Study offers new data about feasibility of using LEDs in greenhouse tomato operations

To satisfy increasing consumer demand for locally grown, fresh tomatoes during off-seasons, greenhouse tomato growers often need to rely on supplemental lighting. Tomato growers are looking to light-emitting diodes (LEDs), favored for their energy-saving potential, as an alternative to high-pressure sodium lamps (HPS) in greenhouse operations. A recent study offers new information about the feasibility of using LEDs in greenhouse tomato operations. Michael Dzakovich, Celina Gómez, and Cary Mitchell from the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Purdue University published the study of supplemental lighting experiments in HortScience (October 2015). They noted that light-emitting diodes are becoming a viable alternative to high-pressure sodium supplementation.

Black Hills Pioneer newspaper plant upgrades to LED lighting

The Black Hills Pioneer recently upgraded all existing lighting in its Spearfish facility from fluorescent lighting to LED (light emitting diode) in order to produce light much more efficiently, cutting wattage usage by over half throughout the building. “We are always looking for new ways we can operate more efficiently and at the same time be environmentally friendly. After we ran the numbers on this upgrade, it just made good business sense to make the change,” said Scott Lister, Black Hills Pioneer operations manager. “By my estimation, theses lights should pay for themselves in less than three years through savings on our electrical usage and that doesn’t even factor in that we won’t have to replace them as often.”

No LEDs on Hoan Bridge in Milwaukee

The Hoan Bridge in Milwaukee will not be illuminated by LEDs, according to Milwaukee Magazine. The reconstruction project on the downtown bridge has been completed and a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held last week. The project, according to the story, cost $226 million and was finished under budget.

Turning Lunch Into LEDs

University of Utah Metallurgical Engineering Research Assistant Professor Prashant Sarswat and Professor Michael Free have found a way to create luminescent materials from food waste, hinting at future LED light sources that are far cheaper and far less toxic than the ones we are buying today. Can you really make a light bulb out of yesterday's sandwich and a flat soda? They say yes.

Philips Lighting delivers LED art/light panels, adds SSL partners

Philips Lighting has announced the Luminous Patterns customizable LED-lighting panels that allow lighting designers/specifiers to mix functional light and artistic elements in way that blends into the fabric of spaces such as office lobbies, restaurants, and retail stores. In separate news, Philips has announced new partners in the Friends of Hue program including Bosch, Logitech, and Samsung, and in a different partnership joined with Xiaomi in China to deliver a connected desk lamp that is automatically adjusted via smartphones, sensors, and an app.

British LED specialist teams with IBM Watson for IoT

The dance of partners getting together from the digital lighting industry and the information technology world is getting livelier all the time. The latest example: British LED specialist PhotonStar has spun its relationship with IBM into a full-fledged Internet of Things (IoT) collaboration. PhotonStar said it demonstrated its Halcyon intelligent lighting technology working with IBM’s Watson IoT Cloud system, at IBM’s new global Watson IoT headquarters in Munich.

Michigan cities prevail in dispute with utilities over LED street lights

The Michigan Public Service Commission rejected DTE Energy's proposal to raise rates for LED street lights recently and ordered the utility to engage in talks with the Southeast Michigan Municipal Street Lighting Consortium to arrive at a fair rate. "The MPSC said that the evidence presented and the opinion that the administrative law judge wrote was very persuasive, which sided 100 percent with the testimony and analysis that our coalition presented," says Rick Bunch, executive director of the Southeast Michigan Regional Energy Office, the nonprofit that organized municipal opposition in the case.

SeaGlass Carousel immerses with Chauvet LED entertainment lighting

There is a plethora of unique experiences to enjoy in Manhattan. Now a singularly exceptional one has been added to the list: the chance to enter the world of an aquarium fish. This opportunity takes place at Seaglass Carousel, a domed spaceship-like structure located at the southern tip of Manhattan in Battery Park. Unlike typical carousels, which feature ponies, unicorns and the like, Seaglass takes visitors on a ride inside giant tropical fish with shimmering colorful bodies made all the more vibrant by the intense output of 50 COLORado 2-Quad Zoom IP LED wash fixtures from Chauvet Professional that were used in a design by Technical Artistry of New York.

 

Knema's 12x12-in. LED module can be used whole or in smaller lighting formats

LLC has been providing LED lighting to people in the retail display and lighting industry since 2004 and after plenty of discussions with their customers they are now proud to present their new 12x12-inch 36 LED module. This new LED module delivers more light, reliability and greater flexibility than ever before. With only 36 LEDs, Knema’s new LED module produces more light than their previous economy LED module with 196 LEDs and at a lower cost. The new LED module utilizes the same high-quality Nichia LEDs that are currently on their other premium modules.

Osram introduces dim-to-warm LED lamp for European market

Germany’s Osram Licht has announced its latest stab at an LED lamp that emits a warmer color when it dims, as it unveils a new line for the European market called Glow-Dim that warms to 2000K at low brightness levels. Until recently, LED lamps have lagged conventional incandescent technology in their ability to emit cozier color temperatures when dimmed. Many LEDs have not been able to go warmer than 2700K (on the counterintuitive Kelvin scale, 2000 is warmer than 2700; 1750 is considered a very warm match-flame-like color temperature), while incandescents have warmed deeply into the orange and red end of the color temperature range.

Should you get LED Christmas lights?

It’s holiday time, and you may want to light up your house like — well — a Christmas tree. There are some tips to keep you from blowing a fuse ... either the real thing or the one in your head when you see your sky-high electric bill. For some, LED lights may be the way to go. “For the most part, all LED lights use up to 90% less electricity than their incandescent counterparts,'' says Frank Skinner, marketing director for ChristmasLightsEtc.com. "So right off the bat, there are some savings there with energy.’’

In LEDs, some see an intelligence to rival smartphones

Enlighted Inc. is a Silicon Valley company that does LED lighting retrofits, with a little extra. Embedded next to every luminaire, so small you can barely see it, is a quarter-sized disk with a tiny antenna. Packed inside is a light sensor, a temperature gauge, a power meter and a motion sensor, as well as wireless devices that communicate with the building-management system, with the other lights and with local smartphones.

In search of the ideal light bulb

For all the high-level conversation about climate action, much progress, or lack of it, will turn on the lowly light bulb. California officials have encouraged the public to install solar panels, buy energy-saving appliances, and drive hybrid and electric vehicles, all for the good. But for all the successes, authorities have not done a great job telling us which light bulbs to screw in. They foisted compact fluorescent bulbs on the unsuspecting but ecologically earnest public during the energy crisis in 2000 and 2001. With rebates, they persuaded many of us that the oddly shaped bulbs were worth the extra cost because of energy savings.

3 things to know before you buy your next lightbulb

Two years ago, under pressure from the U.S. government, lightbulb makers stopped manufacturing the humble incandescent bulb. You can still find some on the store shelves, especially specialty and 3-way bulbs, but standard 40/60/100-watt A19s are no longer available. Unless you stockpiled a lifetime supply of incandescent bulbs, you're probably in the market for replacements. Maybe you've already bought a different type of bulb and aren't happy with it. That’s pretty common, by the way.

Philips and Cisco Team for Connected LEDs for Internet of Things

A global alliance has been struck between European energy company Philips and IT house Cisco Systems to use the Internet of Things (IoT) to power new advances in lighting for modern offices.

The alliance will bring together Philips’ light emitting diode (LED)-based connected lighting systems with Cisco’s IT network that will address a market estimated to be worth $1.1 billion. Using light points in the Philips system equipped with sensors and software, applications can be connected using Cisco’s network technologies.

Kingbright Heli Colour packaged LEDs are available as top emitter and SMD devices

Kingbright has announced to a new addition to the HELI lineup of packaged LEDs, the HELI Colour series. Engineered with and exploiting the latest AlGalnP and InGaN material technology, the HELI Colour series provides customers with both bi-color and full color packaged LEDs. In compliance with RoHS and REACH regulations, the HELI Colour series of packaged LEDs has been made available in various industry standard top emitting and right angle SMD packages. While maintaining high luminosity and providing the customer with options to operate the LED in low current and low forward voltage conditions, Kingbright HELI Colour series packaged LEDs give customers extra maneuverability in their designs.

LED Lighting for Horticultural Applications

The market for horticultural LEDs is beginning to pick up steam under the combined drivers of greater LED adoption rates and the expanded use of indoor farming facilities. The low heat output of LED lighting allows growers to place lights closer to plants without singeing leaves and without needing additional heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment, allowing a much greater density of plants within vertical indoor facilities. At the same time, the fine-tuned application of specific wavelengths of light from LEDs can increase crop yield by up to 30% depending on the plant species. LED technology is therefore able to greatly improve the profitability of indoor farming, which is leading to a boom in the growth of such facilities.

While horticultural LED products have been commercially available for roughly 10 years, early products were quite disappointing. As LED technology has improved, however, the quality of horticultural LEDs has quickly outpaced that of high-intensity discharge (HID) or fluorescent alternatives. LEDs are now significantly more efficient, and the additional benefit of supplying the correct wavelengths of light to improve crop yield has made them the lighting technology of choice in an increasing number of facilities. Navigant Research expects LEDs to make up more than half of new horticultural luminaire sales by as early as 2017 in some markets and regions, with the rest of the market and world not far behind.

The Navigant Research report analyzes the global market for lighting within horticultural applications. The study provides an analysis of the market issues, including drivers and trends, barriers, cost issues, and technological developments associated with lamps and luminaires intended for horticultural use. Global market forecasts for unit sales and revenue, segmented by region, horticultural type, lamp type, equipment type, and construction type, extend through 2024. The report also examines the key codes and standards and regional influences related to horticultural lighting, as well as the competitive landscape.

Taiwanese Researchers Aim to Replace Lasers with LEDs in Cancer Surgery.

A research team headed by Ivy Hsu, Professor at Department of Bioscience Technology of Chung Yuan Christian University is betting on using LEDs to replace expensive laser lights in cancer surgery, reported CTimes. The professor announced her findings at a press conference held by Taiwan’s Ministry of Technology on Wednesday. Taiwan has been importing laser devices manufactured in U.S., but the lasers can cost up to NT$ 1.5 million per unit (US $ 45,765.19). The R&D project launched by Hsu aims to initiate the efficacy and performance of LED light sources on photodynamic therapy results.

New LEDs lighting up Binghamton streets

Nighttime is brighter now in more than a third of Binghamton. The city began a full-scale conversion of its streetlights to LED technology in November. The approximately $4 million project calls for replacing the heads of the city's roughly 7,000 streetlights with fixtures that have more energy-efficient LED bulbs.

Thousands of LEDs light up Zoerb acreage

The Griswolds may not officially live in Nebraska, but Cousin Eddie is making his presence known.
He is part of a large Christmas lights display at 2051 36th Road north of Minden. Dean Zoerb parked an old camper on the side of the dirt road at his home with the words “Merry Christmas” on display, with a mannequin dressed as Cousin Eddie from the 1989 movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.”

Hungry families also getting energy-efficient light bulbs this holiday season

The season of giving is now in full swing with organizations across West Michigan reaching out to people in need. This year thousands of local families will get a gift from area food banks that keeps on giving. Along with much-needed food, hungry families will also be getting lightbulbs. Not only will this brighten up their lives, these lightbulbs will also help them save money.

Appalachian Lighting to take LEDs overseas, license its technology

Appalachian Lighting, which markets its lighting systems under the name ALLED Lighting, has gone on to replace lights at the Allegheny County Jail, General Motors' Lordstown assembly plant in Ohio and Pittsburgh International Airport, as well as in other cities and facilities around the world. The company is experimenting with solar-powered LED street and parking lot lighting, Wassel said. He said he couldn't go into details, but the company is testing prototypes in Australia.

Philips calculates potential of a wide-scale LED lighting uptake

COP21 in Paris today, Philips Lighting released a paper highlighting the unprecedented energy savings potential of a global transition to light-emitting diode (LED) lighting.  Entitled ‘LED Revolution Booklet’, the research reveals that a switch of all lighting sources to LEDs could provide a global reduction in carbon emission of 1,400 Megatons by 2030 and result in economic savings of EUR272 billion. Lighting is responsible for 19% of global electricity consumption and accounts for nearly 6% of global CO₂ emissions. So the wide-scale rollout of energy efficient lighting solutions such as LEDs would make a significant dent in carbon emissions globally.

Help Make This Winter An LED Wonderland

LEDs are fantastic upgrades for residential homeowners, as they are a quick way to cut your home electricity bill. Many don’t realize it, but lighting usage can be 20 to 50% of small business energy demand, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, and the energy reduction opportunities translate equally well to the home. Specifically, LED-based lighting solutions make tons of sense for lights being applied to Christmas trees, as they run much cooler than traditional lighting sources which can dry out trees and make them more prone to fire – a big problem with already fire-prone Christmas trees.

Creating LEDs from food waste

There’s no doubt, given total cost of ownership, that long-lasting LEDs are cheaper than predecessor technology. What if we can take the outrageously huge tonnage of food and beverage waste to create LEDs? Say what? Yes, really. Researchers at the University of Utah are doing just that. The US Department of Agriculture estimates that approximately 31% of food produced in 2014 was not available for human consumption. A research team at the University of Utah synthesized food, beverage, and combustion wastes to produce fluorescent semiconductor nanoparticles or quantum dots as luminescent carbon dots (CDs), which they turned into LEDs by hardening the CDs.

3D Printed Jigs Connect LEDs in Psychedelic NeoPixel Cube Prototype

Former aircraft fitter Steve Manley really likes 3D printing his own jigs to build LED cubes of different sizes. When it’s lit up, the room looks like a psychedelic lounge, of sorts, and you immediately think to yourself, “I need more of these, in different sizes, all over my house!” Well, the good news is that you are in luck. After Manley built this one, he decided to make a larger, 12 x 12 x 12 cube with WS2812-based NeoPixels in embedded systems. NeoPixels have four pins and can be strung together. And the coolest part is you can control hundreds of the pixels with a single pin from your microcontroller

Is there a better light bulb?

There is no doubt that our world dramatically improved when Thomas Edison illuminated the night. What is in question is how to produce the light. There are three light bulbs currently on the market, the original incandescent, the fluorescent, and now the latest LED light bulbs. Each bulb is unique. Here are their pros and cons. All light bulbs produce light, which is measured in lumens. As a point of reference, a 100-watt light bulb will put out more lumens, be brighter, than a 60-watt light bulb. However, the wattage of the light bulb refers to the amount of electricity the light bulb requires to produce the light.

LED there be light

The vivic body is working on a PPP model to fund a plan to replace sodium streetlights with LED bulbs; 48,000 lights already changed, resulting in 30% reduction in electricity. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), which has successfully replaced over 48,000 streetlights across the city with energy efficient bulbs, is looking towards a private public partnership (PPP) model for the remaining streetlights, which would help it save both energy and money.

Winrock International accepting bids for LED street light project

Winrock International is soliciting bids from qualified firms in connection with the supply of LED street lighting systems for the EC-LEDS USAID funded project in Zugdidi, Georgia. Bids will be accepted from U.S. and other eligible firms. WI/EC-LEDS Program invites interested and eligible parties from specialized consortia, suppliers, and manufacturers to prepare bids. Eligible suppliers must have extensive experience in the manufacture, delivery, and maintenance of this equipment. The supplier shall be selected in accordance with competitive bidding procedures and best overall value procurement results provided by Winrock International.

Digital Lumens adds emergency lighting to LED luminaires and control suite

Digital Lumens has announced emergency-lighting capabilities for its LED-based high-bay fixtures and the LightRules lighting- and energy-management software platform. The battery-power and software elements of the emergency offering means that companies will not have to install dedicated emergency lighting systems to meet NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) requirements. Digital Lumens is best known for its solid-state lighting (SSL) products that feature integral wireless network support and that target applications in high-bay installation in factories and warehouses. The company entered the lighting market as a startup in 2010 promising 90% energy savings based on efficient LED sources and sensor-based LED lighting controls that can dim lights when no workers are present — a regular occurrence in warehouse and other industrial businesses.

Exploring the limits for high-performance LEDs and solar cells

Hybrid optoelectronic devices based on blends of hard and soft semiconductors can combine the properties of the two material types, opening the possibility for devices with novel functionality and properties, such as cheap and scalable solution-based processing methods. However, the efficiency of such devices is limited by the relatively slow electronic communication between the material components that relies on charge transfer, which is susceptible to losses occurring at the hybrid interface.

Packaged LED news: Osram and Everlight add mid-power LEDs

Osram Opto Semiconductors has announced the mid-power Duris S 5 Color LED portfolio intended for application alongside phosphor-converted white Duris packaged LEDs in general lighting products with color mixing capabilities. For white solid-state lighting (SSL) applications, Everlight Electronics has new LEDs in the 5630 package that push efficacy to the 200-lm/W level, targeting both retrofit lamps and luminaires.

The best Christmas lights are cheaper, brighter, cleaner LEDs

Sure, they use less electricity, last longer and their price continues to drop. But there’s another reason LED lights have become the norm for holiday illumination. “I think the draw is what they look like,” said Warren Cook, manager of energy efficiency at the Oregon Department of Energy. The lights are getting brighter, and each year there are more colors. The days of the incandescent light bulb as a Christmas fixture — hanging from eaves, circling windows and brightening Christmas trees — are fading. Increasingly over the past five to 10 years, light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, have taken over the holiday light market.

Uber’s Bright Idea: Windshield LEDs So You Can Spot The Right Car

While most of the time Uber drivers and riders have little difficulty finding one another, there are occasions – on crowded or dark streets, for example – where locating each other can prove a little more challenging. That’s why Uber’s just rolled out a new pilot scheme called Spot, which, as its name sort of suggests, helps drivers and riders link up more quickly, making for smoother pickups.

5 reasons why your next light bulb should be a smart bulb

Smart bulbs aren't your average LED. They don't just sit in a socket and light a room like your basic bulb. That's boring. Smart bulbs can do so much more. Smart bulbs are called smart for a reason. They can wirelessly connect with phone apps, a capability that opens up major possibilities. Here are just a few things smart bulbs can do.

Light up your house for less with our illuminating guide to LED bulbs

Spend some time in the light bulb aisle of your local hardware store, and you’ll become familiar with the Federal Trade Commission’s lighting facts label. It sort of resembles a nutrition label and is meant to help you compare between bulbs. All light bulbs should have information on their brightness (measured in lumens), cost per year, life span (in years), color temperature (measured in Kelvins), and energy use (measured in watts).

Brightek produces new IR LED for facial recognition applications

With the growing popularity of handheld devices, facial recognition is becoming the hottest technology after fingerprint authentication -- in response to the rising trade mechanism of mobile payment and mobile commerce -- to strengthen personal data protection. Facial recognition technology is a biometric technique used to detect and recognize users' facial features, which can unlock handheld devices and PCs and authorize online transactions while convenience and safety are guaranteed for users. The application of face recognition will gradually be introduced to mobile devices to replace the traditional password entry and to reinforce transaction security.

Elemental LED launches new LED connector for tapelights

Elemental LED, a U.S. based engineering and technology company that manufacturers LED lighting solutions, has announced the launch of a revolutionary new patent-pending product called CLICKTIGHT PRO designed and engineered by Diode LED to provide a superior solderless connection for tape light applications where soldering is not an option. This innovative and next generation LED connector outperforms other tape light connectors by simplifying LED tape light installation, offering a wider range of compatible tape lights, stronger and more reliable connections, and a simplified design that incorporates a universal wire adapter.
 

Chief Executive Officer Randy Holleschau says, “The invention of CLICKTIGHT PRO shows our continued commitment to developing innovative products that solve real industry issues such as with our design of SWITCHEX, the first dimmer and switch in one, earlier this year. We listen to our customers and set our engineering team to work developing technologically advanced products to better serve them.” Holleschau continues, “We strive to deliver first class LED lighting solutions that disrupt the market and demonstrate Elemental LED’s position as an industry trendsetter.”

 

First, the unique LED cutout design of the CLICKTIGHT PRO allows it to snap firmly over the first LED at the noted field-cut point of high density LED tape light. Prior to CLICKTIGHT PRO, the LEDs crowded the solderless connectors. This crowding prevented a proper grip of the tape light, creating weak and unreliable connections often resulting in installation failure and reinstallation labor cost.

[Native Advertisement]

Perovskite Nanoplatelets Yield Bright LEDs

Perovskites have become the hottest material for solar cells because they are cheap and very easy to process. They’ve also been tapped for use in light-emitting diodes and lasers, but LEDs incorporating materials with the perovskite crystal structure have not been very bright. But researchers at Florida State University (FSU) now report that they have made perovskite LEDs that are more than four times as bright as earlier versions. They have a brightness of over 10,000 candelas per square meter, comparable to that of organic LEDs and quantum dot LEDs.