“Poor light quality ruined many consumers’ confidence in compact fluorescents,” stated Mike Krames, CTO of Soraa. “The Energy Star qualification must be associated with LED lamps that provide a better quality of light; otherwise, the program will start to lack credibility with end-users and the low adoption rate history of CFLs will be repeated by LED lamps.”

Soraa pointed out that while Energy Star is not a mandatory standard; the EPA must recognize that it has become a de facto standard for utility rebate dollars critical to lowering the initial cost of LED products. Soraa explained that in absence of a second high color rendering index (CRI) tier, like the historical situation with CFLs, the vast majority of lamp products will be engineered to perform close to the lower boundaries of quality requirements as set in the Energy Star lamp specification for cost reasons (see Figure). Soraa contends that if light quality (specifically color rendering) is unaddressed, the lack of high color quality lighting products will lead to a stalling in consumer adoption of energy efficient lighting technology, observing that consumers have become accustomed to high color rendering index of incandescent and halogen light sources over decades.

In the provided graphic, both PAR Lamps (left) and CFL (right) from the Energy Star® Qualified Lighting Product List (QLPL), have lower color rendering indexes than conventional light sources which consumers have become accustomed to over many decades (red ovals). Soraa asserts that the current standards drive the industry to predominantly produce modest color quality lamps, which do not address the color quality barrier to adoption.

“To persuade consumers to purchase LEDs instead of incandescent lamps, LED lamps must be seen as high-quality products worth the initial higher price differential. Therefore, LED lamps must closely replicate the color rendering of the incandescent and halogen lamps that they replace,” said Ravi Parikh, Energy Services Specialist at Burlington Electric in Vermont. “As a utility, we are always willing to consider higher incentives for projects utilizing lamps such as SORAA’s. We want to ensure customer satisfaction by reduced energy bills and maintained—if not, improved—quality of light. There is no need to sacrifice quality for efficiency. It is critical we understand the value in both.”

Soraa's suggestion follows the basic approach of their ideas for Draft 3, but this time around proposed to keep the existing minimum efficacy requirements, but apply those to lamps that provide a CRI above 90, while raising the minimum efficacy of those lamps with a CRI between 80 and 90. Soraa’s proposal argues that this will increase overall energy savings through enhanced adoption of higher light quality lamps as well as through higher energy efficiency in lamps of modest light quality.

The new XP-E2 color LEDs are built on Cree’s SC³ Technology™ LED platform, which uses silicon carbide and combines advances in chip design, packaging, and phosphors, to provide higher lumens-per-watt and lumens-per-dollar compared to the original XP-E color LEDs. Cree indicated that switching to XP-E2 LEDs in existing XP-E LED designs, lowers system costs. The new XP-E2 color LEDs have the same XP footprint (3.45mm x 3.45mm) and are optically compatible with the original XP-E LED providing what the company describes as a drop-in-ready performance enhancement to shorten design cycle and improve customer time to market.

“We are excited that Cree is offering higher performance color LEDs in the XP footprint,” said Greg Campbell, executive vice president and chief technology officer, Lumenpulse. “The brighter XP-E2 color LEDs enable Lumenpulse to continue to provide innovative, high-performance LED lighting systems.”

The XP-E2 color LEDs have a maximum drive current of 1A and a viewing angle of 110 to 135 degrees. The royal blue version of the XLamp XP-E2 color LEDs at maximum drive current delivers up to 1409 mW. Also at maximum drive current, the XLamp XP-E2 color LEDs provide up to 109 lumens for blue, 253 lumens for green, 203 lumens for amber, 193 lumens for red-orange and 155 lumens for red. All have the 3.45mm x 3.45mm footprint. Cree says samples are available now and production quantities are available with standard lead times.

The Energy Star specification certifies that the bulbs uses at least 75% less energy as compared to incandescent bulbs, and that they also last 15 times longer. Energy Star bulbs are at least as efficient as fluorescent lighting, turn on instantly without warm-up and produce less heat—ideal for air-conditioned environments.

The company's PAR30 lamps come in 2700K, 3000K, and 5000K color temperature versions. All three are dimmable. The 3000K and 2700K versions produce 950 lumens for an efficacy of 75 lm/W. The 5000K version produces 1000 lumens for an efficacy of 80lm/W.

“We pursued certification in order to improve access of our specification-grade lamps by businesses interested in rebates offered by utility companies,” said Stephen Naor, CEO of Leapfrog Lighting. “Energy Star certification also instantly stands for quality and integrity—both values of Leapfrog Lighting.” The certification body for the Energy Star certification was Curtis-Straus LLC.

Certification requires independent testing by a lab approved by Energy Star, administered by the US Department of Energy. The Energy Star specification requires that Leapfrog Lighting's PAR 30 pass performance tests including light output, electrical power consumption and lifetime reliability. The lamps are subjected to elevated temperatures for 3,000 hours (early accreditation) and 6,000 hours (final accreditation), at an extreme temperature of 65 degrees Celsius to emulate durability conditions. Passing this test means a bulb can last at least 25,000 hours. The testing takes 18 weeks for early accreditation and 36 weeks for final accreditation.

“We had no doubt that our industrial-quality bulbs would pass, but the long wait is the most difficult part of the process,” said Mr. Naor. "Energy Star certification is important, since the economics of LED lamps derive from durability and lifetime expectation." With a lifetime at least 15 times longer than incandescent bulbs, and lower use of expensive energy, LED lamps are becoming mainstream with industry, particularly architectural and retail applications where quality of light is important.

The Energy Star certification was part of George W. Bush’s Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (a.k.a. the “Energy Bill) and sets standards for light bulbs. Under this law, screw-based light bulbs must meet the efficiency requirements.

Leapfrog Lighting’s lamps provide “improved glare control, light distribution and color consistency,” said Canadian Federal Minister Gary Goodyear, at a recent press event announcing an investment in Leapfrog Lighting’s ongoing research and development. The Minister of State for Science and Technology praised “measurable improvement on lighting quality required by facility managers, institutions, architects and retail businesses.”

The current Leapfrog Lighting product line includes MR16, PAR30, PAR38 and PAR20 lamps. The company says that the PAR30 innovative lens design creates a pleasing, glare-free light suitable for use in all indoor and unexposed outdoor down-lighting applications. The lamps have a life expectancy of 40,000 hours and deliver what the company describes as high CRI and ultra-consistent color temperature control that is critical in multi-lamp applications in hotels, restaurants, schools, office buildings, museums, galleries, retail operations and other public spaces.

Pete Stevens, Group Energy and Carbon Manager at Marshalls plc, who was responsible for managing this project, said, “Marl LED floodlights not only offer a clear environmental benefit but contribute to the group bottom line too. Replacing high level floodlights is an expensive exercise, but despite the relatively high installation costs on this part of the project, the payback in projects using the Marl lights is just 18 months. This figure includes the reduction in maintenance costs due to the much longer life of the Marl floodlights.”

Marshalls has an exceptionally strong sustainability culture. The Marl floodlighting is one element of a lighting project being rolled out across the Marshalls Group that has reduced the company's energy consumption. Marl and Marshalls worked together to determine the type and design of yard lighting to meet the operational needs of Marshalls.

Pete Stevens added, “The Marl floodlights are a major step forward in helping us to reduce carbon emissions, and reduce on-going maintenance replacement of bulbs. It was great to work in partnership with Marl to bring about a successful project.”

Pete noted that the light provided by Marl 60W and 94W Bay Range 748 and 774 Series floodlights was at least as good as that provided by the existing high pressure sodium lamps which draw at least 400W. As a result, he authorized the replacement of over 500 lighting fixtures. These included high lights over the loading bays themselves, low level lighting around the buildings and high level lights on the roadways at the site.

Pete concluded, “The project as a whole shows just how much carbon is generated around the business by lighting, and proves that energy efficient lighting isn’t just about increased sustainability but also provides an attractive financial return. We are looking at using LED lighting in other areas, including our offices.”

The Marl 774 Series floodlights installed at Marshalls manufacturing sites are 94W triple bay lights producing clear, cool white light output. Marl says that triple lighting module provides great versatility. All three modules can be pointed downwards to provide a powerful concentrated beam, or the outer modules can be angled to disperse light over a wide area by using the adjustment settings. According to Marl the triple lighting module is ideal for the illumination of large areas including car parks, industrial estates, quarries and railway stabling yards.

The company asserts that the 748 Series delivers considerable maintenance cost savings, with its long rated life of 60,000 hours, equivalent to over 13 years at 12 hours per day. In this time, a halogen floodlight would need to be replaced 30 times, based on a standard life of 2,000 hours. Marl is offering an up to five-year guarantee on the light.

"Drawing from our deep expertise in fixture development and a longtime focus on energy-efficient design and sustainability, Deco is delivering better lighting solutions and better value," said Ben Peterson, vice president, LED Lighting at Deco Lighting. "Deco Digital lighting products provide high quality light, superior CRI and are backed by the support you expect from a leading lighting fixture manufacturer"

Deco Digital boasts that its new digital lighting products meet the most exacting standards and provide a high degree of customization. The fixtures provide a Color Rendering Index (CRI) that the company says is well above 85, and is said to have exceptional fixture to fixture consistency.

Deco claims that their fixtures are built with the industry's best LED and driver components, and the Deco Digital lighting products operate at high efficiency levels. They also are said to have high levels of color saturation, yielding a CRI well above 85. The products also have an estimated lifetime of approximately 50,000 hours of operation.

Deco Lighting offers a 10 year warranty that includes a labor allowance. “Our goal is to make sure every product we make at our facility is built to last a long time, we relate this LED Lighting revolution to good times in automotive manufacturing in the USA where automobiles were made with deep focus on quality, reliability, and design” said Ben Peterson, Vice President, LED Lighting at Deco Lighting.

Deco Digital lighting fixtures are reportedly designed, manufactured and tested in Los Angeles. Deco says its team of engineers and designers will work with customers to customize inspired solutions and special retrofits that best fit the customer’s need.

Also, the company says that the Definity Professional GP19 LED lamp utilizes lightweight aluminum and cutting-edge design to optimize the performance and aesthetics. The GP19 LED lamp achieves ENERGY STAR equivalency performance comparable to a 40W lamp with the increased efficiency and life that can only be provided by LED technology. The GP19 Led lamp is also dimmable down to 5%. The G19 LED lamp has light output of 450 to 480lm depending on the CCT, which runs between 2740 to 4000K. The G19 LED lamp consumes 6 watts for an efficacy of 75-80 lm/W.

“Consumers have been asking the LED industry for bulbs which more closely replicate the form and function of a traditional Edison bulb,” said Jeremy Cage, CEO of Lighting Science. “These new lamps represent that, and much more—they are highly efficient, emit a beautiful light, contain no mercury and are a strong LED value. These lamps make every room more beautiful with their lighting quality.”

May 16, 2013...As a result of a midnight premier of Star Trek - Into Darkness last night (this morning, technically), the forward-looking technology thoughts are flowing judiciously. Apparently I walked into the conclusion of the discussion on when and where the movie was happening, only to catch the part where I was being asked if I wanted to see it "when it opens". Lacking the context they thought I had overheard, I was inextricably offered the opportunity to earn the cool dad title (and it was indeed earned, while waiting to get in, as I showed the group of late teen to 20-somethings some tricks with the polarized lenses in the 3-D glasses). The movie is a must-see, by the way, for anyone clued-in to the backstory elements from the "Original" Star Trek movies' reality/timeline, of which this is a slight alternate. I did have to overlook what looked like a current generation swoopy T8 fluorescent fixture stuttering in the engineering section after the warp core was damaged in the treacherous attack... The solid state lighting in the 23rd century won't be re-striking as a result of the jolt, thank you very much. So from there I've been led to ponder what our LED "light bulb" should be doing for us in the future (and not the far future at that). The answer is "lots of stuff".

First, it will be important to set aside the fact that LED lighting visionaries insist that we'll simply "do light differently" and that we need to break out of the whole LED light bulb mentality. No doubt that is true, but no one is beaming our legacy technology away, so "differently" is more a matter of time, and it could be validly argued, a long time before light bulbs have been replaced by "something else" in both our homes and offices. We personally own table lamps that are probably 50 years old, and they aren't antiques, they are just "the lamps by the couch". Fresher ones in the house date back 15-20 years, with the newest fixtures (front porch, back porch) being the youngsters at 5 or so years. I believe the ceiling fan in our bedroom has been continuously spinning for 7 years, other than a 1 day period when it moved from the rental we installed it in over to the house we're in now. The point is that our indoor fixtures really don't wear out, and all are fresh enough to allow me to spin in at least one last bulb. If that has a nominal 25,000 hour life, I figure it's not going to be "driven" to change for the next 20 years or so (based on our 3 hours per night average use). Heck, given that the oldest floor lamp now has a Philips Hue installed, and with a recent iPhone update we have at least 3 devices in arms reach and available to control it, we actually are leaving the power switch on, greatly reducing the next most likely failure point. While our sockets will be disappearing at some point, that point will likely be a long time from now. Fluorescent sockets in many commercial spaces, especially T5's and T8's, will be similarly sticky, although the addition of more granular control capabilities that LED (aka "digital") lighting enables will provide retrofit opportunities ahead of simply waiting for the next interior renovation.

Residential markets - What do we want that bulb to do? Low power consumption, bright enough, good quality light, and useful for the variety of sockets that we have scattered around the house. That means dimmable on the ubiquitous TRIAC dimmer for the ceiling, as well as useful in a 3-way socket found in many table lamps. And there doesn't seem to be any reason that they can't also be fun, so something along the lines of a dimmable RGB-W configuration that also takes clues from the 3-way socket... and it communicates... to more than just "the controller" but with the big, wide world. There are examples of all the features out there now, most notably Philips aforementioned Hue for that communications and fun. Recent fun additions include "geo-fencing" so that your smartphone can trigger lights on or off as the residents come and go from the house, as well as support for If-This-Then-That (IFTT) to trigger events based on other events (our recent coverage here). Stock price hits a target, flash the office lights. Team wins, paint the house lighting the team colors). Cree, and probably a few lesser-known others, have recently hit that dimmable white part at a useful $10-ish price point, and at LIGHTFAIR we saw those 3-way and 75w to 100w replacement category "bright enough" introductions from Switch. Are we being unrealistic to envision a future that brings them all together into one affordable LED replacement lamp? That would be like expecting your cell phone to also take pictures, record movies, let you video conference, surf the web, watch movies and let you listen to music. I mean to be big dreamers, maybe we should also expect the phone to provide maps, point to point navigation as well as control your lights at home. So no, it's not unrealistic to expect the residential light bulb to handle the light, fun, dim, 3-way and communication, as well as adding in daylight or ambient light compensation and even other environmental sensing. My good old iPhone 3 had a stack of sensors and functions that were just waiting for apps to bring them to life, and there is no doubt our bulbs can and will do the same.

Commercial markets - Heavy on sensing, light on fun. It seems doubtful that the property operators are going to be very keen on creating the disco effect as the lighting color pulses to the music it "hears" through its microphone (just got that app for the Hue at home... hilarious fun to instigate a pillow fight with strobe mode on). But the tenants will be keen on the increased productivity that comes from more "effective" light. Whether it is better to be maintaining a constant ambient color temperature in spite of changing daylight, or modify the CCT as well as inject some additional "perky" wavelengths in those post-lunch sleepy times, we'll leave to the scientists to figure out. We will want the capabilities to be pretty much the same, whether retrofitting in a full LED-based luminaire, upgrading a troffer with a LED kit, or just swapping in LED tube. We'll expect them to integrate seamlessly into the control network, as well as operate with "coordinated autonomy", not needing to hear from "central control" that there is a particular amount of sunlight, or zero, one or a meeting's worth of bodies in the room. And since we need luminaires in every space, there is no reason that every kind of building-automation, environmental and security sensor that is practical should be integrated into the room's light. "A person-down sensor in every space" might be the battle cry (although one does have to wonder how it will respond when the boss starts doing his or her yoga... yes there will be unpredicted issues along the way).

Timing - Slower than desired, but faster than expected. It's inevitable, as technology advances often are. We expect a lot from our technology, and while we may want it pretty quickly, since we don't have it, we don't "miss it" for the lack. I still harken back to the year 2000 when I sat in a room of "normal" people here in high tech Austin, who were polled on how many had fast (broadband) internet in their homes. It was about 5-10% that had access of something other than dial-in, and at the then-blazing speed of 500K to 1Mbit data rates. A scant decade or so later, and someone without that data rate streaming into their pocket is considered the odd man out. Change is like that, and technical change is accelerating, not peaking by any means. We'll have our light bulb "egg-laying-wool-milk-pigs" before the end of this decade, with Grade AA quality on every feature. Need pictures of the strobing pillow fight? Just tell the light.