LED Street Lights Coming To Parts of Chicago

Street lights in portions of Wicker Park, Noble Square and East Ukrainian Village in Chicago will be switched over from High Pressure Sodium lighting (the traditional orange glow) to LED technology over the next few weeks as part of Chicago’s Smart Lighting project.

Installation boundaries are North Avenue to the north, Kinzie Street to the south, Damen Avenue to the west and Racine Avenue to the east, Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd) told residents in an email newsletter.

In total, Chicago is upgrading more than 270,000 street lights. Massachusetts-based Ameresco is the lead vendor on the $160 million project.

Aurora streetlights should be energy-efficient LED lights by the end of the year

The city of Aurora streetlights should be energy-efficient LED lights by the end of the year.

Aldermen on the City Council Finance Committee recommended a service provider for the ComEd Streetlights in Distressed Communities Program, which would seek to swap out all remaining street lamps to LED lamps.

The swap-out can even take place in the city’s historic districts and downtown, where the city has special poles and fixtures.

Cincinatti's West End Stadium Fin Lighting

Watch West End Stadium's facade illuminated for the first time. This video of the stunning, choreographed light show, showcasing the venue’s capabilities, is enchanting. FC Cincinnati will host its home opener in the new stadium on May 16, 2021.

New LUXEON SkyBlue LED solution simplifies and speeds development of Human-Centric Lighting

Lumileds announced the immediate availability of its new LED human-centric lighting solution – LUXEON SkyBlue. In partnership with BIOS Lighting, Lumileds has engineered a circadian lighting solution that delivers superior melanopic ratios at comfortable CCTs – 3000K, 3500K, and 4000K – with industry-leading efficacy and uniformity at the lowest solution cost. The new solution comprised of LUXEON SkyBlue and white LUXEON 3030 HE Plus LEDs eliminates the challenging technical and spectral analysis and engineering and enables a single-channel driver to support circadian lighting.

LUXEON SkyBlue is specified by CCT for melanopic ratio, CRI and R9, efficacy, and luminous flux and produces light within a 3 MacAdam ellipse space.

“As the science has progressed, HCL (Human Centric Lighting) has quickly risen in importance for both lighting designers and end-users,” said Mark McClear, COO at BIOS Lighting. Only spectrally optimized circadian lighting delivers the specific and measurable physiological impact that is desired in schools, offices, factories, health-care settings, and similar locations.

Webinar: Measuring LEDs and Lasers for Near-IR Sensing Applications

Near-infrared light has provided a new invisible interface for our devices. Most remote sensing systems in consumer electronics apply near-IR light for illumination, time of flight (TOF), and pattern analysis, enabling operations like facial recognition, gesture control, proximity sensing, and object mapping. Near-IR sources and cameras are being rapidly integrated into new products, particularly for sensing within the human visual field, which has elevated the importance of light source characterization during design and manufacture. 

To ensure the performance and eye safety of light beyond the human visible spectrum, manufacturers must measure the intensity of beams and patterns produced by near-IR LEDs and lasers. However, traditional light source measurement methods cannot keep up with the high-volume production demands of devices like smartphones and extended reality (XR) headsets. The challenge calls for a measurement solution that is fast, easy to deploy, and practical for in-line testing.

In this webinar, Mike Caputo from Radiant Vision Systems presents measurement methods for near-IR light sources and demonstrates the capabilities of Radiant’s NIR Intensity Lens solution for measuring sources faster and easier than ever before.

PowerLight is hitting its targets with a power beaming system

Wireless power transmission has been the stuff of science fiction for more than a century, but now PowerLight Technologies is turning it into science fact.

The company is wrapping up a $9.5 million demonstration project for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

In 2019, PowerLight showed that its power-beaming system can transmit 400 watts of power — enough to fire up an array of lights, laptops and a coffeemaker. In 2020, it followed up with a demonstration of a lightweight power receiver suitable for drones.

Smart Fixtures to Triple Share of General Purpose Lighting Market Through 2024

While just a fraction of the general purpose lighting market in 2019, smart lighting fixtures are expected to triple their share of demand through 2024, when sales are expected to approach $600 million, according to new research.

Robust sales growth will be driven by rapid growth in the broader smart tech and Internet of Things (IoT) markets, including smart home devices, commercial building automation, and smart city infrastructure
consumer interest in the convenience of smart lighting capabilities, such as wireless, away-from-home, and voice control, energy saving initiatives, especially in commercial applications ans the rising adoption of smart or smart-capable lighting will be driven by user interest in its technologically advanced capabilities, including wireless functions and voice-control features.

The residential market accounts for the bulk of smart lighting source sales due to the surging popularity of smart home systems seen in recent years as prices have dropped. The COVID-19 pandemic stimulated adoption of smart home equipment as consumers were spending more time at home, a key development driving some recent smart home product launches.

Next-Generation Automotive Lighting: Human-Centric Lighting, Integration of LiDAR in Headlamps of Vehicles

Over the last decade, the automotive industry has witnessed a massive transformation owing to rising air pollution, stringent government rules and regulation and growth in demand for safety features such as adaptive driving beam, ambient lighting, laser lighting, and communicable lighting.

Currently, the automotive industry is on the crest of technological advancement, which in turn, is expected to further advance the concept of vehicle safety on public roads.

The dynamic evolution of the automobile industry is attributed primarily to changing consumer preferences, growing focus on environment concerns, increased safety, and stringent government regulations. Lighting plays a critical role in the automotive industry and is growing at a rapid pace, driven by safety and design.

Rapid technological developments in the automotive lighting industry have witnessed a radical transformation from simple incandescent and gas discharge based light sources to light emitting diodes (LEDs), laser technology and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).

The next generation automotive lighting market research provides a detailed perspective on the different types of products, their applications, value estimation, among others. The principal purpose of this market analysis is to examine the automotive lighting market in terms of factors driving the market, restraints, trends, and opportunities, among others.

OLED Market worth $72.8 billion by 2026

According to the new market research report "OLED Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis published by MarketsandMarkets™, the OLED Market size was valued at USD 38.4 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach USD 72.8 billion by 2026. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.6% during the forecast period.

Rapid adoption of OLED displays in smartphones, significant investments in building new facilities to manufacture OLED panels, high demand for better viewing experience, especially from smartphone and television consumers, rapid advances in OLED technology, increased demand for AMOLED displays in AR/VR headset applications, and financial support from governments worldwide for OLED lighting research are the key driving factors for the OLED market.

The consumer segment is expected to continue to account for the largest size—more than 90%—of the market during the forecast period. The consumer vertical includes products such as smartphones, television sets, smart wearables, PC monitors and laptops, and tablets—all of which have significant shares in the global OLED market. The consumer electronics market is growing at a very fast speed with remarkable advancements in technology, such as improving picture clarity in large-screen TVs and the evolution of smartphones. OLED technology enables the development of these advanced products. Factors driving the demand for OLED products in the consumer segment include technological advancements in consumer devices and economic growth worldwide. Smartphones and television sets use OLED display extensively.

New iOS app for adjusting Philips Hue smart lights based on your mood

Hue Sentiments is an easy-to-use light app that translates text into a mood. Simply type how you’re feeling and notice the lights change based on your mood.

Hue Sentiment for Philips Hue was created by WWDC20 Swift Student Challenge Winner Rihab Mehboob.

For $1.99, Hue Sentiment for Philips Hue is available on the App Store here.

A set of smart light-up dice

Pixels are the coolest dice you’ve ever seen! Full of LEDs, smarts and no larger than regular dice, they can be customized to light up when and how you desire.

Depending on the design you select, the LED lights will either shine through the entire face (Midnight Galaxy and Aurora Sky) or only through the numbers (Onyx Black and Hematite Grey).

Global Specialty Lighting Market to Reach $8.1 Billion by 2027

Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Specialty Lighting estimated at US$5.5 billion in the year 2020, is projected to reach a revised size of US$8.1 billion by 2027, growing at aCAGR of 5.6% over the period 2020-2027. 

LED is projected to record 6.1% CAGR and reach US$5.9 billion by the end of the analysis period. After an early analysis of the business implications of the pandemic and its induced economic crisis, growth in the Other Light Sources segment is readjusted to a revised 4.5% CAGR for the next 7-year period.

The Specialty Lighting market in the U.S. is estimated at US$1.5 billion in the year 2020. China, the world`s second largest economy, is forecast to reach a projected market size of US$1.8 Billion by the year 2027 trailing a CAGR of 9.2% over the analysis period 2020 to 2027. 

Among the other noteworthy geographic markets are Japan and Canada, each forecast to grow at 3.1% and 4.5% respectively over the 2020-2027 period. Within Europe, Germany is forecast to grow at approximately 3.9% CAGR.

Aleddra's Air-Sanitizing Desktop Lamp

Aleddra's Air-Sanitizing Desktop Lamp uses an internal filter coated with ViraPure. VirePure is a high-density photocatalyst material which is activated by the LED light source in the lamp.

When the airborne pathogens are trapped on the filter, the activated ViraPure kills those trapped pathogens. An independent third-party microbiology laboratory tested the Aleddra Desktop Lamp against the H1N1 influenza A virus.

The aerosol test was conducted in a 1000 cubic feet chamber. The RESULTS show a 99.5% deactivation rate of the H1N1 influenza A virus in the test chamber after only 60 minutes. The US-based MICROBAC Lab conducted a surface test of the ViraPure material and found that after only 20 minutes the ViraPure material had an effective kill rate of the SARS-CoV coronavirus of 99.95%.

InventHelp Inventor Creates Solar-heated Street Signs

"During the winter, driving can be hazardous because of snow covered signs. I wanted to create a way to melt the snow and ice covering signs, and improve safety for drivers," said an inventor from Niagara Falls, NY. "So, I created SUNSIGNS."

The patent-pending invention fulfills the need for a solar-powered lighting and cold-weather elimination device for commercial street signs and residential mailboxes. It would provide a cold-weather eliminator and light source for any residential mailbox or municipality street sign. The module would melt an accumulation of snow or ice to aid in providing optimum visibility of the sign information at all times. It would be easy to use and install. Additionally, it features a durable, simple design that would save energy.

The inventor described his unique design. "There is nothing out there like it. My design would make navigation in the winter safe."

The original design was submitted to the Rochester sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers.

Solar-powered LEDs to light the way along popular South Park walking trail

Strolling down a popular pedestrian trail in South Park (Pennsylvania) will no longer just be a daytime affair.

Work has begun on a project to illuminate a roughly 2-mile portion of the trail running along Corrigan Drive between Library and Brownsville roads with 122 energy-efficient solar-powered lights.

County parks department officials wanted to improve safety along the path with lighting because it is open daily from dawn until midnight and frequently is used by people early in the morning and in the late evening.

Photo Leepaxton (cc)

Increasing Adoption of Efficient Lighting Due to its Benefits over Other Lights to Propel the Growth of Energy Efficient Lighting Market by 2027

The global energy efficient lighting market is predicted to witness enormous growth in forecast period, owing to rising adoption of efficient lighting across the globe. The North America region is anticipated to be most lucrative by 2027.

Research Dive in its latest published report estimates that the Global Energy Efficient Lighting Market will generate $370.4 billion and exhibit a CAGR of 8.4% from 2020 to 2027.

The rising adoption of efficient lighting around the world due to its benefits such as long shelf-life and energy saving is a significant factor predicted to foster the growth of the global energy efficient lighting market over the forecast period. Besides, the increasing penetration of smart LEDs is likely to create huge growth opportunities for the global market by the end of 2027. However, higher initial and installation costs involved with the energy efficient lights is expected to hinder the market growth in the coming future.

The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the global energy efficient lighting market in 2020. The decline in the growth rate of the market is majorly owing to shortage in supply of electric components due to COVID-19 restrictions worldwide and stalling of residential projects where energy efficient lights are used. However, the key players of the global market are implementing several strategies to obtain a strong position during the pandemic. For example, Advanced Lighting Technologies announced in August 2020 that it is following government guidelines to continue working during these hard times.

Based on region, the North America energy efficient lighting market is projected to surpass $119.6 billion by 2027 and is predicted to witness significant growth in the overall industry during the forecast period. The considerable growth of the region is majorly due to the presence of key players and rising adoption of latest technologies.
 

H6 LED series raises the bar in lighting quality and overall effectiveness in discerning environments

NICHIA, the world’s largest LED manufacturer and inventor of the high-brightness blue and white LEDs, announces its H6 series.

Implemented into NICHIA’s 3030 mid-power 757 package to start, the new family of LEDs delivers the highest multi-level boost in color rendition and efficacy whilst maintaining the outstanding lifetime expected from NICHIA.

NICHIA’s latest LED family provides better all-round performance for those luminaires targeting discerning environments, especially in shops, restaurants, hotels, and galleries/museum, and restroom settings where color rendering and energy savings are imperative design considerations.

DesignLights Consortium Seeks Proposals to Assess and Characterize the LED Light and Wellness Commercial Lighting Market

The DesignLights Consortium (DLC) issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking consultant services to assess and characterize the commercial market for LED light and wellness products.

The DLC will accept questions about the RFP until March 12, with proposals due by March 19.

The DLC is defining lighting for wellness as “optical radiation that stimulates the circadian, neuroendocrine and neurobehavioral systems in humans” as defined by the TM-18-18 publication from the Illuminating Engineering Society. The DLC Light and Wellness Market Assessment will focus on products designed and marketed to provide circadian lighting attributes such as differentiated spectral power distribution, color tuning to support different time-of-day protocols, optimized spatial distribution to increase vertical illuminance levels at the eye, and/or controllability that supports one or more of these attributes.

The project will cover the commercial office, education (K through higher education) and health care (including nursing and long-term care facilities) segments of the commercial lighting market. It does not include germicidal and antibacterial/antimicrobial lighting products, products marketed for light therapy, or product categories not included on the DLC’s Solid-State Lighting Qualified Products List (such as consumer- and residential-grade products).

New perovskite LED emits a circularly polarized glow

A group of physicists and chemists have developed a new type of LED that utilizes spintronics without needing a magnetic field, magnetic materials or cryogenic temperatures; a quantum leap that could take displays to the next level.

"The companies that make LEDs or TV and computer displays don't want to deal with magnetic fields and magnetic materials. It's heavy and expensive to do it," said Valy Vardeny, distinguished professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Utah. "Here, chiral molecules are self-assembled into standing arrays, like soldiers, that actively spin polarize the injected electrons, which subsequently lead to circularly polarized light emission. With no magnetic field, expensive ferromagnets and with no need for extremely low temperatures. Those are no-nos for the industry."

Most opto-electronic devices, such as LEDs, only control charge and light and not the spin of the electrons. The electrons possess tiny magnetic fields that, like the Earth, have magnetic poles on opposite sides. Its spin may be viewed as the orientation of the poles and can be assigned binary information -- an "up" spin is a "1," a "down" is a "0." In contrast, conventional electronics only transmit information through bursts of electrons along a conductive wire to convey messages in "1s" and "0s." Spintronic devices, however, could utilize both methods, promising to process exponentially more information than traditional electronics.

One barrier to commercial spintronics is setting the electron spin. Presently, one needs to produce a magnetic field to orient the electron spin direction.
Researchers from the University of Utah and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) developed technology that acts as an active spin filter made of two layers of material called chiral two-dimension metal-halide perovskites. The first layer blocks electrons having spin in the wrong direction, a layer that the authors call a chiral-induced spin filter. Then when the remaining electrons pass through the second light-emitting perovskite layer, they cause the layer to produce photons that move in unison along a spiral path, rather than a conventional wave pattern, to produce circular polarized electroluminescence.

12Vmonster Lighting Is Offering a Wide Collection of 12 volt Lighting Solutions

Low voltage LED lights are safer for landscaping and more energy-efficient. 12v LED lights are often used for outdoor applications and are also used by RV owners, boat owners, off-grid fanatics, and more.

12Vmonster was created to help customers and companies that need 12 volt lighting solutions find them at competitive prices. The company has a full collection of 12 volt lamps of various sizes, types, and voltages made for niche and general applications. Thanks to that, 12Vmonster is a critical supplier for electricians, builders, contractors, procurement, people with niche lighting needs, and other enthusiasts in general.

The company specializes in 12 volt LED lights, which offer a wide range of advantages over the traditional 120v-240v home lights most consumers are familiar with. 12v lights produce just as much brightness as higher voltage LED lights, but are much smaller, and - as the name indicates - requiring low voltage to run. Making it safer and increasingly stable.

This does not necessarily make 12v lights more energy-efficient than other LED lights, but it does mean that you can install them in outdoor settings with fewer safety measures in place. Making the entire outdoor lighting setup of a house low-voltage means that if someone accidentally cuts in the wire while gardening or digging, the resulting shock - if any happens - will be minimal. This allows consumers to light their outdoor spaces without fear of kids or pets accidentally touching a live wire.


Low-voltage lighting is also used in vehicle battery systems, as maintaining line voltage in a moving vehicle is impossible. RV owners and boat owners frequently rely on lights in the 6v-12v range, as do people living off the grid, and 12Vmonster has a large collection of lamps in that voltage range.

Plus, while 12v lights are not necessarily more efficient than regular LED lights, they will be more efficient than most - if not all - halogen or incandescent lighting solutions in the market. They also produce less heat, which makes them both more energy-efficient and less disruptive. They're also much smaller than traditional lights, allowing for a wider range of applications. Their size is one of the main reasons why low voltage lights are often used to light small places like cabinets and closets.

On top of offering lamps ranging from 6 volts all the way to 60 volts and home voltage lights, 12Vmonster also publishes a variety of guides and product reviews with valuable information for consumers.

Houweling’s adds LED lighting and expands at Utah greenhouse

Equilibrium Capital and Houweling’s Group BB #:177525 are continuing to enhance their sustainability profile with the announcement of an investment to retrofit their existing 28-acre Utah greenhouse with an advanced, hybrid LED system.

The project, in partnership with Rocky Mountain Power, Hortipar Lighting Solutions and Philips lighting from Signify, is set to be completed by Q3 2021 and will significantly reduce the annual power consumption of the greenhouse.

The fully integrated hybrid lighting system will be delivered by Hortipar Lighting Solutions, a leading Netherlands based lighting contractor.

PURO Lighting Expands Offering to Continuous UV Light Air Disinfection with PURO Air

PURO UV Disinfection Lighting adds additional disinfection power with PURO Air, a new line of continuous UV air disinfection products explicitly designed to eradicate airborne pathogens including SARS-CoV-2 from occupied rooms through air duct, HVAC systems, and in-room solutions.

PURO Lighting offers a full suite of proven and powerful UV light disinfection products that disinfects both surfaces and the air up to 99.9% pathogen free.

PURO's newest product line, PURO Air, continuously disinfects the air in rooms, in air ducts and in HVAC systems. All PURO Lighting products rapidly disinfect any room of any size at any time eradicating up to 99.9% of viruses and bacteria, and significantly reducing the growth of fungi such as yeasts and molds.

Green Science Alliance Developed Graphene Quantum Dot + Silica Composite Material for White LED

Quantum dots are extremely small fluorescent nanoparticles typically between several hundred to several thousand of atoms or molecules, and 1 to 9 nanometers in diameter. They are also referred to as artificial atom molecules.

Quantum dots have the concept of energy level, bandgap, conduction band, valence band which are the same as for normal bulk size material.  

However, because of its quantum confinement effect caused by their extremely small size, energy level of quantum dots become discontinuous and separated. This means that one can control the color of light given off by a quantum dot solely by changing its size and chemical composition, and light can be converted into nearly any desired color in the spectrum ranging from the UV to the IR region.

Green Science Alliance Co., Ltd. have been developing various type of quantum dots and quantum dot composite materials. This time, Mr. Hirohisa Iwabayashi and Dr. Ryohei Mori at Green Science Alliance Co., Ltd. developed graphene quantum dot + silica composite material for white LED. By applying this newly developed material onto LED which emits the light with 440-470 nm in wavelength, white LED can be created. This is the first time in the world in which applying graphene or carbon based quantum dot + silica composite material, for white LED material.

Among visible light colors, red, green, blue, these 3 colors are called 3 primary colors of light. To obtain while light artificially, it is necessary to possess wide emission spectra which contains all 3 primary colors, or to combine multiple LED which emits their individual light corresponding to red, green, blue. However, it is expensive to apply 3 colors of LED. So that in general, the combination structure of blue LED (such as GaN: Gallium Nitride) and its complementally color of yellow phosphor is often used. As phosphor, (Y,Gd)3(Al,Ga)5O12 : Ce3+ (YAG) and (Ba,Sr,Ca)2SiO4 : Eu2+ is often used. Recently, other types of nitride, oxynitride and sulfide are also applied.

However, these semiconductor based phosphor material can only emit light with specific wavelength, which is determined by their chemical composition and it is difficult to modify the wavelength of emission light. In this regard, quantum dots can emit any spectra of light with desired wavelength.  This is possible by optimizing its chemical composition and synthetic procedure.

Currently often used YAG based phosphor materials have light scattering problem due to their micron level size. However, quantum dot is super small so that light scattering is not a problem because they have high transparency at the visible light wavelength. Therefore, both incident light from blue LED (GaN) and emission light can be utilized efficiently. Eventually, it is possible to enhance the light strength with same electrical energy. In brief, the cost of electricity consumption could be cheaper compared to currently used white LED light. Moreover, light emission part (quantum dot part) and blue light source (GaN) is structurally separated so that the temperature increase of GaN can be suppressed which eventually expanding the life span of LED. In addition, currently often used YAG is quite expensive. Quantum dot is also said to be expensive although the raw material of graphene quantum dot can be relatively cheap. Thus, this type of new white LED can be cheaper than currently used white LED.    

Dialight Approved For National Lighting Bureau's Trusted Warranty Program

Dialight announced the approval for the National Lighting Bureau's (NLB) Trusted Warranty program. Dialight's industry-leading, 10 year warranty is available on most of its LED light fixtures including the new Vigilant LED High Output High Bay – Low Profile.

The NLB Trusted Warranty Program recognizes excellence in lighting companies that meet objective quality standards and practices regarding their warranty administration. The program empowers Customers, Lighting Designers, Electrical Distributors, Electrical Contractors and other Industry Stakeholders to feel comfortable specifying, buying, and installing luminaires from companies that have had their warranty department audited and approved by the NLB.

Mitchell City Council (South Dakota) to consider installing LED street lights

The Mitchell City Council will consider approving the installation of LED street lights and pedestrian buttons along a portion of Sanborn Boulevard during Monday’s meeting at City Hall.

The LED street lights and pedestrian buttons would be installed along Sanborn Boulevard at the intersections of First, Fifth, Seventh and 12th avenues.

The city is recommending Muth Electric’s bid for the installation of the LED light fixtures, which came in at $23,540, roughly $7,000 lower than TK Electric’s $30,841 bid.

Photo Parkerdr

Olympia Lighting Announces Availability of New UVC Troffers to Minimize the Spread of COVID-19

Olympia Lighting has announced the availability of new UVC troffers. These patent-pending LED troffer light fixtures are designed to help with indoor sanitation. They are perfect for various workplaces, including doctor's offices, hospitals, schools, and more. They help combat the spread of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases, with simple On and Off operations for 24/7 use.

Olympia's UVC troffer easily fits into a standard dropped ceiling grid. It is dimmable and has adjustable power and color temperature (CCT) to match the brightness and color scheme of existing light fixtures.

The air travels inside the fixture and is irradiated by UVC light, which is hidden away for human eye safety.

The pandemic has increased the need for sanitation in every facility. Therefore, the ability to achieve a 99.9 percent Virus Reduction is of paramount importance. Olympia's UVC troffers are a part of that solution, and are coming into mass production right now.

It is well known that UV light can sanitize surfaces. Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) is a disinfection method that uses Ultraviolet C (UV-C) light to inactivate microorganisms by disrupting their DNA. Olympia's UVC light fixtures have been shown to reduce 99.9 percent of bacteria, mold and viruses. Their deployment dramatically slows the spread of diseases by attacking them at the very source, while being hidden away from human eyesight.

UVC troffers are a powerful tool to reduce viruses, bacteria, and mold, and improve the air quality in the room, making a facility safer in the face of a pandemic, and can extend to mitigate future diseases as well.

An independent Microbiological Test Laboratory in the USA tested Olympia's UVC Troffer for a 99.9 percent reduction of viruses, mold and bacteria. Additionally, this UVC Air Purifier is Ozone Free compliant.

Global LED Curtain Lights Market Value to Increase by $ 478 Million During 2021-2025

The global LED curtain lights market is set to grow by USD 478.74 million during 2020-2024. Technavio segments the LED curtain lights market by distribution channel (offline and online) and geography (Europe, North America, APAC, South America, and MEA). The report identifies the increase in adoption of energy-efficient light sources as one of the major factors propelling the market growth.

The growing concerns over carbon emissions have increased the demand for efficient lighting solutions such as LEDs that reduce energy consumption. Besides, governments across the world are encouraging the use of LED lights through various initiatives and awareness programs. Moreover, the declining cost of semiconductor chips and other components used in the manufacture of LEDs has increased the affordability of LED lighting systems. Many such factors are expected to foster the growth of the global LED curtain lights market during the forecast period.

The offline distribution channel segment will witness lucrative growth during the forecast period. The availability of trained personnel who can provide accurate information on various lighting products on offer will be crucial in driving the demand for LED curtain lights solutions in offline retail stores. In addition, the proliferation of hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores, clubhouse stores, and department stores will contribute to the growth of the segment.

LED lighting controls are a 'game changer' for the next generation of growers

Heliospectra AB, a world leader in intelligent lighting technology for greenhouse and controlled plant growth environments, has partnered with Carleton College, a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota, United States, to upgrade the campus greenhouse facilities.

Carleton College installed Heliospectra's ELIXIA adjustable spectrum horticulture lighting and the helioCORE light control system to expand the school's plant research capabilities with a focus on vegetable and herb transplants and native plant propagation. The project is led by Randall Hagen, Staff Biologist at Carleton College with support from Martha Larson, Manager of Campus Energy and Sustainability.

Carleton College's recent retrofit of the Integrated Science Center included tying all three science buildings into the campus geothermal system, aligning with Carleton's initiative for the entire campus to become carbon neutral by 2050. Applying funds from the college's energy and sustainability budget, the Carleton team was also able to refurbish the greenhouse cooling system and replace old, antiquated 1000W HPS lights with the more efficient, safer Heliospectra LEDs and helioCORE controls after conducting an extensive lighting search and evaluation. The project generated over $17,000 in rebates from the local utility and is expected to lower annual greenhouse lighting electricity consumption by over 100,000 kWh, a 65% reduction.

US LED Introduces 120 kW TurboEVC Fast Chargers

US LED, known better for ultra-long-life LED lighting solutions, recently has entered into EV charging business - first with AC charging stations in late 2020, and now also with TurboEVC DC fast chargers.

The company is starting with three power levels - 30 kW, 60 kW and 120 kW. All of them are dual-head units and can charge two cars simultaneously. The efficiency is at 94%.

Ligand-engineered bandgap stability in mixed-halide perovskite LEDs

Lead halide perovskites are promising semiconductors for light-emitting applications because they exhibit bright, bandgap-tunable luminescence with high colour purity, new research shows.

Photoluminescence quantum yields close to unity have been achieved for perovskite nanocrystals across a broad range of emission colours, and light-emitting diodes with external quantum efficiencies exceeding 20 per cent—approaching those of commercial organic light-emitting diodes—have been demonstrated in both the infrared and the green emission channels.

However, owing to the formation of lower-bandgap iodide-rich domains, efficient and colour-stable red electroluminescence from mixed-halide perovskites has not yet been realized.

The report shows the treatment of mixed-halide perovskite nanocrystals with multidentate ligands to suppress halide segregation under electroluminescent operation.

Glamox has Acquired UK-based Wireless Lighting Controls Company

Lighting specialist Glamox has acquired 100 percent of the shares in UK-based company LiteIP Limited. LiteIP is located in Southampton and designs, manufactures and supplies wireless lighting control systems.

The brand name of LiteIP will remain in place.

Pver the last decade, LiteIP has developed a strong position within lighting controls in the UK lighting market. The ability to make simple intuitive solutions for customers has enabled LiteIP to compete with larger companies within the lighting industry The Lighting Control Systems market is fast growing, and attractive to combine with luminaire supply.

Hamamatsu Photonics System Inspects Micro-LEDs for Next-Gen Displays

Hamamatsu Photonics developed a system for high-speed inspection of micro-LEDs on wafers to detect abnormalities in their external appearance, intensity and wavelength of their light emissions.

This inspection system uses a photoluminescence (PL) measurement technique that is based on our advanced image processing technology and a newly developed imaging module. Hamamatsu calls this micro-LED PL inspection system the ‘MiNY  PL’, type number C15740-01.

Sales of this inspection system will begin on March 8, 2021.

See new Tresco Lighting by Rev-A-Shelf at Closets Expo

Tresco Lighting, a designer of patented lighting solutions for residential and commercial millwork, will introduce several new products at the 2021 Closets Expo, co-located with Wood Pro Expo Florida.

Tresco, a Rev-A-Shelf company since 2011, has a more than 40-year history of designing and patenting products for residential and commercial millwork, including closets, cabinets, store fixtures and more.

Tresco bills its new Chip on Board (COB) LED 12VDC tape as “the latest advancement in tape lighting.” Because the diodes are directly mounted on a printed circuit board and a continuous fortified coating, this flexible, Tresco says this high-density LED lighting strip creates a “Luniform look without dark spots.” No covers or filters are needed. Designed for indoor use only, this 4.4W/ft FlexTape features a 115-degree beam angle and is available in 2700K, 3000K, 3500K, 4800K or 6500K. It is sold in 13-ft (4m) rolls that are cuttable every 11/16 in. (18mm). COB LED 12VDC tape comes with a five-year warranty and can be used with Infinex extrusions, sold separately.

Weinman Stadium gets new lighting

The Purple Hurricanes hopefully will be playing football in Weinman Stadium in Cartersville (Georgia) under all new Friday Night Lights this fall.
 
At the Cartersville City School Board meeting Monday night, Finance Committee Chairman Tim Chason will recommend approving a lighting proposal for the high school stadium from sole-source vendor Musco Lighting for $275,000, to be paid from Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax funds.
 
The plan is not only to repair some of the lighting at the stadium, but it’s also to improve the lighting at the stadium as well.

Luminous ropes are lighting fixtures made from flexible LEDs

Luke Kelly’s LED Rope Lighting fixtures are adaptable by nature due to the materials sourced for their construction. Built by starting with flexible LEDs, each fixture’s brightness is subdued and covered with woven nylon rope and silicone to provide durability and pliability, allowing the light fixture to maintain a fixed formation when woven in even free-form designs. Luke Kelly’s collection of light fixtures come with a wide array of available options, ranging from unconventional chandeliers that merge with the ceiling to wall-mountable light fixtures that pop with brass, nickel, or copper accents.

Acuity Brands Announces New President of Acuity Lighting and Lighting Controls Business

Trevor S. Palmer was appointed President of the lighting and lighting controls business (ABL) of Equity Brands. Effective March 1, 2021, Palmer assumes responsibility for driving innovation across the Company’s lighting and lighting controls products, growing market share, and executing the digital transformation of the business.

Palmer has over 27 years of experience in the building technology industry and recently served as Senior Vice President of Acuity Brands’ Digital Lighting Networks business.

Richard K. Reece will take on the combined role of Executive Vice President of the Company and Vice Chairman of ABL. In this role, he will continue to partner with Neil on corporate and business development activities and he will work with Trevor to deepen Acuity Brands agency engagement across our Independent Sales Network and to ensure a smooth transition of our ABL business.

Germicidal Ultraviolet LED Start-Up Bolb Inc. raises $16 Million in Series A Round led by Fluxunit

Bolb, Inc. announced a Series A investment of $16 million led by Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH. Osram co-invests via its investment arm Fluxunit with other existing and new investors, including Southeast Asian UVC-Tech Group and Silicon Valley based venture firm Walden International. The financing will be used to fund expansion of Bolb's manufacturing capacity, technology roadmap and global sales.

Founded in August 2014 in Livermore, CA, Bolb utilizes a proprietary epitaxial platform to produce the world's only fully transparent UVC LED epitaxy stack, providing an unparalleled foundation for advancing their UVC LED performance roadmap, leading to new products which will transform germicidal/virucidal applications, just as visible LEDs have transformed lighting and displays. Bolb's UVC LEDs are world leading, delivering up to 200mW of performance per emitter and exhibiting safe deactivation of lethal pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, in shortest possible time.     

Customizable lamp makes ‘Happiness’ a design feature

Mr. Watt is a desk lamp styled like a little humanoid with large eyes that light up when you pat its head. Along with the curious eyes that shine bright enough to illuminate whatever Mr. Watt looks at, the lamp even comes with a positionable head.

Available in two sizes, Mr. Watt occupies no more than 5×5 inches of space, making it perfect to use as a tabletop lamp, a bedside lamp, or just a light placed anywhere on a shelf in either the living room or a kid’s bedroom.

To switch it on, all you need to do is pat it on the head and the lamp’s eyes light up — keep your hand on its head for a little longer and you can adjust Mr. Watt’s brightness, going from ambient light to full-blown spotlight bright enough to clearly light up a tabletop!

City of Grand Rapids approves move to replace all streetlights with LEDs

The Grand Rapids City Commission approved a decision to replace all of the city's streetlights with LED streetlights.

A $6.2 million contract has been granted to Strain Electric to replace all streetlights with LEDs.

The City says they expect to save about $350,000 in energy costs when all 18,000 streetlights are replaced.

Old-style streetlights in Meadville (Pennsylvania) now glow with energy-saving LEDs

Ornamental streetlights still cast a warm glow in Meadville. But the cost of that light is a bit lower these days thanks to the conversion to LED of 258 lighting fixtures around city-owned parks and parking lots and key streets.

Partial funding for the $55,000 project came from a $17,500 grant from the Penelec Sustainable Energy Fund of the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, awarded in 2019.

Photo Doug Kerr (cc)

Circle Full Of LEDs Becomes A Clock

A hacker called Clueless found a circle of LED rings online and with made an LED version of an analog clock. The rings aren’t wired together, and it seems like these are designed to be separated, but it’s pretty easy to wire them together in order to have a circle of individually accessible RGB LEDs. Each hand of the clock is a different color and is antialiased to give a smoother look, since the LEDs don’t line up.

Reduce Up to 95 Percent Labor on Emergency Lighting Audit With Aleddra's Self-Testing Emergency Tube Lamps

To be compliant with most emergency lighting regulations, it is required to conduct a 30-second audit monthly and a 90-minute audit annually on all emergency lighting equipment. For large facilities with hundreds of different types of emergency lighting equipment, these audits are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and costly. Two years ago, a NASA facilities engineer at Kennedy Space Center challenged Aleddra to come up with a solution to help solve his "pain" of emergency lighting equipment audits.

The Aleddra Gen4 Self-Testing/Self-Diagnosis Emergency Tube is the answer. Its internal clock starts after the Gen4 tube has been energized for 48 hours.

The flashing indicator allows the facilities personnel to simply walk the building, look for the rapidly flashing green LED indicators and replace the tubes that are flashing. This self-testing/self-diagnosis feature dramatically reduces the labor to test and audit the Gen4 tubes by up to 95%. Furthermore, the end user can get rid of the material and the labor costs associated with the regular and emergency ballasts, since Aleddra Gen4 Emergency Tube does not use any ballast.

ViewSonic Introduces ToF Technology to its Latest Portable LED Projector

ViewSonic Corp. is introducing its latest M2e Instant Smart 1080p Portable LED Projector. This new addition to the company's M series of smart portable LED projectors uses Time-of-Flight (ToF) technology to achieve instant auto focus in an ultralight and portable design.

ToF technology enables the M2e to instantly auto focus in only one second, which is 3-5 times faster compared to current methods. It delivers impeccable optical precision, effortless setup, and its portability makes for flexible entertainment and work at home.

ToF sensors are a type of scanner-less LIDAR (light detection and ranging) technology that measures distance based on the time it takes for photons to travel between the sensor's emitter and the target area, enabling accurate distance ranging regardless of the object's surface characteristics. They also have high-accuracy linearity and up to 3m detection range with a full field of view.

Traditionally, when a projector is moved, it needs to be refocused by either a press on the remote control to trigger auto focus, or manual adjustments on the focus ring. With built-in G sensor design, the M2e can detect change of setup position and automatically trigger instant auto focus which utilizes ToF technology. Not only is the focusing more precise, but it can be completed in only one second, which is 3–5 times faster than the normal auto focus that uses a camera for continuous image capturing and matching, not to mention those by manual focus ring adjustment.

Hacking A Non-Dimmable LED Fixture

For most of us, the solution to having a non-dimmable LED light bulb but needing a dimmable one is a simple as a drive to the store to get the right kind of bulb. But that seems downright boring, not to mention wasteful, so when Leo Fernekes was faced with this problem, he looked for a way to make a non-dimmable bulb dimmable.

Luminus has announced the Hospitality COB Series of LEDs

Luminus has announced the Hospitality COB Series of LEDs designed for solid-state lighting (SSL) in restaurants, hotels, and similar spaces. The chip-on-board (COB) LEDs feature precise color control and fall below the black body locus (BBL) on a chromaticity or color space diagram. That chromaticity ensures that human eyes perceive warm skin tones and that people look good under the lighting.

The company will offer the new LEDs in versions with a light-emitting surface (LES) ranging from 6–22 mm. Output flux will vary from 500–5000 lm. The LEDs will generally be used at the warm end of the CCT range. Luminus will offer 2700K-, 3000K-, 3500K-, and 4000K-CCT options.