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Nichia and Luminus Enter Cross Licensing and Manufacturing Partnership
LIGHTimes Staff
February 3, 2009...Luminus Devices and Nichia Corporation announced a cross licensing and manufacturing agreement. The companies noted that the agreement is an alliance based on crossed licensing intellectual property, technology sharing, and a manufacturing partnership. Nichia is presumably contributing its YAG phosphor technology. This is apparently the first time that Nichia has licensed its phosphor technology to a company that is not a member of the Big Five (Cree, Nichia, Osram, Toyoda-gosei, Philips).
Luminus Devices makes the PhlatLight LEDs which backlight displays, light projectors, and go into some lighting applications. The company hopes to make a big splash in the general lighting world with its newly licensed technology from Nichia.
Luminus brings to the agreement its technology for larger surface area LEDs.
According to Luminus, the companies have agreed to combine their expertise and resources in order to bring to the market a new breed of high power white LEDs.
Details of the business agreement are confidential. However, the companies did release the shared objective of the partnership, to accelerate the adoption of solid-state lighting. Luminus Devices News Release,
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NextGen Research Forecasts Total LED Sales to Top $33 Billion by 2013
LIGHTimes Staff
February 5, 2009...NextGen Research, the emerging technology branch of research firm, ABI Research, predicts that the total LED market will reach $33 billion by 2013. NextGen Research has published its new report, “LEDs and Laser Diodes: Solid State Lighting Applications, Technologies, and Market Opportunities”. The report forecasts that the overall solid-state lighting (SSL) market will achieve worldwide revenues topping $33 billion by 2013.
The researchers note that improvements in the technologies have produced dramatic increases in light output for both high brightness (HB) and color in addition to significant extensions of their life spans. NextGen also points out that LEDs have powerful and vocal proponents among local, state, and federal governments, commercial industries, and private citizens. Company News Release,
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Nichia and Seoul Semiconductor End Disputes and Agree to Cross License Patents
LIGHTimes Staff
February 2, 2009...Nichia and Seoul Semiconductor have brought an end to nearly three years of legal battles between the two companies. Nichia and Seoul Semiconductor jointly announced that the companies have settled their patent litigation and other legal disputes pending in the United States, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Korea. They have entered into a patent cross licensing agreement covering their respective LED and laser diode technologies. The licensing will reportedly permit the companies to access all of each other's patented technologies.
Under the terms of the settlement, all litigations (including the patent and other legal disputes in the various countries) will be terminated as promptly as possible by mutual withdrawals, with the exception of litigation in Germany involving patent DE 691-07-630 T2 of EP 0-437-385 B1. In Germany, the litigation involving patent DE 691-07-630 T2 of EP 0-437-385 B1 will reportedly be resolved following a February 2009 hearing. Seoul Semiconductor (SSC) says that it now sees its patent portfolio stabilized and as an equivalent to
Nichia's. SSC contends that the agreement will allow customers to purchase its products with confidence in the IP that is backing them up. Also SSC says that the settlement puts them in a stronger position with respect to IP actions directed at them or that they are initiating against other companies. SSC warns that it is planning to take stronger action against AC-LED manufacturers that
they feel are infringing upon their 200+ related patents.
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Philips Transforms Stadium for Super Bowl XLIII
SSLDesign News Staff
January 30, 2009... Design firm Infinite Scale Design was responsible for designing and branding the overall look of the city of Tampa for Super Bowl XLIII. The firm worked with with lighting designer Dall Brown. They chose to accentuate the stadium's exterior crown with colorful, customizable lighting. About 70 ColorReach Powercore fixtures were used in total, with just two required to evenly illuminate each 40 by 80 foot bay. Mounted on a concrete cross beam from within the stadium, the fixtures project light onto the underside of the stadium's upper 30 rows. Philips Color Kinetics News Release,
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As part of a city-wide beautification effort for the Super Bowl game on February 1, 2009, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa's host venue for the game, has been temporarily illuminated with LED technology. Philips ColorReach Powercore, a newly launched LED floodligh will illuminate the stadium from dusk till dawn from January 27 through game day. The stadium and its lighting will become a dynamic, visual focal point for Tampa residents and visiting fans.
Rohm to Make LED Luminaires
LIGHTimes Staff
January 29, 2009...Rohm Co. of Tokyo, Japan, a maker of LED chips has reportedly chosen to move up the supply chain to begin selling LED-based lighting fixtures for offices and commercial facilities, according to an article in Nikkei Net. The company will sell five types of light fixtures, each shaped like an incandescent light. Each one will contain several hundred of Rohm's 1-3mm sq. LED chips. According to the article, the company hopes to be competitive with ability to make its own chips. It is reportedly aiming for sales of $10 billion yen in fiscal 2010. SSL Design PageTwo members login for more. Guests can view membership details.
Philadelphia Unveils Architectural Facade Lighting Along the Avenue of the Arts
SSLDesign News Staff
January 29, 2009...Philips provided the LED luminaires that brightened the historic facades along the Avenue of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA. According to Philips, the building facades were transformed into
a multi-color canvas for the holidays and city-wide celebration. The lights danced along the buildings with coordinated color changes moving up and down the buildings at the intersection of Broad and Walnut Streets. Luminaires including Philips' ColorGraze Powercore, and ColorBlast Powercore created dazzling effects of the display.
The LED luminaires were permanently installed to illuminate nine buildings along the Avenue of the Arts. Philips notes that the lighting will continue create a vivid nightscape throughout the year. In addition, Philips temporarily illuminated City Hall with its newest fixture ColorReach Powercore, a high-performance architectural floodlight, which provided color-changing and dynamic effects upon the 548-foot-tall municipal building. Philips News Release,
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Seoul Semiconductor Acriche Lights National Museum of South Korea
SSLDesign News Staff
January 29, 2009...Seoul Semiconductor supplied its interior lighting fixtures which were installed in the cultural center of a National Museum in South Korea. Seoul said it expects the installation to use 75~85 percent less energy than conventional halogen lamps. Seoul Semiconductor, also announced lighting fixtures with Acriche, its AC-driven solid state light, were installed in a bookstore inside of the cultural center and a souvenir in National Museum located in Seoul, South Korea. DELICIA, a brand of First System Korea Networks(“F/S Korea Networks”) supplied the LED lighting fixtures with Acirche,
According to F/S Korea Networks, replacement projects with Acriche lighting fixtures are planned in 12 other museums. Also, F/S Korea Networks gained the priority to install Acriche lighting fixtures in the facility of the Ministry of Cultures, Sports, and Tourisms of South Korea. Company News Release
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Mac 1 Industries (MIRA) Provided LED Lighting for Ferrari/Lamborghini Showroom
SSLDesign News Staff
January 29, 2009...Mac 1 Industries provided the technology for the new Ferrari Showroom in Broward County, Florida. Mac 1's state-of-the-art LED lighting was used to light the showroom. Gene Morales, president of Euro Motorsports Inc insists that they have never been happier to be the first Farrari/Lamborghini dealer to use LEDs, and that the lower electricity and maintenance costs make the LED lighting well worth it. Mac ! News Release SSL Design PageTwo members login for more. Guests can view membership details.
Bridgelux Introduces LED Arrays for Solid-State Lighting
LIGHTimes Staff
January 27, 2009... Bridgelux says its LED Array product suite is designed to deliver performance comparable to standard incandescent, halogen, compact fluorescent, and high intensity discharge (HID) lamps. Company News Release
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Bridgelux Inc. of Sunnyvale, California USA, a maker of LED chips, has introduced an LED array product line. According to the company, the array provides high performance, compact and cost-effective light sources for solid-state lighting (SSL). Bridgelux says that its LED Arrays have been specifically developed to provide lamp and luminaire manufacturers with a solution that will simplify system level integration thereby reducing the system cost. The array can be used in applications including task, accent, spot, track, down light, wide area and security lighting.
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Commentary & Perspectives...
DOE not the only recommendation source...
Tom Griffiths - Publisher
January 29, 2009...I was contacted recently by a reader who had a big beef with a just-released US Department of Energy (DOE) CALiPER "Benchmark Report". The essence of the concern is that while the "benchmarking" may have been recently done, the LED lighting product results that were being used against the "benchmark" fluorescent products were actually tested in the winter and spring of 2008, and did not represent "the best of the breed". For handy reference, it's now the winter of 2009, almost a year later, so when the abstract of the report says:
"Although there may be some niche applications in which the lower light output, superior cold-temperature operation, and potentially longer life of LED linear replacements are indicated, CALiPER testing at this time shows that LED technology is not yet ready to displace linear fluorescent lamps as replacement light sources in recessed troffers for general interior lighting."
... they are speaking with a view that might be too far back in time to be helpful. The element to that DOE summary, which I suspect is often missed, I would paraphrases and extend a bit to read, "The LED lighting comparisons were selected a while ago, and may not even have represented the best products available at the time. They were the ones we were aware of, and that we concluded the market would likely be most aware of as well." (See some of that in the CALiPER FAQs).
So there are three important issues here. One is that the products selected for CALiPER testing are not necessarily the best that can be found. "Best" would be determined by overall efficiency (delivered lumens per watt), light quality, and believably reliable design criteria, which is then gated by cost-effectiveness. The second issue is that the data from the CALiPER testing may not include current products. The third issue is that the DOE opinion on whether a technology is ready or not won't necessarily be the only opinion on whether it is really ready (and can clearly be the wrong opinion if it's based on older data or less-than-best product selections).
An illustration of an aspect of this comes from an LED lighting company we've been introduced to that is "doing it right". The company is ilumisys (lowercase "i", which helps when your font is something like arial where a capital "i" and lowercase "L" look the same) which is part of Altair Engineering, a company with a quality reputation and substantial engineering and manufacturing resources. A discussion with ilumisys' President, Dave Simon, is heartening to a high degree, and I'd recommend it when you get a chance. Their approach is a simple one: Generate 1400 properly-directed lumens to match the delivered output from a typical T-8 fluorescent tube, and continue to make it more efficient as LED technologies rapidly progress. Oh, and engineer it right... which means to safely handle the incoming ballast voltages that can be as much as 700 volts on start-up, so they don't zap the installers. Don't laugh too much, it has happened more than once with products that have been marketed out there.
ilumisys' strategy has been to demonstrate the technology with their MK1 ("Mark-one") products, which consumes 28 watts (vs. 32w for a standard T-8). It proves concept, light quality and reliability. Then they moved to the MK2 replacement lamp, which is delivering the same 1400 lumens on 22 watts. The MK2 is also smart enough to handle either the ballast voltages, or the 110/220 line voltages, so the installer has the option of wiring around an existing ballast to achieve another little jump in efficiency, and to avoid having to wire around it at some future time when the ballast fails at the end of its normal life. Are you getting it here? The MK2 can simply be swapped in where the MK1 was, the same amount of light is generated. The fixture looks the same, the light on the desk is the same amount of bright, and less power is consumed. So what's next? I'm not the brand manager, but is it fair to say a "MK3" is probably imminent and could be expected to trim consumption down to the point where the business case "suddenly" becomes compelling? If someone casually reads that latest benchmark report, the DOE advice says, "Wait". The savvy facilities manager (or Chief Facilities Officer... CFO) would take a look at ilumisys' test data and say, "Get hold of some now, see how they look, then place an order for 'the next one' to get this retrofit going."
Which begs the question if you're one of the handful of quality producers that have retrofit solutions that really are cost effective now: "How do I get the word out?". The DOE FAQs we pointed to have a hint in there... "Criteria for product selection consider characteristics such as the expected product performance, visibility of a product, market impacts, and specific design characteristics." You need to become known to the overall industry, the facilities managers, the decision makers and ... shock... the DOE. You can't "submit" a product, but you can become known. Are you putting out regular press releases so the industry media knows your company's name and begins to believe you know what you're talking about? Have you shown them samples? (Just cover the postage, you can even have them back!) Is your logo on an SSL-oriented news page? Do you show up among the sponsors of an LED-lighting dedicated conference or other event? Are you on the agenda as a speaker at the right kinds of events? Are you even attending the right kinds of events (someone was swapping cards with the DOE-affiliated speakers at our August SSL Design Summit, was it your company?).
And just to be clear, yes, we absolutely carry a bias towards 'exploiting the media channels' as a key part of an intentional "becoming known" process... 25+ years successfully involved with technology sales and marketing, along with business ownership, can do that to you... We also contend that unless a manufacturer is going to be making tens of thousands of telephone calls a month, they need the news to be around, they need to support it so it is around, and they need to leverage it when it's a season to pursue brand awareness. There may be a lot that's new about the "new media", but the core concepts of brand awareness and the necessity of promotional exposure still apply. The best news is that the is more bang for the buck than ever before, if you approach it sensibly. While the world economy may be dragging, there are a few winning segments that are growing well. LED-based lighting is one of them and this is just the barest beginning of the real adoption curve.
As Dave Simon of ilumisys told me in his low key, but confident enthusiasm, "What will be reality three to four years out is even more exciting than the over-hyped fairy tales of today." In this column, we're going to start talking about today's quality products we hear about so that those CFO's can start N-O-W.
Tom Griffiths is Publisher of Solid State Lighting Design, and LIGHTimes Online. You can reach him by telephone at +1 512/257-9888 or email via the contact form.
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