June 2009 Archives

Luminus Devices is collaborating with Texas Instruments DLP Products (TI) (NYSE: TXN) to combine  the award-winning PhlatLight^® LED technology with TI's DLP^® technology bringing high-quality, long-lasting solid-state illumination to mainstream projection applications.

The two companies demonstrated the industry's first 1080p prototype home theater projection system using their combined technology during InfoComm 2009

 An ongoing collaboration between Luminus and TI has resulted in dramatic brightness improvements for DLP projection systems using PhlatLight LED illumination, with breakthroughs from TI in Digital Light Processing enabled by the PhlatLight LED digital light source from Luminus. These improvements are enabling several leading projection manufacturers to introduce DLP home theater projectors later in 2008. Further developments by TI and Luminus will lead to the introduction of DLP projectors for corporate and education markets powered by PhlatLight LEDs in 2009.

 

PhlatLight LED-based projectors have been previously developed and commercialized, but until today brightness has limited their use to lower brightness ultra-portable pocket projectors. The significance of this breakthrough is that it creates the first lamp free projector for mainstream applications that delivers all the color and performance advantages without compromising brightness.  

 

"DLP projectors illuminated by PhlatLight LEDs have significant advantages, offering superior versatility, reliability and convenience with instant start-up, stable brightness and color over the life of the projector plus they eliminate the need for lamp replacement," said Christian Hoepfner, vice president of products, Luminus Devices. "PhlatLight LEDs give DLP projectors a digital RGB light source delivering unprecedented image quality with a wider color gamut, accurate, saturated colors with higher contrast and deeper blacks."

 

Luminus has been manufacturing its patented PhlatLight LEDs for HDTV's since 2006 and PhlatLight LEDs remain the only LEDs that are bright and efficient enough to replace arc lamps. PhlatLight LEDs are unique in that they are larger than conventional LEDs and designed to operate at significantly higher intensity. Projectors illuminated by PhlatLight LEDs produce more than fifty percent wider color gamut than the NTSC standard and the pure, primary colors sequentially pulsed at high speeds, provide ultra-fast color refresh for stable, accurate colors and a smooth picture with superior motion quality. 

 The prototype home theater projector will be demonstrated during Infocomm at TI's DLP booth, Central Hall #C909, June 18-20, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. To schedule a meeting with a Luminus spokesperson at InfoComm or for more information contact Bill Keeler or Nicole Slein of Schwartz Communications at 781 684-0770 or luminus@schwartz-pr.com.

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US-based LED manufacturer Luminus Devices has revealed that its devices are being used by a number of projector manufacturers, including BenQ, LG Electronics and Coretronics.

LED illumination is helping the front projector market evolve by eliminating the size, heat, fragility, and lifespan issues commonly associated with mercury arc lamps.  Such improvements have created a new class of small, light, ultra-portable "pocket projectors" that promise to benefit business travelers and consumers by enabling instant projection rooms anywhere at anytime.

BenQ mini projector
BenQ's new Joybee mini projector, powered by the PT-39 PhlatLight LED chipset from Luminus, is designed for traveling professionals, gamers and other mobile system enthusiasts. The chipset is designed specifically for projection systems that use micro-displays ranging from 0.4- to 0.55-inch, and comprises individual red, green and blue LEDs. The Joybee is priced under $499
.

LG pocket projector
Also built using Luminus LEDs, the LG HS-200G pocket projector from LG Electronics weighs less than two pounds and fits in the palm of a hand. "The HS-200G is the next advancement in LG's effort to offer consumers superior picture quality for projecting presentations, games or movies anywhere," said Brian Park, Marketing Group Leader, LG Electronics. LG uses PhlatLight LEDs to power the HS-102 pocket projector.

Coretronic data projector
Coretronic, Texas Instruments and Luminus demonstrated a new DLP-based data projector with an LED light source, which was described as the first of its kind to offer light output suitable for the classroom and boardroom.

"Powerful, affordable, long-life projectors will set the new performance standard. We are proud to be the first company to show such a system that provides the very high output business users require," says Shen Wang, President of Coretronic.

High-performance projectors from projectiondesign®
Headquartered in Fredrikstad, Norway, projectiondesign specializes in advanced, high performance DLP-based projection solutions for challenging applications in professional, business, home cinema and eCinema markets. Its FL32 projector series provides superior image quality and performance for the most demanding scientific visualization and simulation applications.

Luminus Devices develops and manufactures high performance, solid state lighting solutions for a variety of illumination applications previously thought impossible for solid state lighting.

Luminus Devices claims that their patented PhlatLight^® LEDs products are the brightest and most versatile solid state light sources available today, redefining the solid state lighting landscape by enabling the creation of innovative new products and applications.

PhlatLight LED technology is used today in products from  global mass market consumer and specialty products companies.

Luminus maintains its corporate offices and engineering, assembly and test operations in Billerica, Massachusetts with its semiconductor foundry nearby in Woburn, Massachusetts.

www.luminus.com/

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Market conditions are right for the LED replacement lamp market to accelerate in the next few years, according to a new report from Strategies Unlimited. Although the market for LED replacement lamps is still in its early stages of development, lamp revenues are forecast to grow at a CAGR of 107% through 2013.

The report entitled "LED Replacement Lamps--Market Analysis and Forecast, 2009" analyzes five LED-based lamp types that are designed to replace lamps that currently populate billions of sockets:

• A-lamps and globes
• PAR and R lamps
• MR 16s
• candelabra and decorative lamps
• linear fluorescent tubes

LED Performance Enhances Market Position

Dramatic improvements in commercially available LED performance in recent years, as well as significant cost reduction, has made it feasible to design LED lamps to offer comparable lumen output and to compete with other established lighting technologies on the basis of cost of ownership. 

The market is in a state of flux as utilities, energy efficiency organizations and customers look for optimum solutions which save energy, minimize the cost of ownership, and give acceptable quality of light.

Customers are in the process of being educated about comparing cost of ownership, rather than looking just at the initial price of lamps. 

Regulations Decrease Incandescent Market

Regulations in Europe will ban the 100W incandescent clear glass lamp starting in September 2009, and will progressively ban all inefficient incandescent lamps by 2012 and all incandescent lamps by 2016. Similarly, the Energy Information and Security Act of 2007 began the process of restricting the sale of inefficient lamps in the US.

By 2012, with a few exceptions, the result of incandescent lighting legislation will be that inefficient incandescent lamps cannot be sold.

GlacialLight replacement LED lamp

Although the awareness of these regulations is still weak in the marketplace, they will create market opportunities for LED replacement lamps.

LED Technology Outpaces CFLs

Over the next five years the advantages of LED technology over CFL will become recognized, especially with respect to the

• quality of light
• dimmability
• controllability
• lamp life
  
• environmental cost of ownership
  

Some well-designed LED lamps already offer effective lumen efficacies that compete with CFLs.

Commercial and industrial market segments will embrace LEDs to control costs and save energy. 

In the report, the markets for five categories of replacement lamps are analyzed for market drivers and challenges, trends, units and revenues for 2008. The report also offers a five-year forecast for 2009-2013.

"LED Replacement Lamps--Market Analysis and Forecast, 2009" is available for immediate delivery from Strategies Unlimited at a price of $1,895. More information on the report is available by contacting Tim Carli, Sales Manager, at +1 650-941-3438 ext. 23, or on the Strategies Unlimited website.

Strategies Unlimited specializes in market research and has published reports on LED markets and technology since 1994. It established Strategies in Light, the first annual industry conference on HB LEDs, in 2000. The company, based in Mountain View, California, is a research unit of PennWell Corporation., which publishes over 45 periodicals, including LEDs Magazine.

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Richard Karney, Energy Star Program Manager for Solid State Lighting for the DOE, issued a memo to Energy Star Stakeholders to "address a disconcerting trend the Department is seeing in promotional materials of LED products."

Certification Mark

The confusion, deliberate or otherwise, stems from the use of the Certification Mark and the Partnership logo.

The familiar Certification Mark should be used only in conjunction with products that have received Energy Star qualification.

Meanwhile, the Energy Star Partnership logo is designed to communicate a partner's commitment to energy efficiency and to the environment and is allowed in general publications such as stationery, annual reports, and general company-related websites, says Karney. "The Partnership logo should not be used in connection with any product or component," he says. "The Certification Mark is used for qualified products only."

Partnership logo

"While Partners may use the Energy Star Partnership logo in a wide range of uses, it is not allowed to suggest, imply, or denote that a product has earned the Energy Star label," adds Karney.

The Energy Star logos are being used by certain companies to imply that their integral LED lamp products (a.k.a. replacement LED lamps) are qualified, but this cannot be the case since the Integral LED Lamp Criteria is not yet final.

Karney says that violations in the use of the Energy Star logos confuse the market and jeopardize the integrity of the Energy Star brand. Failure to use the Energy Star mark appropriately could result in the termination of an organization's partnership with the Energy Star program.

Instructions on the correct use of logos can be found at www.energystar.gov/logos,

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According to LEDs Magazine, "2008 is likely to be remembered as the Year of LED Standards, due to the publication of ANSI C78.377 (chromaticity), LM-79 (luminous flux) and LM-80 (lumen maintenance)."

Reporting on these standards trends is Kevin Dowling is the VP of innovation at Philips Color Kinetics (www.colorkinetics.com) and has been active in SSL for over 10 years. He founded and chairs the IES SSL Committee and the NEMA SSL Committee, and is a past Chairman of the Next Generation Lighting Industry Alliance.

The LM-80 standard describes the measurement of lumen maintenance of LED light sources including LED packages, modules and arrays (but not luminaires). Prediction of lifetime beyond the testing period is not included in the standard.

To read the full version of this article, visit the  LEDs Magazine page, where you can download FREE electronic PDF versions of all issues of LEDs Magazine.

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Canada is becoming a hotbed for LED educational activities to train the next generation of lighting professionals.

SSLNet at the University of Toronto Institute of Photonics

Solid-state lighting educational strategies that include enhanced marketing activities for attracting and recruiting students into the Photonics program would help turn out additional trained graduates ready for the LED manufacturing and retail workplace. LED manufacturers in regions that are shifting their economic focus from heavy manufacturing to innovation and technology will benefit from having solid-state technicians at all levels available for jobs being created by the upsurge in demand.

MITACS ACCELERATE

MITACS ACCELERATE is a unique cost-shared internship program managed by MITACS Inc, a national research network, which connects companies, governments and community organizations with the vast research expertise in Canada's universities, from applied sciences, engineering, social sciences, business, arts, life sciences and much more.

The conduit between the partner organization, being a company, government department or agency or not-for-profit and the university is a graduate student or post-doctoral fellow. Armed with the very latest tools, techniques and innovations, the intern brings a new perspective and the latest knowledge to a research challenge faced by the partner. Internship projects can be undertaken in a wide range of areas including manufacturing, technical innovation, business processes, IT, social sciences, design and many more.

MITACS ACCELERATE: www.mitacsaccelerate.ca
Photonics program at Niagara College, contact Alexander McGlashan, Coordinator of Photonics at 905.735.2211 Ext. 7513 or amcglashan@niagarac.on.ca.

More details about Canada's LED/Solid-state trends, see ledsmagazine.com

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Shifting to LED lighting is a small but fast-growing trend that is redefining the century-old conception of lighting --- replacing energy-wasting disposable bulbs with efficient fixtures that are often semi-permanent, like those used in plumbing.

Studies suggest that a complete conversion to the lights could decrease carbon dioxide emissions from electric power use for lighting by up to 50 percent in just over 20 years.

And in the United States, lighting accounts for about 6 percent of all energy use.

A recent report by McKinsey & Company cited conversion to LED lighting as potentially the most cost effective of a number of simple approaches to tackling climate change using existing technology.

LED lighting was once relegated to

• basketball scoreboards
• cellphone consoles
• traffic lights
• colored Christmas lights

But as a result of rapid developments in the technology, it is now poised to become common on streets and in buildings, as well as in homes and offices.

Some American cities, including many in California, as well as Ann Arbor, MI., and Raleigh, NC, are using LED street lights and industrial size fixtures to illuminate streets and parking garages.  Dozens more cities and counties, as well as state governments are exploring the savings in maintenance as well as the energy-saving efficiencies. San Jose, Calif., plans to use $2 million in energy-efficiency grants to install 1,500 LED streetlights.

LEDs are more than twice as efficient as CFLs - compact fluorescent lights --  currently the standard for greener lighting.  And the longer life reduces replacement maintenance time, which  can be more of a savings than the bulbs or energy itself.

Unlike compact fluorescents, LEDs turn on quickly and are compatible with dimmer switches.
Fluorescent bulbs also contain mercury, which requires special disposal, and LED bulbs contain no toxic elements, are so small, and last so long that disposal is not much of an issue.

The switch to LEDs is proceeding far more rapidly than experts had predicted just two years ago.

President Obama's stimulus package, which offers money for "green" infrastructure investment, will accelerate that pace, experts say.

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Experts estimate that municipalities, businesses and consumers could save up to 189 terawatt hours of energy by switching from conventional HID lights to solid-state LED fixtures, the equivalent of taking 16 million households off of the grid and $20 billion in electricity savings.

J. Dee Dennis Jr., CEO and President of Visible Light Solar Technologies says, "For 150 years it was all about pushing as many lumens out onto the ground as possible without a thought to how much heat was generated or power was used. That's over. Now, our solar/LED solutions mean we can light right, not just light big." Dennis also asserts, "By reinventing lighting and replacing all the old HID fixtures in every commercial and industrial application in the US, we can reduce our customers' power consumption by billions of kilowatt hours, taking hundreds of coal powered plants off the drawing board."

Visible Light Solar announced it has installed or is installing Vector retrofit lighting applications at 12 sites, including the Bosque School, DKD Electric, and Osuna Business Park.

Vector products let businesses significantly reduce their kilowatt consumption without having to replace their existing infrastructure of light poles, heads, casements and wiring. Visible Light Solar claims to be the first commercial and industrial lighting company to integrate LED lighting devices with solar power technology in exterior and interior retrofit lighting fixtures.

According to a statement by the company, their solar/LED lighting applications operate up to 85% more efficiently than their HID counterparts because of the integration of energy efficient LED components with solar power technologies. Linking these two technologies is Visible Light Solar's Self Powered Device Interface (SPDI), a patent-pending intelligent power management infrastructure that combines custom hardware and software to control voltage fluctuations, seamlessly switch between solar battery and grid power, and provide the ability to customize each fixture's illumination levels.

In addition to dramatically lowering energy consumption, Visible Light Solar's solutions reduce maintenance costs; LED's require far fewer changes than HID bulbs because they can last up to 100,000 hours and are resistant to thermal and vibrational shocks.

First Product Line: Vector Lighting Retrofit

Visible Light Solar's inaugural product family, Vector Lighting, addresses the need by businesses to rapidly retrofit energy-inefficient, maintenance-intensive, metal halide and mercury vapor lighting fixtures while leveraging existing light poles, heads, casing and wiring. Customers can upgrade their existing lighting applications to hybrid solar/LED or LED-only retrofit solutions with no waste and minimal incremental cost while maintaining 100% reliability by backup grid connections. Businesses can choose from an extensive line of Vector retrofit applications, including:

Street Light Heads Parking Lot Heads High Bay & Low Bay Fixtures Wall Packs Parking Garage Fixtures Bollards

Self Power Device Interface (SPDI) 

Visible Light Solar's SPDI software and hardware infrastructure extends the light quality and reliability of LED lighting technology, provides voltage balancing, and allows for fixture-by-fixture programmability. SPDI gives facility managers the ability to program illumination levels for each fixture based on clock time, motion detection, ambient light levels, temperature and solar storage availability thereby increasing businesses' ability to provide enhanced security for their customers and raise and lower illumination levels as needed in order to reap energy savings.

For Visible Light Solar's solar/LED applications, SPDI provides the intelligent interface between the solar battery, grid power and the lighting application, ensuring the fixture's optimal use of solar power while maintaining 100% reliability through its grid connection. If the solar gain on a particular day has not sufficiently charged the battery, or if the battery charge becomes low, then SPDI will automatically manage the switch from solar to grid power to ensure adequate lighting levels are maintained. Finally, SPDI manages the voltage and current driving the LED devices, controlling power spikes and maintaining LED longevity.

Visible Light Solar's Certified Installation Partner Program will provide nationwide installation and maintenance of the company's products.

Outdated mercury containing HID bulbs and PCB-laden ballasts will be responsibly recycled by National Metals as part of Visible Light Solar's corporate commitment to environmental stewardship.

Based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Visible Light Solar Technologies (www.visiblelightsolar.com) is an intelligent solar and LED lighting technology company. The company is headed by J. Dee Dennis Jr., the former founder and CEO of DKD Electric, and staffed by an experience team of solar, embedded software and LED lighting technology engineers. Visible Light Solar is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society, US Green Building Council and the International Dark-Sky Association. The company is backed by the venture accelerator firm, Noribachi (www.noribachi.com).

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A recent report by McKinsey & Company cited conversion to LED lighting as potentially the most cost effective of a number of simple approaches to tackling global warming using existing technology.

LED lighting was once used in computer dashboards,  basketball scoreboards, cellphone consoles, traffic lights and colored Christmas lights.

But as a result of rapid developments in LED light, cost efficiency and cooler technology, LED lighting is now poised to become common on streets and in buildings, as well as in homes and offices.

Some American cities, including Ann Arbor, Mich., and Raleigh, N.C., are using LED lights to illuminate streets and parking garages, and dozens more are exploring the cost and environmental benefits of LED technology.

LED lighting is a growing part of LEED cetified green buildings to improve lighting control and reduce energy use.  With new downlight styles as well as flat panels, new architectural applications are rapidly developing.

And don't forget that what's good for the Queen, could be good for your home -- the 60-foot-high ceiling lights of Buckingham Palace's grand stairwell are now illuminated with LEDs!

The McKinsey Research Report

Starting in 2007, the McKinsey research team worked with leading experts to develop a detailed fact base estimating costs and potentials of different options to reduce or prevent greenhouse gas emissions in the US over a 25 year period.  The team analyzed more than 250 options encompassing efficiency gains, shifts to lower-carbon energy sources and expanded carbon sinks.

Central Conclusion

The US could reduce GHG emissions in 2030 by 3 - 4.5 gigatons of CO2e using tested approaches and high-potential emerging technologies.  The cost would be less tan $50 per ton, with the average net cost to the economy being far lower if the nation can capture sizable gains from energy efficiency.  Achievement of these reductions would require strong, coordinated, economy-wide action that begins in the near future.

One complicating factor is reaching goals is that a gradual decrease in the absorption of carbon by US forests and agricultural lands will reduce achievements, and require greater GHG reductions.

Abatement Opportunities

• The largest option -- coal-fired power plants -- offers less than 11 percent of total abatement potential.  The largest sector (power generation) only accounts for approximately 1/3 of the total potential.
• Almost 40% of abatement could be achieved with options that would generate positive economic returns over their lifecycle. 
• Abatement potentials, costs and mix vary by geographic region. 

Five Sectors offer Clusters of Abatement Potential

1. Improve energy efficiency in buildings and appliances  (710-870 megatons)
This cluster of options includes:  Lighting rtrofits, Improved heating, ventialation, air conditioning systems, Building envelopes, and building control systems; Higher performance for consumer and office electronics and appliances...and other options.

2.  Imcrease fuel efficiency in vehicles and reduce carbon intensity of transportation fuels (340-660 megatons)
Most of the benefit would come from fuel economy packages such as light weighting, aerodynamics, turbocharging, drive-train efficiency, reduction in rolling resistance, and increased use of diesel for light-duty vehicles.  Plug-in hybrid vehicels offer longer-term potential if vehicle cost/performance improves and the nation moves to a lower-carbon electricity supply.

3.  Industrial Sector pursues various options cross energy-intensive operations (620-770 megatons)
A multitude of fragmented opportunities exist within specific industries:  Equipment upgrades, process changes  -- and across setors:  Motor efficiency, combined heat and power applications. 

4.  Expand and enhance carbon sinks (440-590 megatons)
Increasing forest stocks and improving soil mnagement practices are relatively low-cost options.

5.  Reduce carbon intensity of electric power production (800-1370 megatons)
Shift toward renewable energy sources primarily wind and solar, additional nuclear capacity, mproved efficiency of power plants and eventual use of carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies on coal-fired electricity generation. 

"The theme of greater energy productivity pervades these clusters." 

Improving energy efficiency in buildings and appliances and industrial sectors, for example, could offset some 85% of the projected incremental demand for electricity in 2030, largely negating the need for the incremental coal-fired power plants assumed in the government reference case.

Improved vehicle efficiency could roughly offset the added mobility-related emissions of a growing population, while providing net economic gains.  

SOURCE: Download the full report at  Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report 11.21.07

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