Decentralized Home Solar Power Is Lighting Up Sub-Saharan Africa

Over 500 million Africans currently live without electricity, and thousands of people who do have power have to deal with frequent outages. In rural areas lacking a grid, most homes get light from kerosene lamps. Kerosene is dependable—if you burn it, it’ll definitely give you light—and it can be purchased in as small and variable quantities as a family’s finances allow. But there’s a reason we kicked kerosene to the curb as soon as we got our hands on light bulbs. Besides filling a home with toxic fumes that can cause serious health issues over time, kerosene is surprisingly expensive—especially in rural areas where it’s needed most. A 2012 World Bank report found that rural households in five Sub-Saharan countries paid on average 35 percent more for kerosene than their urban counterparts.

You Can Now Get "Light Bulb Smoothies" In Montreal

There's some crazy food and drink trends that have been taking Montreal by storm this summer like the colourful cookie dough cones, fried ice cream balls, lavender ice cream and so many more! Now there's an all-new spot that just opened up and is serving their yummy smoothies in light bulbs too!

Which? smart light bulbs test exposes security flaws

Smart lighting lets you control light bulbs from your smartphone and tablet, and gives you more options as to how and when you light your home. However, despite its benefits, you need to be sure that your smart lighting system is securely designed to prevent someone snooping on your data. That’s why we put all eight bulbs through a raft of security tests to discover whether they have the built-in defences to protect you from hacking attacks. Our privacy tests found that some smart bulbs simply don’t go far enough – or very far at all. In fact, the worst in this test earned a dismal one-star rating.

LG, Samsung invest in German OLED company aiming at efficient blue

LG and Samsung have invested a combined €25 million (about $30 million) in a small German OLED specialist that claims to be solving a big shortcoming in OLED technology by developing an efficient blue emitter. Bruchsal, Germany-based Cynora said it will commercialize the product by the end of this year, using a technique called thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF). The Series B investments by LG Display and Samsung Venture Investment Corporation call for both companies to work on separate Cynora projects advancing TADF materials for AMOLED — active matrix OLED — which is targeted at the market for TV screens and smartphone displays.

Global Handset Flash LED Modules Market: Top 3 Trends by Technavio

Technavio’s latest market research report on the global handset flash LED modules market provides an analysis of the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2017-2021. Technavio defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline.

The global handset flash LED modules market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 21% during the forecast period. The increased demand for smartphones is the major driver for this market. This is due to the emerging demand for dual flash LEDs and programmable flash LEDs. In August 2014, Apple launched the new iPhone 6 with dual flash LED system called dual-tone flash LED. It uses a white LED with an amber LED to improve flash LED lighting.

UV LEDs boost the benefits of horticultural lighting

Horticultural lighting based on LED technology is bolstering the solid-state lighting (SSL) market due to its ability to maximize crop yields, whether the light is produced in the visible or ultraviolet (UV) spectrum. Analyst firm Strategies Unlimited has forecasted that the horticultural lighting market will grow more than 180% in the next five years, with LEDs comprising the majority of this growth. In a webcast held earlier this year, our speakers drove home once again the point that leveraging SSL in growing operations is simply good business sense: LED-based horticultural lighting delivers cost and energy savings, as we know; is manufactured with less-toxic components than other light sources; and operates with longer lifetimes. But beyond the cost and environmental values, other unique properties have come to light.

WVDEP Completes Conversion to LEDs at Headquarters and Field Office

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) reports that switching thousands of compact fluorescent bulbs to LED bulbs will save the state about $42,000 per year on energy costs for lighting. The agency says it has already changed about 10,000 bulbs at its Kanawha City headquarters to LED bulbs, and the recently constructed field office in Fayetteville has LED bulbs included. The new LED bulbs have a projected lifespan of almost 50,000 hours. If the light bulbs are turned on for 8 hours per day, five days per week, that translates to a projected lifetime of about 20 years.

Samsung debuts CSP LEDs with top emission for directional applications

Samsung Electronics has announced a new family of chip-scale package (CSP) LEDs that the company refers to as Fillet-Enhanced CSP (FEC) LEDs. CSP LEDs are inherently five-sided emitters with no package covering the sides of the devices. The FEC products use a reflective coating on the four sides of the CSP device to reflect light and maximize the flux out of the top surface. Directional lighting, however, requires maximum light output in one general direction. That’s the application Samsung will address with the FEC family along with high-bay lighting. Moreover, Samsung said the new LEDs have higher efficacy than did previous Samsung CSP LEDs.

Hanover selectmen discuss outfitting streetlights with LEDs

With more than 400 streetlights in Hanover, the possibility of replacing current bulbs with LED lights was discussed Monday at the selectmen’s meeting. The benefit, according to Hanover Town Manager Troy Clarkson, is that they last longer and require less energy. Since they are still in the beginning stages, any major decisions would take several months, according to Clarkson. “I believe the actual acquisition if we acquired the street lights would take a Town Meeting action,” said Clarkson. “The conversion to LED does not. We think because it’s a quality of life issue and the color, the brightness and intensity of the light might have an impact on some of our historic neighborhoods, it’s important to have a proper dialogue.”

Osram announces CSP LED family for flash and launches new Osconiq brand and LEDs

Osram Opto Semiconductors has made two recent packaged LED announcements — the Ceramos C chip-scale package (CSP)-based LED family intended for flash applications, and the new Osconiq brand that will comprise mid-power LEDs intended for architectural and horticultural lighting. The Ceramos C LEDs have a tiny footprint, enabling easy integration into smartphones or tablets. The Osconiq mid-power LEDs are packaged like high-power devices and will come in a variety of colors as well as white. The Ceramos family is not new. Osram has offered flash-centric LEDs in that family for some time. But the prior LEDs were packaged on a ceramic substrate and included a low-profile primary optic in a typical footprint of 1.74×2.14 mm.

Ansonia, Derby residents eligible for free LED light bulbs

Everyone likes something for free, right? Well Ansonia and Derby residents may get four free energy-saving LED light bulbs by turning in their old-fashioned incandescent bulbs at the Derby Home Depot, 117 Main Street between 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 23. An additional four LED bulbs can be obtained by registering for Home Energy Solutions. Elizabeth Murphy, a spokesman for Energize Connecticut, said more than 730 LED bulbs were distributed during a similar Aug. 26 event at the Home Depot.

Ephesus Lighting LEDs Illuminate Martinsville Speedway for Historic Night Race

(Galaxy Trooper)

LEDs will illuminate the very first night race at Martinsville Speedway in Ridgeway, Virginia, this Saturday, LEDs Magazine reported. International Speedway Corporation tapped Eaton’s Ephesus division for an outdoor solid-state lighting installation at the famed short track. A mere .526 miles in length, the paperclip-like Martinsville Speedway plays host to the ValleyStar Credit Union 300 race this weekend. Called the “biggest, richest, most prestigious NASCAR Late Model Stock car race in the country,” the race winner takes a $25,000 pot and a grandfather clock.

Why does the lighting at the Falcons’ new stadium look so bright?

When you tune in for Sunday Night Football, the first regular season game in the Falcons’ new stadium, the lighting might catch you off guard. It’s not your imagination. It does look different, and there are a couple of reasons why. First and foremost, the Falcons made it a priority to make the new stadium as ecologically sound as possible. Part of that effort was installing LED lights, which stadium representatives say are softer and brighter than the florescent lighting used in most stadiums. The LED lights are not the Falcons’ only sustainability initiatives in the new stadium. Back in October 2016, then-President Barack Obama and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for Sustainability recognized Mercedes-Benz Stadium for being so ecologically friendly.

LED street lights brighten up city

The future of Tullahoma is beginning to look pretty bright. More than 800 street lights along Tullahoma’s most highly traveled roads have been switched to new LED (light emitting diode) units so far in an ongoing citywide project, according to Tullahoma Utilities Authority (TUA) President Brian Skelton.

UK Team Teases 5G in a Light Bulb

Researchers at Brunel University London have secured funding to develop a proof-of-concept wireless network that aims to fuse LiFi with mmWave technology. The project builds on the emerging LiFi (aka visible light communications or VLC) technological standard, which uses visible light to transmit data, and mmWave (millimeter wave) tech, which has figured largely in trials of what could form part of the 5G standard. Organizers aim to demonstrate 10Gbps connections in homes and buildings with a delay of a millisecond.

Loveland company will help city light up for Christmas

When audiences come see a holiday light display, they are not expecting to see the same decorations that were part of their family Christmas traditions of their childhood. But, that is exactly what Loveland residents might see upon viewing the Loveland Winter Holiday Council's decorations this season. Blazen Illuminations, a local LED lighting company that specializes in Christmas light refurbishment, is helping the holiday council decorate the city for the 2017 holiday season by giving new life to vintage Christmas decorations that residents may remember from many years ago.

Swiss researchers design ultra-pure green paper-thin LEDs

Chemical engineers from ETH Zurich have produced what they believe to be the purest green with an ultra-slim, bendable light-emitting diode. Their research stems from the need for improved colour quality in next generation ultra-high definition displays. Publishing their results in Nano Letters under the title "Ultrapure Green Light-Emitting Diodes Using Two-Dimensional Formamidinium Perovskites: Achieving Recommendation 2020 Color Coordinates", the researchers strived to meet the 2020 standard requirement with an optimized LED device whose color gamut covers 97% and 99% of the Rec. 2020 standard in the CIE 1931 and the CIE 1976 color space, compared to today's TV displays which cover on average only 73 to 78 percent of these color spaces.

Tracing The Light Inside An LED

The performance of white LEDs can be improved, based on better knowledge of the absorption and scattering of light inside the LED. A new method, developed by the University of Twente in The Netherlands and Philips Lighting, can lead to efficiency improvement and powerful design tools.

White LEDs can be made even more efficient and powerful, researchers of the University of Twente and Philips Lighting now prove. They found a detailed way to describe the light that stays inside the LED by absorption and scattering. This is very valuable information for the design process.

This floating lightbulb just went Peak Wireless Charging

The Flyte Magnus 2.0 is a flying lightbulb that’s powered by a wireless charger. This is a solution similar to what’s used in wireless smartphone charging, but also employs magnets to allow the powered bulb to float. Obviously this is not a fantastic solution for families with multiple toddlers, but the concept is certainly an excellent experiment in minimalist design.

LED lights safer, more effective in producing Vitamin D3 than sunlight

(UV) LED is more efficient than sunlight at producing vitamin D3 in skin samples. Tyler Kalajian and his research team, led by Dr. Michael F. Holick, Ph.D., M.D., and supported by Boston University School of Medicine and a Boston University Ignition Award, found that skin samples exposed to RayVio's UV LED for just 0.52 minutes produced more than twice as much vitamin D3 as samples exposed to 32.5 minutes of sunlight.

"We tested ultraviolet LEDs from different sources and at differentwavelengths. RayVio's 293nm LED showed the most significantpotential for vitamin D3 production in the shortest amount of time," said Dr. Holick, a Professor of Medicine, Physiology and Biophysics atBoston University School of Medicine, and endocrinologist at BostonMedical Center

Sylvania Smart+ Color Light Bulb Supports HomeKit, ditches Hub

With its new Smart+ color bulb, Sylvania has jettisoned the Lightify brand (and has stepped away from the Ledvance corporate identity). But while the company has lost some of its branding, its gained something else: support for Apple’s HomeKit system without requiring an external hub. Functionally, this is nearly the same bulb as the old Ledvance Lightify RGBW. The only difference is that now, if you have an iOS device, you don’t need to buy a standalone hub that plugs into wall power if you want to connect it to HomeKit. This saves some money (the bulb is the same price as the old Lightify) while decluttering your outlets.

Philips teams with wireless giant on 4G and 5G light poles

Philips Lighting has teamed with a $5.8 billion provider of communication towers and other transmission real estate to develop a “smart street pole” that houses cellular gear for 4G and 5G phone and broadband service while also connecting lighting and other smart city operations to those networks. The alliance between the world's largest lighting company and Boston-based American Tower Company marks the latest example of how the lighting industry is pushing hard into information and communications technology in order to secure a future that links lighting into Internet of Things (IoT) schemes.

Cineo Lighting CEO Rich Pierceall on the Qc80 Combo LED

High-output, compact LED set lights from Cineo Lighting are known for their balanced, color-correct and natural-looking white and colored spectrum. Cineo’s Quantum 120, one of the brightest soft lights on the rental and retail market at 75,000 lumens, features color temp presets from 2700K–6000K and has been used on creator and star . In late May, NBCUniversal and Cineo reached a deal to develop new LightBlade by Cineo technology and LED production fixtures for NBCUniversal’s broadcast, episodic and feature film productions. Cineo uses a proprietary technique to bring phosphor-converted white and color light to LEDs, rendering a range of believable lighting conditions, from deeply saturated to soft daylight.

This Mario Kart Battle Bracelet Pops With LEDs

The Mario Kart LED twinkling bracelet can be ordered here. It’s based on ThinkGeek’s original celestial fireworks LED bracelet, only this version features Mario, Peach, Yoshi, Bowser and more battling it out on the Rainbow Road that surrounds your wrist. The space-themed background twinkles with 15 LED lights that can be turned on and off at the push of a button.

Larson Electronics LLC Releases New LED Forklift Traffic Sign

Larson Electronics LLC, has released a brand-new LED traffic sign with a Class I LED strobing beacon and motion detector that produces illuminative notifications when movement is detected. This traffic sign is ideal for busy warehouses and industrial facilities where forklift safety needs enhancement.

The IND-FKLT-WS-24.24-MS is an LED traffic sign for forklift operations in industrial facilities, delivery bays and other high-activity locations where forklifts must move around safely. This Class I rated LED beacon located above the sign that produces 1,440 lumens at just 14.4 watts of draw. The LED strobe light is activated when movement is detected by the motion sensor, which supports a minimum sensing range of 25 feet. The sensitivity of the sensor can be adjusted to meet each work areas specific notification requirements. The powerful LED beacon is equipped with 30 flash patterns, including four simulated rotating patterns, so operators have a variety of options to create a system tailored to their work site.

The sign measures 2 feet by 2 feet and is coated with a reflective material to ensure visibility when viewed from all angles. The die cast LED beacon is coated in black powder and contains a fully potted circuit board. Protecting the LED beacon is a clear polycarbonate lens and a waterproof, shock-resistant housing that ensures durable, reliable operations. The strobe light is also equipped with auxiliary LEDs on top, helping to make this a Class I rated beacon. This forklift traffic light is offered in the following voltages: 120V, 220V or 240V AC. The LED beacon boasts more than 50,000 hours of lamp life, and is offered in green, amber, red, white or blue colored lights.

“This forklift traffic sign has a two in one notification feature,” said Rob Bresnahan, CEO of Larson Electronics LLC. “A reflective sign and a motion-sensor LED beacon makes this unit a versatile and dependable solution for safety in heavy-traffic locations.”

More heat than light for UVC LEDs

UVC LED technology is still in its infancy, and among other challenges one barrier is the thermal management of the UVC LEDs. Like any electronic component, LEDs are sensitive to heat. UVC LEDs have a particularly low external quantum efficiency (EQE) – they only convert about 5% of the power input into light. The remaining 95% of the power is converted to heat which must be quickly removed to keep the LED junction below its maximum operating temperature. Failure to keep the LED die cool will at best shorten its life, and at worse cause it to fail catastrophically.

Free LED lightbulb for Princeton electric customers

The city of Princeton Electric Department has announced distribution of free LED lightbulbs to its customers. This offering is made possible through the Energy Efficiency Program with the Illinois Municipal Electric Agency. The non-dimmable bulbs have a similar lighting capability as a 60-watt bulb, but only use 9 watts of energy. Nearly 1,000 bulbs will be distributed, but no more than three bulbs per customer per visit. Customers must show a current utility bill for bulb pick-up.

Arizona Public Service goes beyond LEDs with new efficiency proposals

Arizona Public Service (APS) has proposed a slate of new energy programs and rates that will help customers conserve energy and control their usage, including energy storage, demand response and load management programs. The proposals include incentives for smart thermostats, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, electric school buses and charging infrastructure, energy storage and water heater timers. The plan also calls for an increase in funding for APS' energy storage program, from $4 million to $6 million. APS is rolling out a new generation of load management and efficiency ideas in its service territory, explaining that traditional measures like LED light bulbs and efficient appliances are now commonplace.

Wichita homeowners association sues couple over yard lamp

A homeowners association in east Wichita is suing a couple demanding they remove a 12-foot-high lamp installed outside their home. The Wichita Eagle reports that the Country Club Court Estates Home Owners Association has filed a lawsuit against Dan and Alice Smith after the couple refused to take the lamp down from their yard. Dan Smith says the cast iron light is a vintage, high-quality piece he restored himself. He says the lamp adds curb appeal and provides security on the street after dark.

City adopts LED streetlights as interim standard

Streetlights in Port Townsend are to become more efficient, less expensive to maintain, and retain a warm, orangish color temperature as high-pressure sodium vapor bulbs in the city are slowly switched to light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs. The City Council on Aug. 21 voted unanimously to approve a new interim lighting standard for city streetlamps that favors LEDs. Almost all city streetlights are currently high-pressure sodium vapor lights, said Ken Clow, public works director for the city.

ROHM’s New Ultra-Compact Low Profile 2-Color Chip LEDs

ROHM has recently announced the availability of the industry’s smallest class (1608 size) of 2-color chip LEDs. In addition to their breakthrough size, the SML-D22MUW features a special design that improves reliability along with a backside electrode configuration that supports high-resolution displays.

In recent years, chip LEDs are being increasingly used for numerical displays in industrial equipment and consumer devices. Conventional numerical displays utilize a single color to indicate numbers, but there is a growing need to change the color to make it easier to recognize abnormalities. However, this typically entails utilizing two separate LEDs, which doubles the mounting area along with development costs, or opting for a standard 2-color LED that also increases board size.

In contrast, proprietary technologies and processes allowed ROHM to integrate 2 chips in the same package size as conventional single-color LEDs, making it possible to emit multiple colors in a smaller footprint. Board space is reduced by 35% over standard 1.5 x 1.3mm 2-color LEDs, contributing to thinner displays. And after taking into consideration usage conditions during reflow, countermeasures were adopted that prevents solder penetration within the resin package to ensure greater reliability.

Dutch port taps smart street lighting, with IoT on the horizon

The Port of Moerdijk in southern Holland is installing smart street lighting controls across 2600 hectares of land in a bid to slash energy consumption and maintenance costs. The Port will equip 1100 new LED street lights with motion sensors and management software from Amsterdam-based Tvilight. Dutch company Dynniq will oversee the rollout and the LED light installation. Dynniq is a technology firm that specializes in managing infrastructure, traffic, and energy systems.

The Port of Moerdijk is Holland's fourth largest port. It sits on the Hollands Diep River, which is an estuary of the Rhine and Meuse Rivers leading to the North Sea. The port serves maritime as well as inland cargo, and is connected by canal to Antwerp.

Hue starter kits now come with four bulbs instead of three

Philips aims to widen the appeal of its Hue smart bulbs by adding a fourth bulb to each of its starter kits. The $200 White and Color Ambiance, $150 White Ambiance, and $100 White now come with four A19 bulbs and a ZigBee-powered Hue bridge. Previous kits included only three bulbs. The connected-lighting pioneer also announced two new lighting fixtures that have integrated Hue White Ambiance technology: the $230 Cher Suspension and a $35 downlight.

LEDs light up more than roads

Streetlights casting a yellowish glow are becoming a thing of the past, with newer LEDs offering not only brighter light but brighter fiscal options. That had caught the attention of towns in the area, some of which have already converted to the energy efficient lighting and others that are in the process of installation or study. Lancaster bought its 100 or so lights for about $7,000, with an “almost immediate payback.” Moving from the utility to town ownership shows up almost immediately, Pacheco said, because the structure of the utility tariff changes once the town owns the lights.

Transition to LED light bulbs creates, secures jobs in Elk County

The maker of Sylvania light bulbs has invested millions of dollars to keep and add local manufacturing jobs at its facility in Elk County. Ledvance announced its recent technology investment to increase production of lighting by switching to LED light bulbs at its facility on Washington Road in St. Marys Thursday. "We're the first to manufacture LEDs in this volume in the United States," Ledvance CEO Jes Hansen said.

Coopersville begins replacing old mercury vapor streetlights with LEDs

Brighter nights are ahead for some streets in Coopersville as the city works to upgrade some of its streetlights. Officials with Flex LTD, a firm in Coopersville, recently approached the city concerning the streetlights on River and Skeels streets near its plant. The concern was that the old mercury vapor lights don't put out enough lights to safely light the intersection. In researching what would be done, city officials learned that Consumers Energy is currently making it cost-effective to replace mercury vapor street lights with new LED lights.

Philips SceneSwitch BR30 LED

The Philips "SceneSwitch" line of LED light bulbs promises versatility with the flip of a switch. Each one has three different light settings -- to change between them, you just turn the bulb off and back on. The newest SceneSwitch bulb is a BR30-shaped floodlight that'll sell for $8 at Home Depot this fall. Flip it off and back on within a few seconds to cycle through a yellowy soft white setting, a whitish daylight setting and a dimmed-down night-light setting. Like the other SceneSwitch LEDs, it's a simple and interesting way to add some limited dimmability to a fixture without needing to replace the light switch or install expensive smart bulbs.

LEDs for one lakh street lights

The GHMC has successfully replaced the bulbs of around one lakh street lights in Hyderabad with LED bulbs during the past one and a half months, a press release informed. As per the target fixed by the Union Ministry of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD), the remaining 3.55 lakh street lights too will be fixed with LED bulbs by the year end, a press release informed. The exercise has been taken on a war footing, and completed in a short span of time when compared with New Delhi and Visakhapatnam corporations, the note said.

PNC Park Retrofitted with New LED Lighting System

As of March 2017, PNC Park, the 38,362-seat home of the Pittsburgh Pirates Major League Baseball team, has benefited from a retrofit LED lighting system from Eaton’s Ephesus Lighting Solutions on the playing field, replacing a metal-halide system. This upgrade reduces glare, provides more uniform on-field illumination, and requires little to no maintenance. “To minimize glare, we maximize the number of point sources on the fixture—the total number of LEDs used—to essentially spread the light out more evenly across its face,” says Mike Lorenz, Ephesus president. “We also use custom lenses to precisely direct the light where we want.”

LEDs powered by yarn battery

Researchers have fabricated rechargeable batteries by using highly conductive yarns that have a diameter and flexibility similar to that of a piece of cotton yarn. The new yarn battery can be woven into fabric and worn as a wristband or other type of clothing to power watches, LEDs, pulse monitors, and other small personal electronics. The researchers, led by Chunyi Zhi, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the City University of Hong Kong, have published a paper on the new yarn battery in a recent issue of ACS Nano.

I Wish All Smart Home Upgrades Were as Easy as This Light Bulb

Smartphone-controlled light bulbs were one of the first smart home products that worked as promised, with minimal fuss. Philips’ Hue line, one of the first smart lighting systems available, uses bulbs that look and work just like standard incandescents. The only catch is that Philips’ system requires a wi-fi network in your home, a base station connected to your router, and yet another adapter squeezed onto your already crowded power bar. But there’s a much easier solution now, as long as you’ve completely bought into the Apple ecosystem. Installing Sylvania’s new Smart+ A19 full-color LED bulb is as easy as changing any of the bulbs in your house, because instead of talking to a base station, they talk directly to your iPhone or iPad using a built-in Bluetooth radio, and piggyback on the HomeKit smart home infrastructure Apple introduced to its mobile operating system a few years ago.

Ameren begins upgrading street and outdoor lights with LEDs

A change is coming from Ameren Illinois. The electricity and natural gas provider, which serves 1.2 million electric and 816,000 natural gas customers in central and southern Illinois, started a new program on Aug. 1 in which Ameren will gradually replace more than 300,000 company-owned street and area lights with LEDs. In a fact sheet on the 10-year initiative, Ameren stated the LEDs use 55 to 65 percent less energy than traditional bulbs, last up to 15 years and are expected to generate monthly savings of between $1.25 and $4.50 depending on the wattage of the bulb being replaced.