... As a result of a midnight premier of Star Trek - Into Darkness last night (this morning, technically), the forward-looking technology thoughts are flowing judiciously. Apparently I walked into the conclusion of the discussion on when and where the movie was happening, only to catch the part where I... Read the editorial...
(if it resists... go here)
The
opportunities presented by the increasing rapid adoption of high brightness LEDs,
in all their forms and applications, represents nothing short of a "digital
revolution" for a previously "analog" world. LEDs are having a
substantial disruptive effect on a number of established technologies, and where
there is disruption, there is an intense need for information.
LIGHTimes Online is here to serve the information needs of the LED industry
supply chain, as well as integrators and non-architectural application solution
providers with technology, product and market news updates for these rapidly evolving
devices. Our readership also includes LED packagers, technology enablers and service
companies seeking the the answers to how best to meet their customers' needs.
For
architectural lighting and applications news of interest specifically to lighting
designers, specifiers, and architectural lighting decision makers, along with
luminaire designers, lighting system integrators and lighting subsystem developers,
please visit our sister publication, Solid
State Lighting Design.
SSL
is booming and the 2011/2012 Summit Series is coming back to keep the message
on quality
Launched in 2008, the SSL
Summit will bring the quality story to New York City in October 2011, and
then back to LA in March 2012. At every one of the Summit events, the feedback
remains consistent: Just what we need, do it again soon. The Summit brings together
lighting decision makers with industry thought leaders, pioneers, and innovators
from the across the solid state lighting eco-system.
Continuing the tradition, 2011/2012 will continue
to be all about quality, quality, quality.Showcase
participants and sponsors are vetted to separate the wheat from the chaff
(have your IES LM-79 test reports ready!). Last year's event in NYC included
representatives of over 100 million square feet of developed property, and the
one thing we don't want to leave out for 2011 is you! Look into the series information
at www.SSLsummit.com for the details.
Sponsorships are available for the full series.
EPA Publishes Draft 4 of Energy Star Lamps V1.0 Specification SSLDesign News Staff
May 21, 2013...The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released fourth draft of the Energy Star Lamps V1.0 specification. Lamps Version 1.0 is set to take effect 12 months after the release of the Final Program Requirements. The EPA says that this time will allow manufacturers with qualified products under the existing ENERGY STAR Compact Fluorescent Lamps V4.3 and Integral LED Lamps Version 1.4 specifications sufficient time to transition to the new specification. The EPA encourages manufacturers to begin testing and certifying products to this specification as soon as it is final. Most things including the efficacy requirements remained the same between draft 3 and draft 4.
Among the changes in draft four of the specification, the IES LM-79-08 testing criteria, has eased some of the testing requirements on beam angle chromaticity. Specifically, the IES LM-79-08 has decreased the resolution of scanning angle chromaticity from 1 degree for angles less than 10 degrees total to 2 degrees for angles less than 15 degrees and 5 degrees for angles above 15 degrees. This revision was made after comments that the 1 degree resolution placed an undue time burden on the companies testing their products.
EPA adjusted the allowed uniformity variance of the luminous intensity values for omnidirectional lamps after confirming that the intensity distribution data of some incandescent lamps is not consistent with the existing 20% limit on average candela values for omnidirectional lamp performance in previous drafts and the Integral LED Lamps specification. This update is likely to increase the availability of omnidirectional ENERGY STAR certified lamps that meet consumers’ expectation for omnidirectional performance.
In Draft 3, EPA introduced limited intensity distribution requirements for decorative lamp shapes to ensure that the efficient replacements more accurately deliver the light distribution performance consumers expect from these product types. Stakeholder comments and confirmation of design limitations on the location of the electrical components in energy efficient lamps with candelabra bases, the Agency adjusted the zone of interest for the 5% light output in Draft 4.
In part to accommodate CFLs, the EPA maintained the requirement for correlated color temperature of the lamps to the 7-step ellipses/quadrangles found in the existing specifications, but now allows for 1 out of ten tested to be outliers in terms of the color temperature.The EPA indicated that it will continue to monitor the situation and determine at a later date when tightening of the requirement might be appropriate.
The specification now allows a 5 degree Celsius variation in operating temperature for ambient life and elevated temperature life testing. The specification now calculates the lumen maintenance value as the average lumen maintenance of all surfing units provided that the difference between the averages in each orientation are less than 3 percent.
The requirement for testing dimmers from different manufacturers was reduced from three to two due to the limited number of residential dimmer manufacturers on the market.
The new specification limits the frequency range to 120Hz and above, and it has no requirement for above 800 Hz, because the EPA says that research shows that people don't notice 100% of flicker at this point. Lamps in the 120 to 800Hz range must have a flicker index of 0.001 times frequency.
After stakeholder comments, The EPA considered changing the efficacy requirements for lamps with CRI of 90 and above, but decided against it because a number of products already qualify with the same efficacy requirements with 90+ CRI versions.
In the future the EPA plans to address lamps that include Wireless controls such as Zigbee, Bluetooth, and WiFi.These lamps continually use a small amounts of power so they can respond to remote control.
Klauf Lighting Introduces Relatively Inexpensive Remote Phosphor LED Light Bar LIGHTimes News Staff
May 2, 2013...After a year of research and development, Klauf Lighting of Lewes, Deleware
has introduced the Klauf light bar. Uniquely, the light bar takes advantage of
remote phosphor technology. The warm white light is also leverages better
dimming technology that is compatible with standard inexpensive dimmers. The
luminaire has an extruded aluminum housing and a yellow-orange diffuser, which
gives the Klauf light bar a distinctive appearance.
Unlike conventional LED lighting that uses blue LEDs packaged with a
phosphor coating to produce white light, a long phosphor material layer is
separated from the LEDs. The company contends that conventional phosphor
packaging keeps a blanket of heat at the source, diminishing the LED's light
quality and lifetime. However, Klauf says that by separating the phosphor from
the LED chip and instead coating the Klauf light bar's diffuser with the
phosphor compound, the LEDs are ensured a cooler operating temperature, which
helps ensure a longer life. Klauf also claims that this allows the fixture to
produce better-quality light - 80CRI and a 2700K warm white color
temperature.
From a design standpoint, the Klauf light bar allows users to near
seamlessly chain multiple fixtures, end-to-end, and with only one power cord.
No bulky and unsightly transformers are required, as the LED driver electronics
are all contained in the small fixture's housing. The light emitted is fluid,
not pixelated like most other linear fixtures, eliminating multiple shadows on
work surfaces. And since the fixture is cool to the touch and small enough to
hold in your hand, the light bar's design also allows for portability. It's
available in 6 and 12-inch segments, can be used as a standalone fixture, or
connected to a series of other light bars. At only $55 for the 12-inch unit,
it's more than 70% less expensive than linear fixtures from other quality
manufacturers – fixtures using nearly the same or even less
forward-thinking technology.
Klauf has decided to launch its light bar on Kickstarter.com, a crowdfunding
source. "With this new and innovative fixture, we wanted to put it in the
hands of the real consumer, people who might not have been able to afford newer
LED technologies," stated Susan Hendrix of Klauf. "The Kickstarter
community is made from people who are excited to back projects by companies
which strive to produce better, more efficient, and affordable
products."
The Klauf light bar's Kickstarter campaign will run for only 30 days,
starting Thursday, April 25, 2013. Kickstarter members are able to get their
own Klauf light bar at a 40% discounted price, or more. For more about Klauf
and the innovative light bar, visit http://Klauf.com and click the Kickstarter link at
the top of the page, or access the campaign directly here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/klauf/klauf-light-bar-bright-dimmable-phosphor-led.
Luminus Devices to Supply Big Chip LEDs for Vision X Lighting’s Long Throw Spot Lighting Applications LIGHTimes News Staff
April 30, 2013...Luminus Devices, Inc. a maker of big chip LEDs and Vision X Lighting
announced a strategic partnership to develop and produce LED technology for
lighting applications that are currently dominated by High Intensity Discharge
(HID) lamp technology. The companies expect that the collaboration between
Luminus, a producer of high brightness LEDs, and Vision X Lighting, a supplier
of aftermarket automotive lighting fixtures, will create a new class of LED
lighting products with the power and punch of HID based systems.
"We assessed many high brightness LED products from manufacturers
throughout the industry, but ultimately decided to partner with Luminus Devices
because their Big Chip products perform at a level that sets them apart,"
said Tony Georgitsis, president of Vision X Lighting. "With a Luminus LED
at the heart of the light fixture, we can deliver useful light at distances
that could only previously be achieved with HID lamps. This is a true
breakthrough in automotive aftermarket lighting, and we are thrilled about the
partnership with Luminus, and the exciting new products we will be releasing in
the coming months."
Vision X Lighting recently launched its first product using a single Luminus
LED called Light Cannon. Light Cannon can produce a usable beam of light at a
distance of more than 1,000 feet.
"We couldn't be happier to announce our partnership with Vision X
Lighting, a world-class company at the forefront of innovation," said Jim
Hunter, VP & general manager of global commercial markets at Luminus.
"At Luminus, we excel at providing our customers with high brightness LEDs
that produce thousands of lumens. As demonstrated through our partnership with
Vision X Lighting, we enable our customers to create exciting lighting products
capable of delivering high brightness light at great distances with
unprecedented center beam candle power."
April 12, 2013...Royal Philips Electronics of Eindhoven, the Netherlands, announced a tube lighting
(TL) replacement TLED laboratory prototype that produces a record 200 lumens
per watt of high-quality white light. Compared with 100-110lm/W for fluorescent
lighting (and just 15lm/W for traditional incandescents) the prototype TLED lamp
is twice as efficient as the best incumbent predecessor lamps, showing the potential of LEDs to cut lighting energy use in half.According to a US Department of Energy report, fluorscent lighting in the US consumes 200 terawatt-hours annually. A doubling of the lighting efficiency to replace that incumbent technology represents a potential annual energy savings equivalent to the power generation of 50 medium-sized power plants, totaling to approximately $12B in cost-savings.
The
prototype uses blue and red LEDs with a phospor conversion for a portion of
the blue to achieve the R-G-B mix. The phosphor converted green partially overcomes
the so-called "green gap" (the difficulty of producing highly-efficiency native
green LEDs) by converting a portion of the blue light with a green phosphor.
Using red, blue and green reduces the energy losses that would normally result
from a phosphor converted white.
The company claims that the new TLED prototype lamp marks the first time that
lighting engineers have been able to reach 200lm/W efficiency without compromising
on light quality, "with all parameters required to meet the stringent requirements
for office lighting." Philips feels that general office lighting applications
require a color temperature of 3000–4000 Kelvin, a color rendering index of
at least 80, and an R9 (level of saturated red) of no less than 20. One challenge
with RGB configurations in general can be the "peakiness" of the spectrum when
it consists solely of the three primary colors, as opposed to the broader spectrum
that can result from the phosphor conversion process, or the addition of other
intermediate color LEDs. While you can manage to get a high CRI if the emission
peaks correspond to the CRI R-values, some real-world color rendering can be
impacted. According to Jy Bhardwaj, Sr. VP of R&D for the Philips Lumileds,
the green conversion does help smooth the spectrum, and realistically, with
the level of efficiency demonstrated, there certainly is room to adjust any
production implementation to address any number of ultimate quality of light
objectives without sacrificing much in terms of lumens per watt. Bhardwaj contends
that from this demonstration, it's clear that whether it is ultimate color richness,
color tunability or simply lumens per dollar, LED lighting is clearly able to
adapt to address all aspects of the market requirements in what will be a highly
convincing fashion.
“This again is a major breakthrough in LED lighting and will
further drive the transformation of the lighting industry,”
explained Rene van Schooten, CEO Light Sources & Electronics for Philips
Lighting. “After being recognized for our quality of LED light
(mimicking traditional light bulbs) to creating new experience with Philips Hue
(the connected light system for the home), we now present the next innovative
step in doubling lighting efficiency. It’s exciting to imagine the
massive energy and cost savings it will bring to our planet and
customers.”
DEKRA announces strategic partnership with KILT in Korea LIGHTimes News Staff
February 5, 2013...DEKRA, a provider of auditing and certification services, and the
Korean Institute for Lighting Technology signed an agreement to
establish a strategic partnership in Korea. KILT offers LED Lighting
testing in Korea, providing both photometric and safety
testing services.
The agreement extends DEKRA's position as a global LED
Lighting tester. The cooperation will also enable KILT to offer its
clients access to international certification services According to
statistics published by IECEE, DEKRA is the world’s largest lighting
certification body (as measured by the number of CB certificates
issued in 2011 in the category LITE (lighting and luminaires). Under
the agreement KILT to become a CB testing laboratory in this
category in Korea under DEKRA NCB.
DEKRA is also an official Zhaga Test Centre for LED light engine
interfaces and the partnership will include collaboration in the
area of Zhaga testing.
In future it is hoped that KILT will perform tests upon which DEKRA
will base reports and certification marks, including CB, renowned
KEMA-KEUR, DEKRA Seal marks, and other international approvals such
as INMETRO Mark or CCC.
Lextar Announces Merger with Wellypower SSLDesign News Staff
January 31, 2013...Lextar Electronics Corp. of HsinChu Science Park, Taiwan, announced
that its official merger with Wellypower Optronics (Wellypower) will
take place on February 1, 2013. Upon the merger of the two LED
subsidiaries of AU Optronics (AUO), Lextar will have capital values
of NT$5 billion (US$169 million). Lextar says it will be able to
achieve a more complete and vertically integrated business model as
well as further expand its LED lighting and backlighting product
lines and customer base. Dr. David Su will become chairman and CEO,
and Mr. Allen Huang will act as company president.
According to Lextar, previously, it backlighting products were
mostly for monitor and TV applications but will now also be used in
notebook and smartphone applications. In addition to developing mostly solid-state lighting products such as lamps and board lights, Lextar’s new merger will give the company a line of products that also include T5 tube and CCFL lighting applications along with LED bulbs and fixtures.
The merger will reportedly expand Lextar's customer portfolio, which
gives Lextar OEM businesses in the US and Japan. Lextar says that
the merger will supply its own Industrial Design team to provide
more value-added service. Lextar notes that the merger will also
enlarging its economies of scale, increasing the company’s access to
materials and resources while at the same time improving cost
competition.
Chairman Su said that Lextar and Wellypowers’ product lines, system
platforms and personnel have already merged to form a competent team
that will be even more well-versed in lighting operations.
Intematix Releases LED High Bay Lighting with Remote Phosphor LIGHTimes News Staff
January 25, 2013...Fremont, California-based Intematix Corporation, announced
availability of its reference design for a low cost, high light
quality and efficient LED high bay lighting system using remote
phosphor technology. High bay lighting generally has to have high
light output and is used for long periods of time. Intematix notes
that due to very high light output and use-time, reducing system
power consumption, maintenance and disposal costs are economic
priorities. Intematix contends that for this reason remote phosphor
LED lighting designs are well suited to high bay and other area
lighting applications that have previously employed high-intensity
discharge and fluorescent systems.
Intematix claims that its remote phosphors convert light from blue
LEDs into white light up to 30% more efficiently than conventional
white LEDs. As a consequence of increased efficacy, remote phosphor
reduces costs for lighting systems by implementing fewer LEDs and
other components and by cutting power consumption. The new 22,000
lumen light engine, based on a novel architecture, operates at
110 lumens/Watt efficacy according to TUV, a provider of certified
testing.
“Using ChromaLit remote phosphors, this lighting module
outperforms other high bay lighting solutions, is constructed of
relatively few components and is easy to assemble,” said Mitch
Jansen, Senior Director of Applications Engineering at Intematix. “Our
customers are building on this design foundation to produce
lighting products with outstanding performance and lower costs.”
The Intematix high bay lighting module emits light at 5000K CCT, has
a 73CRI and a uniformity of 3 MacAdams over angle. It uses only 9
blue LED arrays and is sealed against moisture at IP66.
UL International Italia S.r.l. Named LED Lighting Facts® Approved Testing Lab LIGHTimes News Staff
January 17, 2013...UL International Italia in Burago di Molgora, Italy has been
accredited or recognized to conduct the following LED Lighting Facts
test procedures: IES LM-79 for total flux and color (required label
metrics and some optional electrical and color metrics; LM-79
sections 9 and 12) and IES LM-79 for intensity distribution (some
optional metrics; LM-79 section 10).
The U.S.Department of Energy's LED Lighting Facts program allows
manufacturers to substantiate their advertising claims and represent
that performance attributes listed on the label are accurate. All
products listed with LED Lighting Facts are required to have been
tested at approved, third-party laboratories. As of June 1, 2012,
LED Lighting Facts will only accept test reports from Testing
Laboratory Partners on the Approved Testing Laboratories list. See
list here,http://www.lightingfacts.com/approvedlabs.
The Italy lab joins UL's Verification Services lab in Guanzghou,
China, who is also accredited or recognized to conduct the following
test procedures: IES LM-79 for total flux and color (required label
metrics and some optional electrical and color metrics; LM-79
sections 9 and 12), IES LM-79 for intensity distribution (some
optional metrics; LM-79 section 10). The Guanzghou lab is also
recognized to conduct In-situ Temperature Measurement Test (ISTMT)
and LM-80.
"UL is thrilled by the announcement that our lighting lab in
Burago Italy is now approved and ready to provide services in
accordance with the LED Lighting Facts LM-79 test protocols,"
said Jordan Bruntz, Director and General Manager Verification
Services Consumer Electronics, UL. "We have a strong technical
team that is confident and well equipped to deliver exceptional
quality and speed," added Bruntz.
In addition to testing for the LightFacts label, ongoing performance
testing is conducted through DOE's CALiPER program to ensure that
products continue to perform at the levels stated on the label.
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