Sensity's networked LEDs enable smart applications

At first glance, Sensity Systems seems like just another smart LED lighting vendor, promising improved energy efficiency and reduced maintenance costs. But inside each of its highly efficient LED luminaires is a powerful combination of sensors and embedded networking technology - one that could act as the foundation for a range of other applications, from smart parking insights and traffic control to digital video surveillance and other real-time location services.

Mrs. Fixit: Lightbulb Bud Vase

Don't throw away your old bulbs, it only takes a bright idea to come up with an alternative to throwing them away! All you need is a clear incandescent lightbulb. Don't use the florescent or white coated bulb. Some pliers, and a wire coat hanger. Make sure you wear safety glasses and gloves since we are working with glass.

New generation of LED bulbs a bright idea for your home

The latest generation of bulb is the LED, or light-emitting diode. These new bulbs are dimmable, use about 80% less electricity than incandescent bulbs, and last 25 years. The drawback to these bulbs is the price. A single bulb can cost anywhere between $10-60. However, when you factor in the rebates offered at many stores, there are nearly a dozen bulbs for less than $10. “We all struggle with the long-term math,” said Joel Smith of Puget Sound Energy. “But any of these light bulbs would pay for themselves in a year to a year and a half when compared to an incandescent.”

Rubicon Technology to Showcase Sapphire Substrates for the LED Market

Rubicon Technology, Inc. announced that it will showcase its line of sapphire substrates for the LED industry at the International LED Expo in Kintex, Korea, June 25-28. Rubicon will exhibit its line of sapphire products in Booth# F-25 & 26, Hall 4.
Sapphire wafers are a key building block for LEDs – the most energy-efficient technology for general lighting and the dominant backlighting technology in consumer products such as HDTVs, laptops, smart phones and tablets.
“Rubicon Technology is working hard to advance the adoption of large diameter sapphire substrates and is the world’s most experienced provider of 6-inch sapphire wafers,” said Raja M. Parvez, President and CEO, Rubicon Technology. “With the growth of the LED lighting market and the resulting increase in demand for high brightness LEDs, Rubicon believes that now is an opportune time for more customers to move toward the increased throughput and greater efficiency that are possible with large-diameter substrates.”
Rubicon will have a number of sapphire products for the LED market on display in Booth# F-25 & 26, Hall 4 at the International LED Expo including sapphire cores and ingots and large diameter wafers ranging in size from 4 inches to 6 and 8 inches.

LED-powered 'privacy visor' thwarts facial recognition

Worried that your face is being detected and recorded on everything from security cameras to Google Glass? Don these infrared-emitting glasses to prevent your face from being recognized, and your only worry will be how dorky you look. The "privacy visor," created by associate professor Isao Echizen at Japan's National Institute of Informatics, use bright, near-infrared LEDs to blast cameras with light that they can see but humans can't. The software that detects faces gets confused and decides that this brightly lit object isn't a face.

Semicon session will examine next steps for HB LED manufacturing

Producers of LEDs and solid-state lighting (SSL) have made stunning progress in technology to improve efficiency and lower cost, but there's still plenty of room for improvement in this young sector to help propel wider adoption. Indeed, LED manufacturers are constantly striving to optimize manufacturing processes both to bring down costs and improve performance. Some researchers now say the next significant opportunities may be in adding new functionalities through on-chip integration of features and in simplifying the supply chain. More disruptive technologies like gallium-nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) manufacturing and quantum dots could be close to the tipping point for adoption, while nanowire alternatives remain potential game changers further down the road.

10W LED Down Light from Lucky Light

Lucky Light, a LED down light manufacturer in China, has introduced the new product [ZT-BG-10W] to customers all over the world. The new LED down light uses 90 per cent less energy than a halogen light, which significantly reducing power consumption and helping to achieve global energy conservation goals.
The new hall and high rack luminaries ensures an efficiency of more than 100 lumen/watt at a life time of up to 50000 hours and the low heat development and reduced energy consumption, which are typical for LED luminaries. The optimized LEDs combined with highly efficient lens arrays achieve a homogeneous illumination without scattering losses and an increase in brightness by a factor of two. This luminary is suitable for new installations as well as for conversion and replacement projects. In addition, the enhanced heat management and patented LED driver generate very little heat, transferring most of the energy directly into light and eliminating excessive heat build-up that can adversely affect energy costs. The LED down light are CE, FCC and RoHS certified. The LED down light [ZT-BG-10W] is designed to be used for commercial situations, large atrium's or larger communal areas. It has a unique design that offers a very high 1000 lumen light output from the 10 x 1 watt LED configuration, using warm white 3000k LED’s, making it an ideal fluorescent, halogen or metal halide lighting alternative.
A high quality light weight heat sink has been developed for the rear of the down light that ensures any heat produced by the LED’s is dissipated effectively without compromising on performance. Lucky Light develops highly compatible lenses with an 85% light transmission efficiency, which caters to different kinds of light sources and deliver a more uniform light pattern. Besides, all LED lamps of Lucky Light come with 3 years warranty.
The company makes improvements to the thermal design so that it becomes possible to efficiently release heat from each component of the power supply circuit inside the heat sink. As a result, it became possible to use the slimmer heat sink. The radiation performance of each component of the power supply circuit was improved by closely attaching radiation sheets to it.

GE Albeo High Bay LED Lighting Is Nothing But Net for Lighting Quality

Weber State University’s installation of GE’s Albeo LED High Bay lighting at the Dee Events Center has been met with resounding cheers for its lighting quality and energy savings. By replacing high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting commonly found in sports arenas, the Albeo ABHX-Series uses 70 percent less energy and is expected to save the university nearly $40,000 each year.
When assessing a potential energy-saving project, the WSU Energy & Sustainability Office looks at other institutions’ solutions for ideas. But there were no examples to consider when an analysis of campus energy use revealed that HID lighting at the Dee Events Center was one of the single biggest power hogs.
Albeo Technologies, now part of GE Lighting, offered WSU an LED high bay fixture that is commonly used for warehouse applications. A total of 80 fixtures were installed. Replacing 100 HID fixtures, the new LED high bay lighting produces more than 200 foot candles, or the amount of light that falls on a given surface – double that of NCAA requirements for courts.
Officials with WSU are pleased with the Albeo ABHX-Series because of the lighting quality and quantity. In addition to considerable energy savings, it increases the ability for special effects because the LEDs instantly illuminate and can be dimmable and adjustable in nine zones throughout the arena.
Additionally, the Albeo ABHX-Series LED lighting fixtures significantly diminish maintenance needs in difficult-to-reach areas, including those where swapping bulbs requires special equipment and trained personnel.

St. Petersburg at odds with Duke Energy over using LED bulbs

By changing its 30,000 street light bulbs to more efficient LEDs, St. Petersburg could save as much as $1.8 million a year — if Duke Energy would allow it. To be clear, Duke doesn't mind using the energy saving bulbs, but the city says the utility doesn't want to give a financial break for the reduction in electricity. "The problem is they just don't want to do it," said City Council chairman Karl Nurse. "Some of it is the standard resistance to change. The motivation beyond that I'm not entirely sure."

Ten thousand Panasonic LED to light up chandeliers

Panasonic’s LED light bulbs have been highly appraised in eco-conscious Europe for their excellence in energy efficiency, long lifespan as well as outstanding design. They were chosen to replace around 10,000 incandescent light bulbs used to light up chandeliers and under the eaves of Prague Castle, helping make the UNESCO World Heritage site in the Czech Republic environmentally friendly and easy to maintain with its historic atmosphere kept intact. The replacement of the incandescent bulbs with energy efficient LED bulbs has led to energy savings of around 77%.

SSL extends lifespan of LED bulb

Light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs offer the potential of 50,000 hours of operating lifetime, which is almost 25 years of typical usage. This is a 50x improvement over incandescent-equivalent technology. With demand for LED lighting growing rapidly, a key issue that could hold the industry back is if solid-state lighting (SSL) bulbs do not achieve the promise of long operating life. The obvious design considerations for solid-state lighting are efficiency and cost. But, thermal management is just as vital as any other design criteria, because too much heat can impact operating life, not to mention bulb safety.

King Edison combines a chandelier and a light bulb

Chandeliers can be pretty classy if they’re done right, but they can also take up a lot of space and gather a lot of dust. What someone should do is make a tiny chandelier, and encase it in a light bulb-like globe. Well, wouldn’t ya know it, that’s just what UK designers Brendan Young and Vanessa Battaglia did – and you can buy one, if you’ve got the cash. Called the King Edison Pendant Lamp (a combination of a Kings chandelier and an Edison bulb), the light consists of a working brass chandelier situated within a hand-blown glass sphere, with a 2-meter (6.6-ft) braided silk-covered power cord that runs up to a supplied ceiling rose.

LED lights saved $675M in energy costs in 2012

The U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) did a study of how much electricity was saved last year thanks to the use of LED in nine kinds of applications (various kinds of indoor lights, streetlights, etc). The numbers are impressive: "In 2012, about 49 million LED lamps and luminaires were installed in the nine applications. LEDs in these markets saved approximately 71 trillion British thermal units (tBtu), equivalent to an annual energy cost savings of about $675 million"!

Brighter and smarter LEDs via graded refractive indexes

LEDs are the next-generation lighting source. However, their efficiency and the uniformity of the illumination they produce is limited by the large contrast between the refractive index (n) of the LED semiconductor (n = 2.5–3.5) and air (n = 1). The resulting total internal reflection (TIR) gives planar-surface LEDs a very low light-extraction efficiency (LEE). In addition, the emission pattern has a peak emission intensity along the LED surface normal with decreasing intensity away from the surface normal, which provides uneven illumination.

UV-LEDs make bygones of strawberry mold and decay

A truism as old as strawberry picking is the observation that the juicier and tastier the strawberries, the more quickly the berries turn to a mushy heap of rot and mold, even in the fridge. An answer to longer fruit storage may come with research showing that selective UV light inhibits both decay and the growth of mold. With new LEDs able to produce specific types of UV light, we might see gadgets for use in the fridge that keep produce fresher longer.

Inkjet-printed hybrid quantum dot LEDs

For home lighting applications, organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) hold the promise of being both environmentally friendly and versatile. Though not as efficient as regular light-emitting diodes (LEDs), they offer a wider range of material choices and are more energy efficient than traditional lights. OLEDs can also be applied to flexible surfaces, which may lead to lights or television displays that can be rolled up and stowed in a pocket.

;LED Lighting Pioneers Celebrate 30 Years of Reducing Energy Consumption'

LEDtronics, Inc., one of the first, solid-state, LED lighting design and manufacturing companies in the country, announced that they are celebrating their 30th anniversary this year with free, educational events and information to help others save time, money and energy using LED lights. LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, replace energy-consuming incandescent, fluorescent and CFL lamps and light bulbs.
In 1983, Lodhie started LEDtronics, Inc. working on LED light bulbs with his wife, Almas, in their garage. Today, he employs more than 300 people worldwide to create LED light bulbs, LED lamps, high-intensity sunlight LEDs, PCB mount LED indicators, SMT LEDs, full spectrum RGB LEDs, UV/Infrared LEDs, and more.
LEDtronics provides products and services to small businesses up to Fortune 500 companies such as: General Electric, Caterpillar, Siemens, Square D, Cisco Systems, and IBM. The Department of Defense and other, U.S. Government agencies also seek out LEDtronics for LED lighting solutions.

ElectroniCast projects USD 325M 2019 market for LEDs in life-science applications

The market for LEDs in biophotonic and medical devices will grow by more than a factor of five between 2012 and 2019 although lower component costs will hide what is an even larger increase in the number of LEDs consumed in life-science applications. ElectroniCast Consultants has published research entitled "LEDs used in biophotonic and medical devices" that projects a $324.7 million dollar market for LEDs in 2019 growing from $64.5 million in 2012. The Americas region currently accounts for 40% of the market, although the EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) and APAC (Asia Pacifica) regions will be key to the projected growth.

Eaton wins $2.1 million to streamline production of energy-saving LEDs

Eaton Corp. has been awarded $2.4 million to develop a new manufacturing process to streamline the design of LED light fixtures. The Department of Energy awarded the funds, which will be matched dollar-for-dollar by Eaton and the other four recipients of $10.1 million in funding. The two-year research projects aim to bring down the cost of manufacturing light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. Cree Inc., the North Carolina-based LED provider that bought Ruud Lighting and BetaLED of Sturtevant in 2011, also received funding Tuesday.

Everlight Presents New HIR LEDs for Proximity-Sensors

Everlight introduces three new 850nm HIR (high efficiency infrared) LEDs featuring a high output power and narrow viewing angles which make them ideal for use in high-tech intelligence touch panel and proximity sensors. Two of them are top view SMD LEDs especially suited for proximity sensor applications. The HIR89-01C has a viewing angle of 30° and achieves a very high radiant intensity 55mW/sr at 70mA. The HIR91-01C/L297 with a 40° viewing angle reaches an intensity of 40mW/sr at 70mA. Wide viewing angles with high output power rarely occur with most proximity sensors, making the HIR89 and HIR91 truly ideal for all proximity sensor applications such as smart phones as well as optical touch panels. For side-view touch applications smaller than 80 inches, EVERLIGHT's HIR83-01B in a slim SMD package features a radiant intensity of 5mW/sr at 20mA and a viewing angle of 100°(X)/40°(Y). The asymmetric viewing angle is especially suitable for touch panel applications.

Light Painting The Sydney Harbour Bridge

The Color the Bridge project, part of the annual Vivid Sydney light festival, lights up the Sydney Harbor Bridge with 3200 programmed LED lights and fiber optics, giving the otherwise gray concrete-and-steel structure a totally different appearance.

Outdoor Lighting: GE LEDs light Gulangyu Island, global project updates

Gulangyu Island in China's Xiamen district hopes to reduce energy usage by 40% with LED lighting from GE Lighting. Leicester in the UK is expecting even bigger savings with a networked-based solid-state lighting (SSL) installation, and Melbourne, FL and Long Beach, CA have begun interesting pilot projects. GE supplied 584 LED Iberia fixtures for the Gulangyu Island project. The 90W SSL products were used to replace 150W high-pressure sodium (HPS) fixtures that had been installed only eight years ago. The Iberia luminaires deliver efficacy of 90 lm/W whereas the HPS fixtures delivered 50 lm/W.

Explosion-proof LEDs target failsafe apps

The EPL-EMG-48-2L-LED-G2 explosion-proof LED emergency light by Larson Electronics features a battery backup system in case of total power failure.  The LED light fixture offers enhanced light output by adding improved, second-generation LED tubes that produce 30% more foot-candles of light at eight feet.  The tubes are rated for 50,000 hours of operational life, and are durable in high-impact and vibration environments.