solution, and formulates them into inks and films. Quantum Dot LEDs (QLED) enable performance and cost benefits.
The quantum dot cannot be seen with the naked eye, because it is an extremely tiny semiconductor nanocrystal. The nanocrystal is a particle having a particle size of less than 10 nanometers. QDs have great potential as light-emitting materials for next-generation displays with highly saturated colors because of high quantum efficiency, sharp spectral resolution, and easy wavelength tenability. Because QDs convert light to current, QDs have uses in other applications, including solar cells, photo detectors, and image sensors.
QLED displays are anticipated to be more efficient than LCDs and OLEDs. They are cheaper to make. Samsung estimates that they cost less than half of what it costs to make LCDs or OLED panels. QLED quantum dot display is better than OLED. It is brighter, cheaper, and saves more energy. Energy-savings is a strong feature. Its power consumption is 1/5 to 1/10 of the LCD's Samsung offers now. Manufacturing costs of a display are less than half of OLED or LCD. It has a significantly longer life than the OLED.
QLED quantum dot display uses active matrix to control the opening and closing of the pixels of each color. Quantum dots have to use a thin film transistor. Emission from quantum dots is due to light or electrical stimulation. The quantum dots are able to produce different colors depending on the quantum shape and size used in the production of materials.
Dow Electronic Materials, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) and Nanoco Group plc (AIM: NANO) have a global licensing agreement for Nanoco's cadmium-free quantum dot technology. Under the terms of the agreement, Dow Electronic Materials will have exclusive worldwide rights for the sale, marketing and manufacture of Nanoco's cadmium-free quantum dots for use in electronic displays.

Forget WiFiSlam — ByteLight uses LEDs for indoor positioning

Satellite navigation has been one of the most important technological advances of the last 50 years. No matter how good the systems get, they still don’t work where we spend the majority of our time: the great indoors. Tools have been devised that cleverly use WiFi triangulation and “hybrid” GPS (say, GPS coordinates combined with sensor data from a compass, pedometer, and accelerometer), but these are inaccurate and generally unreliable. A company called ByteLight is trying to change this situation with a system that uses LED lighting to provide devices with accurate location data.

Discount Fire Supplies Introduce New Range of LED Emergency Lighting

Discount Fire Supplies, retailers of Fire Alarm Systems and LED emergency lighting, have recently added a selection of new products to their LED emergency lighting range. Covering LED emergency exit signs to LED emergency floodlights, Discount Fire Supplies are stocking a complete range of LED lighting to cover all emergency lighting eventualities.
With fast developments in technology, LED lighting offers a number of advantages over conventional lighting. The main one being that when a LED lamp emits light it does not lose any energy as heat, making LED emergency lighting more efficient than regular incandescent emergency lighting. Add to that longer life expectancy and lower maintenance costs and overall LED lighting is more friendly to the environment and safety budgets.

LEDs to Save $800k

Superintendent Jerome Belair announced his plans to team with a Berlin energy company to save $800,000 over the next 25 years by using solar energy and LED lighting. DBS Energy Inc, a Berlin company, has done an energy audit of Waterford’s schools and plans on putting solar panels on the roof of Quaker Hill Elementary School and to change the outdoor lighting at all five Waterford schools to LED lights. Those moves would save the town $800,000 in energy costs over the next 25 years, according to a presentation by the owners of DBS Energy Inc.

Cree shrinks its SiC based XLamp XQ LEDs

The firm says its silicon carbide based devices offer compactness and superior light distribution
Cree is marketing its new product family, the XLamp XQ LEDs. These compact modules offer novel light distribution and high reliability, enabling broader light distribution such as those used in omni-directional lamps and fixtures. The XQ LEDs are Cree’s smallest lighting-class LEDs measuring just 1.6mm x 1.6mm. This is 57 percent smaller than Cree’s XLamp XB package.