Recently in Cost Effectiveness of LEDs Category

Efficiency Benefits Up to 82% in Energy Savings!

According to Flex Your Power, documented studies have proven the energy savings potential of LEDs:

	Replacing a red incandescent traffic signal head with a red LED unit cuts energy use by an estimated 82 to 93%. The use of LED traffic signals in cities can save 1 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy and nearly $70,000 a year for every 100 signaled intersections replaced. The payback period is approximately two-and-a-half to three years through energy savings alone. There are 100 million exit signs in the United States containing incandescent lamps that consume a total of 20 billion kWh of electricity per year. LED lighting could save approximately three-quarters of this energy. By purchasing 1,000 exit signs for an initial investment of $30,000, a state government could save a net $455,562 over the products’ lifetime. The new signs would pay for themselves in six months. LEDs can replace neon, offering an 80% electricity efficiency improvement.

The benefits of LED lighting technology go far beyond reducing electricity consumption.

Even with a higher initial investment, dollar savings and quality improvements significantly outweigh costs.

LED technology's numerous benefits also include:
Long life and reduced maintenance cost High quality light output Increased safety as a result of LED's lower voltage Smaller, flexible light fixtures Increased durability (no filament to break) Lower lighting infrastructure load and cost for expansion

LED lighting options are growing and developing rapidly. Many applications are now cost effective with LED, despite the higher upfront costs. How affordable? Check it out for your own applications with an LED Payback Calculator.

BetaLED is a respected manufacturer of THE EDGE fixtures that contain no mercury or lead. Longer light component life also means less waste. THE EDGE also complies with both Dark Sky (IESNA full cutoff) and Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHs) regulations. Beta Lighting brings continuous LED innovation to the workplace and their Total Systems Approach allows them to build innovation from the ground up.

To meet today's general lighting standards, Beta Lighting works with top-tier LED suppliers from around the world. Their primary LED partner, Cree of Raleigh, North Carolina, controls all aspects of its LED manufacturing.

It's easy to prove that Beta LED has the EDGE over HID. Adjust the cells to get a quick estimate on how THE EDGE can reduce your energy and maintenance cost.

LED Payback Calculator

LED Payback Calculator

Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich announced his city’s participation n the LED City® program, an international program that promotes the deployment of energy-efficient LED lighting. This initiative is in conjunction with an energy-related effort calling for the retrofit of all 16,000 municipal roadway lights with high-efficiency LED fixtures.

“I am pleased to announce the appropriation of $2.2 million to enable the city to purchase LED fixtures to change out roughly one-quarter of Anchorage’s streetlights,” notes Mayor Begich. “We have studied new lighting technology extensively over the past several months to validate energy and maintenance cost savings. We also conducted a lighting conference and public survey in March of this year that showed our residents overwhelmingly approve of the new white LED lighting. With this feedback and quantified costs savings research in hand, we are confident in moving ahead with the broad deployment of LED lighting for our roadways.”

The continental US has more than eight hours of daylight per day. Here in Anchorage, approximately 85 days a year we see less than eight hours of daylight.

“Lighting is absolutely critical to daily life in Anchorage. The continental US has more than eight hours of daylight per day. Here in Anchorage, approximately 85 days a year see less than eight hours of daylight. It is significant that this community is at the forefront of adopting energy-efficient lighting,” notes Deb Lovig, Cree LED City program manager. “Cree and the other LED Cities welcome Anchorage into the program and look forward to learning from this large-scale installation as the city pushes forward for energy and maintenance savings with LED lighting.”

The LED fixtures from BetaLED are expected to use 50-percent less energy than current streetlights, which could save the city $360,000 annually at today’s energy prices. The LED fixtures, based on performance-leading Cree XLamp LEDs, typically last up to seven times longer than high-pressure sodium fixtures, allowing Anchorage to better utilize maintenance resources.

Despite a slumping economy, new store venue is seen as smart strategy by a lighting store in Fort Myers, FL.

The roughly $3 million building will offer a host of improvements over the current location, including a two-story atrium for grand chandelier displays, light lifts in the ceiling - a motorized apparatus that allows chandeliers to be lowered to eye level - and a customer service area separate from the showroom.

LED Signage Attracts Consumer Traffic

The exterior will be highlighted by a roughly 35-foot-tall electric sign with a 9-foot by 14-foot LED screen that can be used for advertisements and demonstrations.

In response to the downturn, the Bebbers have tightened their credit policies, reduced overhead through such things as cutting energy usage by using fluorescent display lighting and dramatically increased retail advertising. The additional advertising has meant a boost in retail trade over the past year, as has a moving sale that began in January.

Sector Marketing Strategy Shifts to Consumer Remodeling

"We felt a lot of people would keep their money and turn to remodeling and home improvements, so we started marketing to them to try and make up for the lack of the volume-builder business," Chuck Bebber said.

Today, retail customers represent about two-thirds of the store's business, a position commercial customers occupied before the advertising blitz.

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According to the Federal Highway Administration, in 2000 there were 106,000 crashes from running RED LIGHTS, with 89,000 injuries and 1,036 deaths.

Blue lights above traffic signals  are called "tattletale lights" or "red light confirmation lights." Whenever the traffic signal is red, the blue light is on.

Police previously had to testify that a vehicle was in an intersection when it ran a red light.

Now, officers only have to see the blue light to know the vehicle ran the red signal.

Florida Department of Transportation officials are paying for the lights at intersections on state roads in nine Central Florida counties, reported a representative from the Florida Department of Transportation.

Originally, the DOT put up small white lights at a cost of about $100 each. The DOT is switching to less-expensive blue lights, which are LED (light emitting diodes) that run cooler and need less maintenance.

Running a red light in Florida can bring a fine of $188.50.

Violators also face adding three or four points to their driving record, unless they complete a state-approved driver-safety course.

In two recent articles the Daily News reported that the city of Fairbanks, Alaska spent over $880,000 dollars on electricity each year.

HolidayLEDs.com an online retailer specializing in LED Christmas lights and LED decorative lighting is offering to donate energy-efficient LED Christmas lights to the City of Fairbanks to help the city in its efforts to reduce its energy consumption.

I read an article in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner about the Cities' efforts to reduce its energy consumption and decided we would offer to help

"I read an article in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner about the Cities' efforts to reduce its energy consumption and decided we would offer to help," said Philip C. Curtis, President of HolidayLEDs.com.

Fairbanks city engineer, Mike Schmetzer, and his energy task force were reported to have set out to figure out how the city could reduce its energy costs. Some of the proposed solutions of the task force including turning off non-critical streets lights and eliminating Christmas light displays.

"Its commendable that the City of Fairbanks is taking a serious look at its energy consumption--we should all be doing this--but Christmas lighting displays are such an important part of the Christmas celebration it would be a shame if the residents of Fairbanks had to eliminate this tradition," Curtis added.

LED Christmas lights are 80-99% more efficient than standard incandescent lights and substantially reduce the cost of operating a holiday display.

"If Fairbanks replaced its incandescent lights with LED Christmas lights the amount of power consumed would be de minimus and we'd like to help the City make the switch by offering to donate four cases of lights to the City," Curtis explained.

Curtis' company shipped a substantial number of LED Christmas lights to the State of Alaska in 2007. "The residents of Alaska have been good customers to us and we are glad that this opportunity arose to help the citizens of Fairbanks," Curtis concluded.

For more information about HolidayLEDs.com and energy-efficient LED Christmas and decorative lighting visit http://www.holidayleds.com.

D.Light, a startup officially announced its products in June 2008.

The company is in the process of moving its offices to Shenzhen, China, from Mountain View, Calif., to manufacture three LED and solar-based lighting products that cost just $10 to $30 and are meant to replace kerosene lanterns.

The Nova will sell for approximately $12 to $25 and one hour of solar charge can provide one hour of LED light on the medium setting.
 
In many regions of India and Africa that are not connected to the electric power grid, kerosene lanterns provide much of the lighting. But kerosene lanterns can be unsafe and cause respiratory problems; they’re also generally pretty dim and are a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

D.Light President Ned Tozun tells us that, while no one would argue replacing kerosene lanterns is a bad idea, technologies such as LEDs and solar panels have just started to become cost-effective replacements.

D.Light was founded by Tozun and his business partners at Stanford with  backing from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Garage Technology Ventures, Mahindra & Mahindra, Nexus India Capital, Acumen Fund, Gray Matters Capital and Michael Marks (the Chairman of Flextronics). D.Light is working with Seoul Semiconductor for its LEDs and plans to produce in “the millions of units” and strongly focused on getting its goods to the developing world first.

In 2007, Philips Lumileds released the LUXEON K2 warm and neutral white LEDs that offer new lighting possibilities

Warm-white and neutral-white LUXEON K2 emitters and a LUXEON K2 Star part  can be specified with any standard white emitter.

The new white colors have typical correlated color temperatures (CCT) of 3000K and 4100K and a color rendering index (CRI) of 80 and 75 respectively. The CCT range for LUXEON K2 now extends from 2670K to 10,000K and a new finer color bin structure allows for better overall selection.

Unlike most power LEDs that are limited to 700mA, LUXEON K2 warm white and neutral white LEDs can be run up to 1500mA and a junction temperature of 150°C. The new warm-white and neutral white can deliver more than 130lm and 140lm respectively. LUXEON K2 delivers more usable light at virtually any drive current and junction temperature condition.

“With the increases in light output performance and efficacy, there is expanding demand for power LEDs that deliver the quality of light required for general lighting applications,” said Steve Landau, Director of Marketing Communications. “Designers of residential applications, such as recessed can lights need uniformity, high color rendering and a warm white color temperature at 3000K. In many retail and commercial applications, a cooler temperature of 4100K is desired. With the new binning and phosphor technologies in LUXEON K2, the needs of lighting designers in both markets can be addressed.”

Lighting designers consider several critical “quality of light” factors when evaluating white LEDs: color temperature (CCT), color rendering (CRI) and color uniformity are three of the most important. The new LUXEON K2 parts address CCT and CRI and Philips Lumileds phosphor expertise and technologies ensure the highest degree of color uniformity resulting in white LEDs that are as much as 7 times more uniform that other white power LEDs.

LUXEON K2 Star, like the configuration already available in other LUXEON product families, consists of a white LUXEON K2 emitter mounted onto a metal core pc board (MCPCB). This configuration allows for rapid prototyping and production in a wide range of applications without the need to create custom level 2 boards. LUXEON Star products have been an industry standard for many years and been the configuration of choice for everything from architectural and entertainment lighting to emergency and portable lighting. Complete product information is available on the company’s website and in the LUXEON K2 datasheet also available online. LUXEON K2 warm-white and neutral-white power LEDs are in-stock and available for immediate delivery from Future Electronics. LUXEON K2 Star is stocked in limited quantities and interested parties should contact Future Electronics with their specific needs.

About Philips Lumileds Lighting Company

Philips Lumileds Lighting Company pioneered power LED technology and is the world’s leading provider of power LEDs for everyday lighting applications. The company’s recent records for light output, efficacy and thermal management are direct results of the ongoing commitment to advancing solid-state lighting technology and enabling lighting solutions that are more environmentally friendly, help reduce CO2 emissions and reduce the need for power plant expansion. Today, Philips Lumileds’ LUXEON LEDs are enabling never before possible applications in the automotive, camera flash, display, general lighting and signage markets. More information about the company’s products and technologies can be found at www.philipslumileds.com.

Philips Lumileds Lighting Company
steve.landau@philips.com
+1 408 964 2695
www.philipslumileds.com

In 2007 Cree and Raleigh, North Carolina, Launch Nation’s First “LED City” with Cost-Saving Municipal Lighting

Raleigh Recognizes Greater than 40 Percent Energy Savings as Municipal Garage Switches to LED Lighting.

Cree, Inc., a U.S.-based leader in LED solid-state lighting components, and the City of Raleigh, North Carolina, the anchor city in a rapidly growing metro area, developed a joint, city-wide initiative to test, deploy and promote LED technology focused on a variety of general lighting applications.

The “LED City” initiative will create a “living laboratory” to deliver the economic, environmental and usage benefits of LED lighting to the urban residents.

The first project is focused on validating both the cost savings and technology capabilities of LEDs through an installation of LED lighting in the City’s Municipal Building parking deck.

Both Cree and Raleigh public officials expect the initiative to serve as a model for other cities that are considering implementing energy-efficient infrastructures.

As part of the commitment to creating an “LED City,” Raleigh plans to deploy LED lighting, through its living-laboratory initiative, to serve a number of lighting applications over the next 18 months including:

• garage and parking lot lights
• street lights
• architectural and accent lighting
• portable lighting
• pedestrian and walkway lighting

Cree, the City of Raleigh and Lighting Science Group Corporation (OTCBB: LSGP) of Dallas, TX, also announced initial results of the first installation of the LED City initiative. LED-based lighting fixtures, provided by Lighting Science Group, were installed by Amtech Lighting Services in the Raleigh Municipal Building parking deck in December 2006. Progress Energy, Raleigh’s primary electric utility provider, says the floor equipped with LED lights uses over 40 percent less energy than the standard lighting system. Plus, according to Progress Energy’s research, the quality of light in the garage is greatly improved.

“The economic benefits for municipalities to invest in LEDs are clear – they

• save energy
• reduce environmental impact
  
• improve the quality of light

As leaders in one of America’s fastest growing cities, it’s our civic responsibility to invest in the future and ensure the highest possible quality of life and safety for our citizens in generations to come,” stated Charles Meeker, Raleigh mayor. “We believe that the cost savings and benefits of LED lighting are real and achievable today.”

“Today’s announcement represents a milestone toward large-scale adoption of clean, energy-efficient technologies,” commented Kateri Callahan, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance to Save Energy (ASE).

“Raleigh’s progressive commitment to becoming the first ‘LED City’ will no doubt serve as a model for other cities seeking to improve energy consumption and reduce negative impacts on the environment. We commend Cree and the City of Raleigh for helping support our mission of achieving a healthier economy, a cleaner environment and greater energy security.”

“The City of Raleigh is willing to set the pace, and we invite other municipalities to join us in developing energy-efficient civic centers,” said Chuck Swoboda, Cree CEO and chairman. “This leading-edge effort establishes an important driver for LED adoption within the United States.”

About the City of Raleigh, N.C.
The City of Raleigh is the municipal government for North Carolina’s capital city. Raleigh’s  reputation for the high quality of living has grown the population to more than 350,000. The City is proud to provide the leadership, direction and daily services that have contributed to Raleigh being among America’s most livable cities.

About Lighting Science Group Corporation
Lighting Science Group Corporation (www.lsgc.com) designs and sells highly energy-efficient and environmentally friendly lighting solutions based on its proprietary Optimized Digital Lighting® (ODL®) technology. The Company's patented and patent-pending designs and manufacturing processes enable affordable, efficient and long-lasting LED-based lighting systems to be quickly deployed in existing lighting applications and produce immediate cost savings and environmental benefits. Products include low bay fixtures for parking garages and industrial facilities, MR-16, R30, R25, G11, G25, candelabra and flame tip bulbs, which can be purchased at store.lsgc.com.

About Cree, Inc.
Cree is a market-leading innovator and manufacturer of semiconductors and devices in solid-state lighting, power and communications products for energy performance and efficiency. Key to Cree’s market advantage is its materials expertise in silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) for chips and packaged devices that can handle more power in a smaller space while producing less heat than other available technologies, materials and products.

Cree licenses its  technology into multiple applications, including  alternatives in brighter and more-tunable light for general illumination, backlighting for more-vivid displays, optimized power management for high-current, switch-mode power supplies and variable-speed motors, and more-effective wireless infrastructure for data and voice communications. Cree customers range from lighting-fixture makers to defense-related federal agencies.

Cree’s product families include blue and green LED chips, lighting LEDs, LED backlighting solutions, power-switching devices and radio-frequency/wireless devices. For additional product specifications please refer to www.cree.com.

... includes lighting vendor information and the light, energy and maintenance metrics that form the basis for LED lighting's cost savings. This site also features other LED Workplace installations.

LED lighting is currently being used in workplace installations, including:

• Overhead lighting for conference rooms and office spaces
• Recessed lighting for hallways, bathrooms, breakrooms, and more
• Exterior lighting for parking lots, walkways and entrances

Learn how energy savings and workplace productivity mount up when LED lights were installed in the featured installations and discover the potential savings achieved by installing state-of-the-art LED lighting.

Learn how LED lighting is lowering lighting costs for a variety of workplaces:

Better Day BP

Cree, Inc.

Friendly's Restaurant

The Prairie School

Sentry Equipment Corporation

Visit the Q&A section to get answers to common questions like:

Question: I own a small business and am intrigued by the cost savings and environmental friendliness of LED lighting. How can I get started?

Answer: LED lighting offers economic value in many applications, including outdoor lighting and indoor down lights and accent lighting. Please contact the listed vendors on this website for information relevant to your specific applications.

Question: How do I go about converting my facility to LED lighting?

Answer: An LED lighting conversion usually includes three types of solutions: complete replacement of the existing fixtures, retrofit of existing fixtures with LED components, or simple plug-compatible bulb replacements. For each of these, the existing wiring and power can often be used. For Cree, as an industrial operation, our electrical is at 277VAC. We adapted the installation as needed to assure the LED fixtures matched our site electrical systems. The vendors listed on this website should be able to provide a solution to match your needs.