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Solid State Lighting Design is here to serve the information needs of lighting designers, specifiers, and decision makers, along with luminaire designers, lighting system integrators and lighting subsystem developers with application, product and market news updates for this rapidly evolving technology. Our readership also includes LED packagers, technology enablers and service companies seeking the answers to how best to meet their customers' needs.

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February 7, 2012...Soraa, which was founded by Shuji Nakamura and Steve DenBaars, announced the launch of its flagship product, the Soraa LED MR16 lamp. Soraa claims that new replacement lamp is the first single-LED design to provide illumination equivalent to a 50-watt halogen MR16. Pricing was not announced, but is intended to provide a retrofit payback of routinely less than 1 year in standard commercial usage. Soraa says that its flagship product, the LED MR16 lamp based on GaN on GaN technology represents a revolutionary lighting technology hence the moniker, LED 2.0.

Soraa reportedly leverages decades of expertise from the two GaN LED lighting innovators who have done much of their research work during the last decade at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The company is headquartered in Fremont, California, where it houses the world’s first GaN on GaN light-chip fabrication facility and their lighting products design lab. Soraa claims that its pure GaN crystal is up to one thousand times purer than GaN on sapphire or GaN on silicon carbide substrates, allowing both the power density of the chip to be increased, and the chip size to be substantially reduced compared to standard LED devices.

“Our technological foundation enables Soraa products to emit more light per LED material and handle more electric current per area than competitors, providing the highest quality light that makes for a perfect, more energy efficient replacement for traditional halogen lamps,” said Soraa CEO Eric Kim. Soraa says it chose the MR16 format because it has been the most difficult LED lamp to do correctly, given its small size and intense, high quality brightness requirements. Khosla Ventures, NEA Partners, and NGEN Partners are backing Soraa with over $100 million in funding.

Soraa's MR16 LED lamp offers what the company describes as a bright, highly-focused, controlled beam with the ability to produce a high color rendering index and center beam candle-power to match a standard halogen lamp. An efficient thermal design does not require a mechanical fan or other active cooling, and the form factor is fully conformant to the MR-16 envelope. In addition, the lamp’s single-source LED design offers crisp object definition with solo shadow, uniform color and beam pattern. Additionally, the Soraa LED MR16 lamp features optimized electrical design for broad compatibility, making it suitable for use with all common transformers and dimmers, both indoors and outdoors.

“Lighting affects the way we see the world, and good light can make anything more compelling,” said Co-Founder Shuji Nakamura. “At Soraa, we are proud to create efficient lighting products that do not compromise on performance, offer the highest quality available, and greatly reduce energy waste. We believe that with GaN on GaN, we have truly entered the next chapter in LED technology: LED 2.0.”

Redwood Systems Expands Product Line to Support All Major Lighting Technologies
SSLDesign News Staff

February 7, 2012...Redwood Systems based in Fremont, California USA, a provider of light and occupancy sensors and intelligent controls for LED lighting, announced that its product line now supports all lighting fixture types. Previously available only for LEDs, the Redwood platform can now deliver energy and cost savings, as well as the benefits of fine-grained sensing, to any lighting environment. According to the company, the new offering supports the most commonly-used light fixtures, including LEDs, fluorescents, HIDs, and CFLs.

Redwood Systems says that while LED installations are expected to capture much of the commercial building market over the next few years, many building owners today are still deploying LEDs with other lighting sources. In these mixed environments, the ability to deliver intelligent lighting control utilizing sensing technology has been limited. The company says that with this new solution, it can now provide any customer with its energy savings, as well as a range of building intelligence applications such as security alerts, temperature sensing and space utilization reporting. Also customers can leverage the new Redwood product for legacy lighting sources. The company says that the system can ensure an easy upgrade path to LEDs. SSL Design PageTwo members login for more. Guests can view membership details.

Cree Releases XT-E LED Platform Which Halves Cost Per Lumen
LIGHTimes News Staff

February 7, 2012...Cree, Inc. announced its XT-E White LED, which the company says delivers twice the lumens-per-dollar of other LEDs and boasts the highest performance and efficacy in the industry. The company has chosen the approach of using silicon carbide to gain the performance needed. While silicon carbide is more expensive a material than silicon, Cree contends that its use of silicon carbide along with its XT-E LED technology ultimately reduces the cost per lumen output of LEDs with its extremely high efficacy of 162 lm/W (LPW) of a 6000K LED at 350 mA and 25 degrees C and 148 LPW of a 6000 K LED at 350 mA at 85 degrees C. A 3000K XT-E has an efficacy of 114 LPW at 85 degrees C. The LED comes in 2700K, 3000K, 4000K, 5000K and 6000K versions. The XT-E has a 115 degree viewing angle.

The cool white versions of the XT-E (5000K-10,000K) average about 70 CRI with no minimum CRI. The (3500K-5000K) neutral white XTE typically has a 75 CRI. The neutral white XTE can also come with a minimums of either 70 or 80 CRI. The warm white (2700K to 3500K) XTE has a typical CRI of 80 and can also have a minimum CRI of 70 or 80. The XT-E can be driven at up to 1500mA at 2.85 V if a designer would like to maximize lumen output.

Cree says that the XT-E LED and the recently released XB-D LED represent a dramatic transformation in LED price and performance. Cree asserts that the XT-E addresses the largest obstacle to mass LED lighting adoption, initial cost, and enables LED lighting systems to replace their less efficient ancestors.

In addition to having extremely high brightness, the XT-E uses the relatively small 3.45 mm x 3.45 mm XP footprint. The high performance and small footprint allow light fixtures to use fewer LEDs to produce the same light output. This further reduces the cost per lumen in arrays and LED lamps and fixtures. In fact the company claims that the XT-E reduces the number of required LEDs by two to three times depending upon the layout. SSL Design PageTwo members login for more. Guests can view membership details.

DOE Forecasts Energy Savings from LEDs Through 2030
SSLDesign News Staff

February 2, 2012...The Department of Energy has released it projections on the energy savings potential of LED white-light sources compared to conventional white light sources such as incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, and high intensity discharge. The DOE used an econometric model of the U.S. lighting market through the year 2030 to make the forecasts. The DOE estimated the annual lighting energy consumption under a scenario considering the growing market presence of LEDs compared to energy consumption under a baseline scenario, which hypothesizes no additional market penetration of LEDs in general illumination applications.

LEDs or solid state lighting can save energy and improve light quality, performance, and service. The DOE notes that currently white-light LEDs are competing or are poised to compete successfully with conventional lighting in a variety of general illumination applications because of their high quality and cost-effective performance. Not surprisingly, the DOE analysis found significant energy savings potential for LEDs compared to the other types of illumination. SSL Design PageTwo members login for more. Guests can view membership details.

Solais Lighting receives additional Energy Star Certifications on LED lamps
SSLDesign News Staff

February 2, 2012...Solais Lighting of Stamford, Connecticut announced that it has received Energy Star Certification on several of its popular LED lamps. Solais' LED lamps utilize the company's exclusive, actively-cooled Luxiance® thermal management technology,. Previously the company received Energy Star Certification on the 25-degree versions of the following LED lamps. The company has now achieved Energy Star certification on the 15-degree and 40-degree versions as well.

The company produces a 1250 lm "LR38" PAR38 Replacement which consumes 21 watts and has a 3000K color temperature. The company also produces an 1100 lm version of the same lamp at a lower price. Solais makes a 3000K, 975 lumen “LR30LN” PAR30 Long-Neck Replacement that consumes 18 Watts. Solais notes that by meeting the elite specifications of the EPA/DOE’s Energy Star program, the Energy Star label awarded to Solais Lighting’s LEDs assures the marketplace that these lamps significantly reduce energy consumption and costs without sacrificing performance, features, and comfort. SSL Design PageTwo members login for more. Guests can view membership details.

LED Engin to Showcase First Halogen-like Dimming from a Single LED Emitter at Strategies in Light
SSLDesign News Staff

February 2, 2012...LED Engin, Inc. of San Jose, California USA, will demonstrate the first single LED emitter capable of halogen-like dimming at Strategies in Light, Santa Clara, California, 7-9th February. Using a single emitter and a constant current source along with standard 0 -10V dimmers, the color temperature of the light will get warmer as it dims. LED Engin says that the LED emitter changes from 3200K at maximum output to a warm 2400K glow when fully dimmed. This halogen-like dimming is particularly useful in hotels, restaurants and bars, where the technology can deliver the right ambience for levels of brightness.

LED Engin says it will also demonstrate how a combination of total internal reflection (TIR) lenses and compact emitters with directional lighting can double the lux-on-target compared with similarly rated traditional LED sources with reflectors. The emitters are reportedly powerful enough to provide the necessary lumens, but are small enough to be enveloped within a TIR lens that guides virtually all of the radiated light toward the target. SSL Design PageTwo members login for more. Guests can view membership details.

Luminaires from Arquiled with LEDs from Osram Opto Semiconductors Illuminate Supermarkets in the Jerónimo Martins Group
SSLDesign News Staff

February 2, 2012...The Jerónimo Martins Group is among the first European retail companies to equip its new stores entirely with LED lighting. According to Osram Opto Semiconductors whose Oslon LEDs power the fixtures produced by Portuguese lamp manufacturer, Arquiled, switching to LEDs at its stores will save the company 50 percent of its lighting energy costs in future. The retail stores will also save because of the intelligent light management system of the luminaires supplied by Arquiled.

At the beginning of the project, Arquiled's analyzed the retail chain’s lighting requirements. Based on the results, Arquiled developed a luminaire concept to meet the special needs of supermarkets. Osram Opto notes notes that LED lighting not only offers the advantage of a long service life and the associated low maintenance costs, but is also ideal for direct product illumination. One important trait of LEDs used for retail lighting, is that they generally emit very little thermal energy and do not heat up the objects they are illuminating and can therefore be positioned closer to products without damaging them.

Three Arquiled modules are to be used at the Jerónimo Martins in Tavira: the Arquiway, a module comprising 4 Oslon SSL LEDs; the Arquistore, with 72 Oslon SSL LEDs per luminaire; and finally, Arquishelf luminaires, which will provide special shelf lighting with 56 Oslon SSL LEDs, illuminating products in the ideal color temperature and displaying them at their very best. SSL Design PageTwo members login for more. Guests can view membership details.

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Commentary & Perspectives...

What is the DOE's role in technology development for LED lighting?
Guest Commentary: James Brodrick, SSL Program Manager, US Dept of Energy