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BetaLED Breaks 100+ Lumen/Watt Mark with 304 Series (Corrected)
SSLighting Design News Staff
January 26, 2010...BetaLED, a division of Ruud Lighting, Inc., has introduced the 304 Series luminaires, the company's first luminaire to achieve landmark performance of over 100 lumens per watt (LPW). An initial headline on this story incorrectly referenced the brand and manufacturer of the LEDs. Beta has confirmed that they achieved the new benchmark using Cree XP-series LEDs and boasts that the luminaires can save as much as 70 percent in energy use when compared to incumbent technologies.
“We are continuously improving our BetaLED luminaire systems,” said Christopher Ruud, president of Ruud Lighting. “By optimizing all the components in the system we’re able to provide a breakthrough that reaches new heights in energy-savings and light levels while demonstrating measurable proven performance.”
BetaLED says its 304 Series luminaires are scalable up to 12,000 lumens of delivered light output. The new luminaire series achieves what BetaLED says is superior efficiency, longevity, lumen maintenance and light control. Such performance benefits are especially welcomed in applications where lights are on 24/7.
The luminaires utilize a two-level dimming option to save even more energy.
304 Series luminaires are available with 100+ LPW for recessed canopy and soffit applications with petroleum symmetric optics. The luminaires can be installed in single- or double-skin open-air petroleum station canopies and building soffits such as banks and quick serve restaurants. Other optics with the new technology upgrades will be available soon for additional applications such as parking structures.
BetaLED News Release
Albeo First Manufacturer to be DesignLights Consortium (DLC) Approved
SSLighting Design News Staff
January 21, 2010...The DLC, a collaboration of utilities and efficiency companies, has approved Albeo to be its first manufacturer. According to the DLC, fixtures on its qualified product list are eligible for rebates from over 21 utility companies, energy research, and public service organizations.
Albeo's C-Series Parking Garage Luminaire, model number LS-B144-01BC0, is among the first Solid-State fixtures to qualify for the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP) Designlights Consortium's Qualified Products List (DLC QPL). The DLC's qualified product list covers product categories not currently addressed by Energy Star. The DLC's goal is to ensure that high-quality, energy-efficient lighting design becomes commonplace in all lighting installations.
Albeo News Release
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Cree Showcases New Residential LED Downlight
SSLighting Design News Staff
January 21, 2010...Cree's new 6-inch LED downlight, the CR6, for the residential market was showcased this week at the 2010 International Builder’s Show in Las Vegas. Cree says that CR6 LED downlight takes the technology at the heart of the LR6 family and redesigns it to deliver maximum value for residential lighting.
The CR6 downlight, planned for availability in mid-2010, is being designed to meet Energy Star criteria and for an end user price of approximately $60.
“By delivering the beautiful warm light created by Cree TrueWhite™ technology in an affordable, energy-efficient LED residential fixture, we’re providing consumers with an alternative to energy wasting incandescents and the poor color-rendering of compact fluorescent bulbs,” said Neal Hunter, President of Cree LED Lighting. “There is no residential LED downlight on the market today that can come close to matching the value and performance of the CR6. This product builds on the success of the award-winning LR6, which has shipped more than 350,000 units to date.” Company News Release
ilumisys Receives Tax Credit from Michigan Economic Development Corporation to Ramp-up Manufacturing
SSLighting Design News Staff
January 21, 2010...Michigan Economic Development Corporation is reportedly giving ilumisys, a $4 million tax credit to expand research and development of LED lighting technology and ramp-up manufacturing operations in Michigan.
ilumisys, a maker of LED-based Fluorescent replacement and other LED lights based in Troy, Michigan USA, also plans to investment of $7.4 million. ilumisys expects to create 213 new jobs within the company and an additional 342 new jobs throughout the state through the increased economic activity created by the project.
"Michigan is in a position to become a global leader in solid-state lighting manufacturing, research and development and it is our intention to keep and foster the growth of this industry right here in our home state," said Greg Main, President and CEO, MEDC. "Companies like ilumisys and organizations like the newly-formed Michigan Solid-State Lighting Association are proof that Michigan is poised for growth in this industry."
Recently, Michigan businesses won $242 million in Advanced Energy Manufacturing tax credits as part of a White House effort to create 17,000 green manufacturing technology jobs through a $2.3 billion tax credit. ilumisys was also granted $1.3 million in tax credits from this effort to automate production of LED replacements for fluorescent lights.
"The support from the State of Michigan combined with our recent federal tax credit award will help ilumisys ramp-up our manufacturing efforts right here in Michigan," said Dave Simon, president of ilumisys. "We are sincerely appreciative of the MEDC's efforts to secure this funding, which is a key component to growing manufacturing and leveraging the innovation and intellectual property in the state." ilumisys News Release
GE Adds to its Evolve LED Line with New Garage Light Fixture
SSLighting Design News Staff
January 21, 2010...GE has added a garage light fixture to its Evolve LED line.
The garage fixture reportedly delivers 50,000 hours of rated life at 70 percent initial lumens. The company says that the fixture greatly reduces maintenance and re-lamping costs in parking garages, warehouses, walkways, stairways and service stations.
According to GE, the new fixture reduces energy consumption up to 50 percent versus comparable HID products. The fixture offers impressively high system lumens per watt in 80-, 110- and 125-watt options. The fixture has the option of three opticals for general areas, entrances and exits. Like other LED fixtures, no warm-up time is needed.
The LEDs within the light reportedly have a color rendering index of 70 and a 5700K color temperature. The GE Evolve LED Garage Light Fixture is housed in die-cast aluminum with cast heat sinks to transfer heat away from the electrical components and ensure its long LED life.
"Based on reduced energy, maintenance and operating costs, customers can expect payback in less than three years with the GE LED Garage Light Fixture," said Andrew Lindstrom, senior product manager, GE Lighting Systems. "This is a watershed year for outdoor and municipal lighting, and GE's in the thick of it with LED fixtures for all kinds of applications."
The light fixture is painted inside and outside with polyester paint for corrosion resistance. It also uses tamper-proof screws on its impact-resistant polycarbonate lens for vandal resistance. Eight mounting options provide versatility to meet almost any field installation condition. It is also RoHS compliant, making it a mercury-free lighting solution. GE Lighting News Release
Department of Energy Announces Selections for SSL Core Technology Research, Product Development, and Manufacturing
SSLighting Design News Staff
January 19, 2010...U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced more than $37 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support high-efficiency solid-state lighting projects. This announcement outlined the sixth round of funding for the DOE's core technology research and product development, which has the goal of advancing the technical knowledge base of LEDs and OLEDs and SSL components, the developing a manufacturing base for SSL products in the U.S., and creating jobs. In addition to being the sixth round of the DOE's funding for SSL Core Technology, it marks the first time that DOE has funded solid-state lighting manufacturing development projects.
Three of the projects will receive $4 million to focus on the core technology research to advance the technical knowledge base of SSL for general illumination purposes. These projects will place particular emphasis on meeting efficiency, performance, and cost targets. Six of the projects will receive a total of $10.3 million to focus on the development or improvement of commercially viable SSL source, component, or integrated luminaire products. The eight remaining projects will get $23.5 million to focus on achieving significant cost reductions and enhancing quality through improvements in manufacturing equipment, processes, or monitoring techniques. The projects will also leverage $28.5 million in industry cost share.
DOE News Release,
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GE Merges LED and Fixture Businesses to Form GE Lighting Solutions
LIGHTimes News Staff
January 19, 2010...GE Lighting, a unit of GE Appliances & Lighting has merged with GE's (LED) systems operation, Lumination to establish GE Lighting Solutions. The new company combines Lumination, based at GE Lighting’s world headquarters in Cleveland, and its commercial and industrial fixture group, GE Lighting Systems in Hendersonville, North Carolina.
David Elien, previously president and CEO of Lumination, now serves as president and CEO of GE Lighting Solutions, while Paul Morse, formerly president of GE Lighting Systems, leads commercial efforts as vice president of sales and Hendersonville site leader. The full integration of the businesses is scheduled to be completed in the first half of 2010.
“The value of energy-efficient lighting solutions has never been more apparent to businesses and consumers,” commented Michael B. Petras, Jr., president and CEO of GE Lighting. “Through GE Lighting and our new GE Lighting Solutions unit, we’ll continue to provide innovative GE-quality solutions for customers who want to optimize energy efficiency and pursue energy cost savings, while having less of an impact on the environment.”
“We like how GE Lighting Solutions positions us to do even more for customers right out of the gate,” added Petras. “We have a head start in these market segments because we’re combining our specialized LED application expertise and our penchant for quality with our outdoor fixture heritage and established distribution.” GE Lighting News Release
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Commentary & Perspectives...
Lame news update: LED traffic signals and snow stories miss the big picture
Tom Griffiths - Publisher
January 14, 2010...December snows blew up some interesting news as a year-end reminder that even when you're doing things right, critics make their living off criticizing, not praising. In this case, the 'big news' was that LED traffic signals, the SSL industry's poster child of adoption curve success, don't melt snow. The reporting told us that because LEDs use so much less power (true) that they generate less heat than the old incandescent bulbs (true) and don't melt the snow off the traffic signal lenses (true) like the incandescent bulbs did (hmmm... do they? always?). The news made headlines that labeled them as "unintended consequences" as though this good idea was suddenly a bad idea because the new thing didn't do something that the old is presumed to have done. I call that 'missing the big picture'.
First and foremost, let's make it clear that the fact that LED traffic lights don't melt snow does not come as a surprise to anyone in the LED traffic signal business. They kind of knew this, and as I polled around some folks that are or were involved in the LED traffic signal market, this also wasn't a surprise to the customers (typically municipalities) either. One source reported that over a number of years, they had only gotten one request from a customer in Canada to propose a way to melt snow on the signals. In that case, the customer decided it wasn't worth the additional cost to deal with it. What, not worth the cost? They must have been looking at the big picture.
To simplify the discussion, although I truly tend to doubt that incandescent signals always melted the snow off (is that yellow light really on long enough to generate enough heat to melt accumulating snow), let's unconditionally grant that incandescents did and LEDs don't. I know first hand that it's not true, having lived in the Lake Tahoe California area for a winter a few decades ago. Good snowstorm, steady wind, and some traffic signals were obscured. Seems to me that's why they invented the brake pedal. But, let's go ahead and grant the old stuff a pass and claim they were always snow-free. From that position, we can launch into the other half of the story that wasn't reported... the LEDs are probably saving many more lives by simply being on in the first place, than they would ever cost due to rare snow obscuration events. Heck, one could claim that electricity is the culprit, if anyone has ever been injured in a traffic accident when the power failed and the signals went dark. It might sound something like, "Before these ee-lectric traffic signal thingies, we'd only have that old, reliable stop sign, and never have we seen one of them fail... well, except when people didn't see it and would run right on through it."
So here's the truth... the LED traffic signals seem to have an incredible ability not to fail (7+ years and counting for many). Incandescents failed regularly, but unfortunately not like clockwork. Given their on-off cycle, reports seem consistent that they would typically have a 8000 hour life span, or a year or two, depending on the cycling. That suggests that any individual signal could be expected to go dark for some portion of at least a, if not longer, once a year. If we make an optimistic guess that they would be dead at least 4 hours before the city repair crew got around to them when they failed during the day, and say something like 10 hours average when they failed at night, we have something we can get our heads around. Average of 4 and 10 is 7 hours per year, that any given signal is going to be dead... not signaling... presenting the opportunity for someone to run them and crash into someone else. If red and green are equally important, that's potentially 14 hours of "danger" per signal head each year. 14 hours with some certainty, versus a few hours if a once in a great while snow storm with just the right kind of snow and wind-angle combination hits on a particular year (presumably in the kind of storm that thins traffic to virtually zero, and if you're driving, common sense suggests no one can stop predictably). Bear in mind that much of the US, from the west coast, across the mid-south, and on to Florida rarely sees snow, and if it does, it won't ever reach the magnitude needed to block the light from a traffic signal. But those same states would see just as many incandescents fail for just as many hours each year. Heeellllooo? 7 years, some rare darkness on some heads due to a rare snow event every few years, versus a predictable period of dark from every signal everywhere, every year. Which one is dangerous? Can you hear us media? We lost one life in 2009, but how many did we save since those LED traffic signals were installed?
So, can we do better? Maybe, but at what cost to get to "never fails to signal"? $100K in this city, $200K in that one... Is that money best spent on preventing the possibility of snow accumulation in the next blizzard because one person in the US, as unfortunate as that is, had their death attributed to an obscured traffic signal in 2009? Could those hundreds of thousands perhaps be better invested in an extra ambulance in an underserved area, or perhaps in adding another police officer, or even more to the point, in adding a traffic signal to a current high-risk, uncontrolled intersection? Big picture.
As an industry, let's make sure we don't get caught up by what the critics may turn into the 'potential for the disaster' story of the day. It doesn't matter if it's "if you stare at an LED, it could blind you, and now we've installed them in our TVs!" or "they're talking about LED automobile headlights, and we all know that LEDs can't melt snow off of traffic signals, so what's going to happen in our cars!" Yep, we've kept that one in sight for years, and that one does need to be solved before LEDs can work there. We're keeping the big picture in mind, and we just need to share it every chance we get.
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