New Vishay Intertechnology LED Family Handles Drive Currents to 70 mA

A new family of LEDs in a PLCC-2 package that can handle higher drive currents and thus produce improved luminous intensity is the newest product from the Optoelectronics group of Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. (NYSE: VSH). The new VLM.334.. series LEDs, an advanced modification of Vishay's VLM.31.. series LEDs, can incorporate larger chips and are thus capable of withstanding drive currents up to 70 mA.
The AEC-Q101-qualified VLM.334.. LEDs are offered in super red, red, amber, and yellow to serve a wide range of applications, including traffic signals and signs, interior and exterior lighting, automotive dashboard illumination, indicators and controls for audio and video equipment, LCD switches and symbols, illuminated advertising, and many other uses.
Utilizing the latest advanced AllnGaP technology, the VLM.334.. series devices provide exceptional brightness with a typical luminous intensity of 3760 mcd and maximum luminous intensity of 6052 at 70 mA while delivering improved thermal performance compared to previous-generation LEDs. At 300 K/W, junction-to-ambient thermal resistance is 25 % lower than the former VLM.333 product.
VLM.334.. series LEDs are available in 8 mm tape. RoHS-compliant, halogen-free, and Vishay Green, the devices are compatible with IR-reflow soldering processes and preconditioned according to JEDEC Level 2a.

LED pioneer sets sights on clean energy

You might not know what "lattice-matched heterojunctions" are, but if you stopped at a new stoplight, played a DVD or used a laser pointer, you've made use of technology pioneered by Jerry Woodall, distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Davis. Woodall's work, begun in the 1960s at IBM Research, is the basis for cheap, energy-efficient light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, and lasers.

Philips unveils the SlimStyle LED Bulb

Consumers looking for new lights in wake of the looming phase-out of 40- and 60-watt incandescents are going to have a new option next month, as today Philips introduced their new SlimStyle 60-watt replacement LED. Using just 10.5 watts to give off 800 lumens, the SlimStyle LED offers the usual upgrade in energy efficiency, but the true story is the shape of the thing. Unlike traditional bulbs, it's flat, with a string of LEDs arranged into a horseshoe that arcs out from the base of the bulb. The new shape is designed to do a better job of dispersing heat than traditional LEDs, and eliminate the need for weighty aluminum heat sinks.

Lighting up the night

As anyone with an ounce of nocturnal awareness has surely noticed a profound street light change is underway throughout Napa. A week ago Monday, everything in my neighborhood was status quo. My pre-dawn jogging route through Browns Valley was as poorly lit as always. I ran under the yellow glow of sodium vapor bulbs, Napa’s traditional street light. Also per usual, an alarming number of these lights weren’t doing their job. They were either dead or flickering.

New law leads to light bulb hoarders

Stephanie Leggett refuses to be caught in the dark next year when the next phase of 2007 energy legislation takes effect. Leggett, owner of Oldile's Interiors in Orange, is an unapologetic advocate of the incandescent light bulb, and she's been prepping for the coming incandescent apocalypse for the last couple of years. "I hoard incandescent light bulbs," she said Tuesday with a laugh. As of Jan. 1, federal legislation will ban the manufacture of bulbs rated at 40 watts or more. The move is intended to usher in more energy-efficient lighting technology and replace incandescent bulbs, which helped beat back the night for more than a century, but expend most of their energy producing heat rather than light.

Shine on, you crazy light bulb

Thomas Edison had a really good run; for 134 years we lived under the golden glow of his incandescent bulb. The problem is that his bulbs are not energy-efficient, hence the birth of new technologies with new nomenclature. A comparison of light given off by three 60 watt-equivalent bulbs, from left: a Living Solutions compact fluorescent, a Cree LED filament and a GE incandescent. I might as well have been shopping for a carburetor. There were too many options with too many symbols and verbiage that I couldn’t decipher (LED, CFL, halogen, lumens, Kelvin, CRI), not to mention all of the various brands (GE, Philips, Cree, EcoSmart — each with its own packaging lingo).

Now That’s a Smart Light Bulb!

You know all of those “smart” LED bulbs like Philips Hue with their wireless technology and apps for controlling brightness and color? Not a fan. But this Kickstarter project called SmartCharge is a different kind of smart. The bulb, which screws into a standard light socket, packs a lithium ion battery for four hours of “on” time in the event of a power outage. And it can tell the difference between an outage and an “off” command.

LEDs won't light up bill

When it comes to holiday lights, do you like a dazzling display and don't care that it makes the electric meter spin like crazy, or would you rather see the meter moving at a glacial pace befitting the winter season? For most people, saving money is important, even while they seek to keep the season bright with holiday lighting displays. One way to do that is to switch from old-fashioned incandescent bulbs to LED lights — short for light-emitting diode — that can use up to 90 percent less power, are much cooler and last many times longer.

Next generation UVB and UVC illumination sources

NIKKISO CO., LTD., a world leader in the development and commercialization of deep UV LEDs, has announced that it has initiated shipments of commercial LED product samples emitting at a range of wavelengths in the UVB and UVC spectral regimes for industrial, biomedical, and environmental applications. NIKKISO offers several power levels and package types to meet a wide variety of applications, and the company is working closely with customers in several market segments to develop customized product solutions.
UVB and UVC LEDs offer substantial advantages over UV lamps including mercury free operation, direct on-off modulation and instantaneous analog power control, compact and lightweight form factor, flexible emission wavelength, directional illumination, low voltage and direct current drive. Applications of UVB and UVC LEDs include biomedical instrumentation and dermatology, curing of industrial resins and inks, and air purification and water sterilization.
Nikkiso's proprietary semiconductor technology enables the world's highest performance, power and efficiency, with industry leading reliability in the UVB and UVC regime. Power levels up to 40mW per package are available, with customized multichip assemblies capable emitting more than 1W. The devices can be utilized in stand-alone light sources, or integrated seamlessly as OEM components into end customers' final product solutions.

Philips Lumileds signs up with MechaTronix for partner LED coolers

With the launch of the newest generation Philips Lumileds Luxeon Chip-On-Board (COB) LED modules there was an immediate need for a wide range of standard LED coolers
In the cooperation with MechaTronix Philips Lumileds found a practical and easy way to launch a wide range of standard LED coolers fitting mechanically with the various dimensions of the Luxeon COBs and matching the cooling capacities needed for the whole series
Six passive coolers have been launched, ranging from a diameter of 50mm for the Luxeon COB 1203 and 1204, over a diameter 70mm and 99mm for the COB 1204, 1205 and 1208
With this passive LED cooler range MechaTronix aimed at spot, track and down light designs from 600 lumen all the way up to 4.500 lumen in a small size extrusion profile
The ModuLED Xtra LED coolers are developed in this way that there is an optimal balance between creating cooling surface and leaving enough intermediate space for free air convection
In this way MechaTronix was able to reach a ModuLED Xtra cooling performance of 1.02°C/W in a package of only 99mm diameter and a height of 80mm, and keeps the Luxeon 1208 COB running at 4.800 lumen at an ambient temperature of 40° Celsius below a case temperature of 80° Celsius
For those applications running at an extreme high ambient temperature, two active coolers packages where designed. The IceLED Xtra active LED coolers are developed in a package for indoor low bay use with an extremely low noise factor, this delivering a cooling performance of 0.46°C/W
This makes them extremely suitable for spot, track and down light designs in office, shop environments and silent rooms where extra noise has to be avoided
All ModuLED and IceLED coolers are foreseen from direct mounting patterns for the various Philips Lumileds Luxeon COB’s, but also offer Zhaga book 3 mounting holes so designers can use COB LED holders if they require solderless mounting of the COB’s on the coolers

LEDs begin to outshine traditional bulbs in holiday light displays

One of the hot tickets this holiday season appears to be Christmas lights that use light-emitting diodes rather than more conventional bulbs. The popularity of LEDs is the latest in the evolution of the energy-saving, long-lasting lighting alternative that homeowners, in particular, have been gradually falling in love with in recent years. LEDs have been gaining in popularity with consumers not only because of their longevity and energy efficiency, but also because they produce less heat.

Novel LEDs pave the way to cheaper displays

Researchers from the Universities of Bonn and Regensburg have developed a novel type of organic light-emitting diode (OLED). These lights are suitable for the design of particularly energy-efficient cheap displays, which find applications in smart phones, tablet PCs or TVs. Applications in lighting such as in luminescent tiles are also conceivable. OLEDs are already used in the displays of smart phones or digital cameras today. They offer an especially bright image with high contrast, but come with a serious drawback: typically, only one quarter of the electrical energy invested in running the device is actually converted into light.

How a Light Bulb Can Help You Sleep Better

Can exposure to light make you feel good, boost your resistance to disease, and make you more alert during the day and better able to sleep soundly at night? Without a doubt. And like that image we see in cartoons, the light bulb is beginning to go on above heads everywhere as the truth becomes more and more apparent: Light plays a crucial role in helping the body function normally and produce the right amount of the essential hormone melatonin. Certainly, nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle are extremely important ingredients needed for maintaining (or rebuilding) health, but what if I told you that, by making some simple changes in regard to your exposure to light, you could feel better, sleep better, and reduce the risk of some serious diseases? Would you do it?

Review: Philips Hue Personal Wireless Lighting Starter Pack

The Philips Hue Wireless Light Bulb promises full control of its functions over Wi-Fi, including per-light brightness and color settings, remote operation and geofencing capabilities. In addition, Philips includes a powerful GUI-driven app to custom tune lighting in nearly any environment. So far, the product has been popular with early adopters, but its high price tag has kept it out of reach for many would-be users. In this in-depth review, we discuss whether the color-changing Hue represents a real value on the dollar, or is merely an expensive one-trick pony.

Solid Apollo LED Introduces a New Type of LED Strip Light

There are many applications including restaurant lighting, high-end retail lighting, and hospitality lighting where color-changing RGB LED and white LED light can be used to create unique lighting environments. However, in home and business lighting many retailers, designers and contractors have had to compromise between clear white light and the option of bright, changing color. If both were used it meant separate, expensive lighting fixtures with at least two controllers. Now, users can easily control colors and white light with Solid Apollo’s Color Pro RGB + White LED Strip, which are two lighting fixtures in one easy-to-use product!
Available in RGB with Warm White (3000K) and RGB with Daylight White (4500K), the ColorPro series of LED Strip combines two high brightness strips into one ¾” segment, and is still cuttable every 4.75” inches, meaning custom lighting projects and art pieces are still possible while having more color options than ever. Bright pastels, subtle warm colors, and new tints are available alongside traditional whites and RGB colors.
Rather than having alternating color and white LED light, Solid Apollo combined two full LED strips into one lighting fixture, meaning a new array of colors and lighting flexibility without compromising half of the LEDs on the strip. This means anywhere bright linear lighting is needed, users can now create a bright white light, as well as vivid colors at a high level of brightness, providing light to a variety of areas including cove and undercabinet lighting.
“This product is the ultimate lighting tool for unique venues, art projects, nightlife events, colorful displays, and creating custom colors not previously available with LED lighting” stated Manuel Barquin, President at Solid Apollo LED.
For those looking to get the most out of RGB-W Strip, the ColorPro RGB-W strip from Solid Apollo is perfectly combined with their 10-Zone LED Controller and the In-Wall RGB-W DMX Controller, both of which have dedicated white channel functionality. This means users can separately control white and RGB LED channels on their strip for fine tuning hues, for mood lighting and the brightness of each channel for colorful displays to light up retail displays, nightlife events, bars and pubs.
The ColorPro is perfect for home theaters, beautiful under cabinet lighting, dens, restaurants, and anywhere a variety of custom colors and white light are needed at different times. Solid Apollo, an innovator in LED custom lighting solutions, has created the perfect combination of color-changing LED light with a dedicated white channel which offers bright lighting, multiple new moods and colors not possible with just RGB light alone.

Holiday decor shoppers opting for more LED lights, live trees

Julie and Kevin started their Christmas ornament shopping Saturday thinking they might buy a Moravian star. Instead, Kevin walked out of Stauffers of Kissel Hill, 301 Rohrerstown Road, carrying an artificial twig tree illuminated by LEDs. The Bainbridge couple declined to give their last name. But their signature was all over a continuing hot trend this year in Christmas decorations: light-emitting diodes.

The World's First Full Line of LEDs Guaranteed for Life - Never Change a Light Bulb Again

Energy Saving Solutions, a national supplier of energy-efficient LED and induction lighting technology to business and government, announced that their popular ‘Forever LED Light’ and induction lighting systems, an energy-efficient, long-lasting LED are now backed by on-site repair or replacement by McCusker & Company, a leading worldwide provider of consumer and commercial extended warranty services, and Service USA, a provider of customer service management and support programs.
Headquartered in Miami, Fla. and with authorized distributors in all 50 states, Energy Saving Solutions provides businesses, government agencies, schools and non-profit organizations throughout the nation with energy-efficient and healthier lighting systems, a market that has grown rapidly due to increased public awareness of the advantages of LED and induction lighting as superior alternatives to old fashioned filament wire light bulbs.
“As a leading supplier of state-of-the-art lighting solutions to organizations of all sizes, we’ve proven over and over that switching to the latest technology available saves significant money, reduces eyestrain and increases productivity while minimizing carbon emissions,” commented Peter Stein, founder and CEO of Energy Saving Solutions. “We’ve now made it easier than ever to make the move to LED with our ‘Forever Green Savings Program™, a shared savings agreement which delivers a complete conversion to LED lighting with no up-front costs.”
According to Mr. Stein, the ‘Forever LED Light’ product line service and support will be exclusively administered by McCusker & Company and backed by Service USA, providing customers with free a replacement warrantee for all of Energy Saving Solutions’ lights and fixtures.
"We’re delighted to partner with Energy Saving Solutions in the rapidly expanding market for energy-efficient commercial lighting solutions,” stated Will McCusker, CEO of McCusker Holding Company. Will McCusker, "We expect the strength and stability of both firms to provide a winning combination for customers for many years to come.”
In addition to the ‘Forever LED Light’ warranty’s long-term maintenance coverage, Mr. Stein said that Energy Saving Solutions’ ‘Forever Green Savings Program™ shared savings agreement also sets his company apart from other LED lighting manufacturers and suppliers.

US LEDs & High Efficiency Lighting Market

US demand for high efficiency lighting is forecast to increase more than 10 percent annually to $11.7 billion in 2017, supported by technological improvements and regulatory changes designed to lower electricity used in lighting applications.

The US market for high efficiency lighting continues to adjust to the provisions of the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, which is leading to a phase-out of traditional incandescent lamps and supporting demand for products such as LEDs and compact fluorescent lamps. Technological innovations that are improving the performance of LEDs and many types of high efficiency lamps are also supporting demand. In addition, particularly in the LED segment, improvements in manufacturing are leading to lower purchase prices for many products, thereby boosting market penetration for these efficient lighting products. However, because high efficiency lighting products have much longer useful lives, the average replacement rate will decrease over time, eventually depressing high efficiency lighting demand.
Demand for LEDs will grow the fastest of any high efficiency lighting product through 2017. Increased penetration in many residential and nonresidential building applications, as well as in the outdoor lighting market, will support advances. While the high initial price of LEDs has hindered their adoption in many traditional lighting applications, technological innovations that reduce costs and improve performance will make these products increasingly competitive.

The market for other energy efficient linear fluorescent lamps will also register strong growth, supported by heightened penetration of T5 and T8 lamps, in place of less efficient T12 products. In addition, the rebound in nonresidential building construction will provide some prospects.
Through 2017, the building market for high efficiency lighting products will post especially strong growth, supported by a shift to higher value, longer lasting lighting products and driven in part by rising efficiency standards for lamps.

Residential demand will be bolstered by the replacement of less efficient lighting that has been phased out due to EISA. Businesses, institutions, and government entities will turn to high efficiency lighting products to lower energy expenses and to reduce the labor costs of replacing lighting products. Over the longer term, the market will be restrained by the longer service lives of LEDs and newer lamp products, which will limit replacement demand.