18.05.12 / Outdoor light / Author: goodledlighting / Comments: (0)
Tags: LED garden
CAST Lighting, an outdoor lighting manufacturer based in Hawthorne, NJ, has a ten-year history of producing the most durable low voltage lighting products in the market. This stature was greatly enhanced on May 9th when it received the lighting industry’s highest honor “The Most Innovative Product of the Year”. The award was given at LightFair International 2012, the world’s largest architectural and commercial trade show.
The winning product was CAST Lighting’s LED Perimeter Light, a compact, energy efficient security light designed to mount on chain link fence posts. Powered by a small 24-volt transformer, this light, positioned every 20 to 30 feet, provides highly targeted illumination along extremely long fence lines.
The award judges, all top lighting professionals, were impressed by the innovative design and thinking behind the luminaire. They commented,
“Never has so little light done so much work. We found this to be a simple, clean, efficient, energy-effective solution which could be used on nearly every property. It leverages the best benefits of LED – low voltage operation, optical efficiency, small size and long life for a truly robust security lighting solution.”
The task of illuminating long perimeter fences has always been problematic. The typical solution is to install tall pole-mounted luminaires that flood fence regions with light. This approach wastes considerable amounts of energy since most of the illumination falls outside the perimeter region. Installation of these pole-mounted lights is also very expensive in both material and labor. The new CAST Lighting LED Perimeter Light uses just 7 watts per luminaire and can illuminate 500 feet of fence with less than 150 watts of power. Typical metal halide pole-mounted lamps would require nearly 4,000 watts to light that same fence. This represents a 96% savings in energy cost.
Steve Parrott, CAST Lighting’s Communication and Marketing Director, comments on the potential for the LED Perimeter Light.
“One of the most remarkable things about this security light is its wide range of applications. Since we introduced the product, we’ve been flooded with requests from Homeland Security; the military; energy companies; federal, state, and local agencies; airports; and a host of private facility managers. We are ramping up production to meet these demands, and have an aggressive R&D effort to develop new products that will address other security lighting needs.”
“As with the development of our entire line of outdoor LED lights, we focused on the unique challenge of putting sophisticated electronics into a lighting fixture that would be subject to extreme environmental conditions. We protect the LED circuit from moisture, heat, voltage variations, and electromagnetic interference. The result is an extremely robust LED security light that will survive many years without problems.”
17.05.12 / Outdoor light / Author: goodledlighting / Comments: (0)
Tags: LED illumination
Royal Philips Electronics has unveiled Paulmann Light GmbH as the 200th licensee of its LED luminaire and retrofit bulb licensing program. The Philips licensing program was first launched in July 2008, and now includes a number of companies described by Philips as “key lighting players,” such as Cooper, Trilux, Acuity Brands, Cree, Osram, Neo-Neon and Zumtobel.
Through the program, licensees are given access to a wide range of basic LED control and system-level technologies available for use in branded LED-based luminaires and retrofit bulbs for general illumination, architectural, entertainment and theatrical markets.
Licensees pay a royalty to Philips that is a percentage of the selling price of the luminaire or lamp. The rate is on a country-by-country basis, depending on the breadth of Philips’ patent coverage in that country.
The royalty rates are 3% of the net selling price for a single-color luminaire, 4% for a tunable-white luminaire, and 5% for a color-changing luminaire or for a retrofit lamp.
Luminaire makers do not pay a royalty if they have purchased all the components, including the LED light engine and driver, from a qualified supplier, namely Philips, Osram or Zumtobel.
The IP portfolio includes the patented technologies acquired when Philips bought Color Kinetics in 2007. Several of these patents were controversial, and the subject of numerous lawsuits, although this concern has dissipated (at least in public) since Philips bought CK.
The list of licensees includes a few interesting names such as Ford Motor Co. and Harley-Davidson, while GE is a notable absentee.
Philips believes that its program is “enabling and fostering the industry’s growth in its transition from conventional lamps to energy-efficient, LED-based lighting solutions.” The company says that the demand for licenses “has grown significantly with an increasing number of companies realizing the benefits and opportunities that these licenses offer to them.”
Arian Duijvestijn, senior vice president of Philips Intellectual Property & Standards said: “As the market leader in LED lighting technology, we are opening up the market for LED lighting to companies and customers around the world through our LED luminaire licensing program…we are pleased that so many companies, from start-ups to large companies, recognize the value of Philips sharing key LED intellectual property to facilitate and accelerate their growth plans.”
Detlev Paulmann, CEO of Paulmann Light GmbH added: “Paulmann is a leading vendor of lighting products active in more than 40 countries. We are a family business with a passion for light and have taken on an early decision to make LED technology the main driver for our company future. We believe this license agreement with Philips will help us to further strengthen our offering, expand our portfolio, and bring products quicker to market for our customers.”
16.05.12 / led lighting / Author: goodledlighting / Comments: (0)
Tags: Outdoor lighting
Did LED lighting go mainstream already?
Last week’s Lightfair trade show for the general lighting industry was all about light-emitting diodes. Analyst firm Needham notes that industry giants General Electric and Philips both devoted some 80% of their precious booth space to LED solutions. “Most lighting companies are very focused on LEDs,” noted Needham analyst Edwin Mok.
How to handle a dimmer dimmer
More specifically, many companies used Lightfair to unveil advances in the art and science of making LED lights work better with traditional dimmers. Though it may sound simple, dimming a LED light is actually a tricky technical challenge.
LEDs work best at full power and typically dim down by flickering on and off. The power cycles are too fast for the eye to notice. Simply reducing the power to an LED lamp will reduce the life of the LED with unpredictable effects on the amount of light actually projected. So semiconductors that can translate slow and steady incoming power into the right flickering pattern at full power are the bee’s knees right now.
And this needs to be done while handling active-current waves that were never supposed to mean anything to sensitive electronics like an LED light. Many dimmers change the sine wave of a basic AC feed into their own waveforms of choice, and there are no standards for any of this. It just wasn’t necessary when heating up a resistive wire until it glows was all you needed to worry about.
One obvious LED play
LED specialist Cree saw its share prices plunge nearly 70% in 2011 right alongside LED component prices. Now Needham sees strong value in the stock as Cree should capitalize on exploding demand for LED-based general lighting products.
The company used Lightfair to launch a dimmable LED lamp prototype last week in conjunction with semiconductor designer Marvell Technology. The drop-in replacement for good old 60-watt incandescent bulbs combines low cost, high efficiency at 75 lumens per watt, and increased performance when used with dimming light switches.
All the big names in general lighting are looking for better dimmers right now. In separate announcements, Philips and GE introduced 100-watt replacement bulbs at Lightfair, both boasting improved dimmer performance. These lamps also fall in the high-efficiency category, with lumens-per-watt ratings north of 60. That compares to about 15 lumens per watt for an incandescent bulb or 60 for one of those twisty compact fluorescent bulbs.
LED lamps come with a side of sticker shock in these early days of the new market. Philips expects its 100W replacement to sell for about $30 in your favorite home improvement store and GE’s bulbs should land in the same ballpark. “Over time, higher production volumes and lower component costs should bring prices down,” notes a spokeswoman for GE.
15.05.12 / led light bulbs / Author: goodledlighting / Comments: (0)
Tags: energy saving light bulbs
Long-running arguments over who needs to do what to stop the planet from overheating are back in focus this week as rich and poor countries meet in Bonn, Germany, to resume talks on a new global climate treaty.
It’s the first major round of talks since countries agreed in Durban, South Africa, in December to come up with a binding agreement by 2015 that would take effect five years later.
In a webcast news conference Monday, U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres noted that the cuts in greenhouse gas emissions pledged so far fall short of what scientists say is needed to avoid serious effects of global warming.
But she said “bridging the gap is both technically attainable and economically feasible” if rich countries, in particular, raise their ambitions on emissions cuts.
The talks have been hampered by bickering over how to divide such cuts among developing nations, emerging economies and industrialized countries.
That’s not going to be resolved in the two-week negotiations in Bonn or at a bigger climate summit in Qatar at the end of the year.
But climate negotiators hope to build on the modest progress that was achieved last year, like the agreement on a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol, a treaty which limits the emissions of most developed countries but which expires at the end of this year. The length of the second commitment period is one of the issues on the table in Bonn.
However, Kyoto plays an increasingly marginal role in the climate puzzle because it doesn’t include the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide and other gases that scientists say contribute to global warming.
The U.S. pulled out of Kyoto, saying it was unfair because it didn’t impose any emissions reductions on fast-growing developing nations such as China and India. Canada announced it would withdraw from the treaty last year.
The new treaty being negotiated would require all nations to take action to curb warming. Specifying those requirements is a major challenge, which is why negotiators tend to focus on solving incremental, less contentious issues, first.
“First and foremost we have to ensure that there is no backtracking on what was agreed in Durban,” said Christian Pilgaard Zinglersen, a Danish official representing the European Union.
Meanwhile, climate activists warned that potentially catastrophic consequences of global warming, including floods and droughts and rising sea levels, will be impossible to prevent unless the negotiations speed up.
14.05.12 / LED candles / Author: goodledlighting / Comments: (0)
Tags: cut-with-a-fork
The company, which has 10 employees and prefers to stay small to accommodate custom orders, has an international client list that includes corporations, hotels, politicians, the U.S. military, sports stars, rock stars, actors, designers, and otherwise wealthy individuals.
Its products have been featured repeatedly on the HGTV network shows House Crashers and Bath Crashers, DIY Networks’ Man Caves and the Vanilla Ice Project, Discovery Channel’s Construction Intervention, and ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition.
“It’s such a unique product. It’s taken years to get here, but now that it has it’s gotten very popular,” said Robert Thomson, Hidden Television’s sales manager. “When it hangs on the wall it has side skirts so it hides the TV. And when it’s off, it’s a mirror on the wall.
“Out of sight, out of mind. Criminals steal TVs, they don’t steal mirrors,” Mr. Thomson added.
The mirror doesn’t have to be a mirror when the TV is off. A screen-saver on the television can make it an aquarium, a favorite photo, or a famous painting.
A typical 32-inch, hidden flat-screen television concealed behind mirrored glass encased in one of 110 decorative frames to match a room’s decor costs about $3,300. The company can utilize most flat-screen TVs but prefers Samsung and Sharp brands. It recommends LED (light emitting diode) televisions, which produce very little heat, and discourages plasma TVs, which produce considerable heat.
There are few restrictions on size. The firm offers a 65-inch hidden television setup that costs $10,000, and it has installed 80-inch TVs for $12,000, including mirror and frame.
Location also is no restriction — the company once installed a 50-inch wide TV in a bathroom — with installers having placed hidden television sets in nearly all rooms of a house and in various types of furniture.
Not just any two-way mirror can be used. The company experimented with many types of two-way mirrors before settling on the specially designed dielectric mirror that is coated three times and uses nanotechnology to be optically color neutral, thereby allowing a maximum amount of light through but still allowing maximum reflection when the TV is turned off.
With hidden television sales generating the lion’s share of revenues, Mr. Baker adopted Hidden Television, — the name of his Web site — as his unofficial but more visible corporate name.
But in reality, the 33-year-old Mr. Baker has five businesses that sell a variety of two-way mirror-related or security-related products all operating under the moniker Reflective Security LLC, a name that echoes the unorthodox route that the Ann Arbor native took to get into business.
11.05.12 / Outdoor light / Author: goodledlighting / Comments: (0)
Tags: energy-efficient CFL
In addition to an impressive line up of residential, commercial, infrastructure and custom LED applications, the Company is displaying wirelessly controlled, intelligent luminaires; color tunable lights; advanced product design fixtures; advanced camera motion detection luminaires; and a bulb with integrated motion detection.
Lighting Science Group’s new ultra-efficient J5 security light integrates video sensing with Wi-Fi operation and streams real time imaging to home computer or mobile devices making it ideal for commercial or residential applications. The J5 incorporates the Company’s new PixelView(TM) video occupancy control system, which is also being shown directly integrated into many of Lighting Science Group’s other luminaires. Whereas typical exterior occupancy controls using Passive Infrared (PIR) technology to detect motion can be severely compromised in hot or cold environments, the PixelView Occupancy Control system relies on image sensing and video processing. As such, the luminaire’s ability to detect and characterize motion is unaffected by ambient conditions.
The Company’s Definity Motion Activated PAR 30 is 80% more efficient than the 65-watt halogen lamp that it replaces and integrates both motion and ambient light sensing directly into the lamp, eliminating the need for separate controls. User configuration options built into the bulb include time delay, dimming range, and motion and distance sensitivity. Setting a new standard in advanced lighting control, the bulb won the top LIGHTFAIR International 2012 Judges Citation Award.
Mimicking the lumen (light) output of a 50-watt incandescent or halogen bulb in a downlight, the Company’s 4 inch 9.5-watt Glimpse LED downlight maintains the same top-tier performance that has come to differentiate the company’s LED products from its competitors, while offering an improved, innovative thermal design that reduces the volume of raw materials needed for assembly by up to 70%. The product was selected as a 2012 Next Generation Luminaires (NGL) Solid State Lighting (SSL) Indoor Competition winner. The competition is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the Illuminating Engineering Society, and the International Association of Lighting Designers.
“While other companies are struggling to develop performance LED lighting products, we are bringing to market some of the most advanced and exciting lighting products in the world,” said Jim Haworth, chairman and chief executive officer of Lighting Science Group. “Demonstrating our speed to market–most of these new innovations that we are showing at LIGHTFAIR will be in the market by the end of this year or the beginning of next year.”
The new product line joins the Company’s suite of products that have found applications ranging from use in NASA outer space ventures; to artistic designs that span skyscraper silhouettes; to everyday, practical implementations for American homes and businesses that save families and business owners significant amounts of money on electricity bills. On the global stage, Lighting Science Group has become synonymous with the ultra-efficient lighting revolution, and at home the Company is most commonly viewed as the fulfillment of America’s clean technology promise.
10.05.12 / Outdoor light / Author: goodledlighting / Comments: (0)
Tags: LED lights
Bringing imagination to life through the medium of light, Lighting Science Group LSCG +5.98% today launched three new color changing architainment lighting products–PriZmaline(TM) Cove, Graze and Z Series. These new fixtures will help translate the visions of lighting designers, architects and artists alike into standout structures.
“With PriZmaline, the creator’s imagination is the only limit to how distinctive or avant-garde an installation can be,” said Jim Haworth, chairman and chief executive officer of Lighting Science Group. “These products will actually push designers to think beyond what they originally considered to be possible for their applications. They feature patented drive technology producing up to 650 lumens per foot in most case, wireless control with full DMX capabilities, robust ranges of motion, and ultra-efficient and unparalleled lighting performance.”
The PriZmaline Cove, Graze and Z Series are made to fit in indoor and outdoor cove, floodlighting, recessed, and wall grazing installations. With unparalleled lumen performance and precision beam quality, each of the three new product offerings are capable of producing millions of vivid saturated colors, delicate pastels and brilliant whites.
About Lighting Science GroupLighting Science Group Corporation LSCG +5.98% designs, develops, manufactures and markets LED lighting solutions that are environmentally friendlier and more energy efficient than traditional lighting products. Lighting Science Group offers retrofit LED lamps in form factors that match those of traditional lamps or bulbs and LED luminaires designed for a range of applications including public and private infrastructure for both indoor and outdoor use.
Lighting Science Group’s Advanced Projects Group business unit designs, develops and manufactures custom LED lighting solutions for architectural and artistic projects. Lighting Science Group is headquartered in Satellite Beach, Florida; the Company’s European operations are based in Middelburg, The Netherlands; and the Company has a sales office in Sydney, Australia. Lighting Science Group employs approximately 1000 workers building lighting products from domestic and imported parts. Lighting Science Group is a Pegasus Capital Advisors portfolio company.
09.05.12 / led lighting / Author: goodledlighting / Comments: (0)
Tags: L.E.D. bulbs
Convincing consumers to switch to LED lighting is an interesting proposition. On paper, it seems a no-brainer: LED lighting uses 80 percent less energy than traditional lighting, and when used with energy management tools such as automatic on/off switches and dimmers, energy consumption can be reduced about 40 percent further.
Moreover, an average LED light can last up to 22 years – as opposed to an incandescent bulb that lasts for only six months. Unlike compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFL), LEDs do not contain toxic mercury. The EPA website outlines the steps necessary to clean up a broken CFL bulb safely. After reading this, consumers might want to buy a hazmat suit in preparation. All these factors add up to one great product for the environment – energy savings, landfill reduction and the elimination of toxic materials.
When summarizing all of economical and environmental advantages related to LED lighting, it seems like a rational choice to switch over immediately to LED lights. So why aren’t people rushing to retrofit their homes? What can the lighting industry do to incentivize the average person to “do the right thing” and install LED lights in their home and offices?
As part of the global effort to conserve energy resources, governments have begun to mandate the phase out of traditional lighting. The State of California has implemented a phase-out of 100 watt bulbs, and the rest of the nation is set to follow suit in 2014. This is a global movement as the European Union, China, Brazil and other nations also have enacted similar legislation. [Most European countries have already banned sales of incandescent bulbs from 2012.] Mandating change is not easy, however, as evidenced by consumer resistance to these laws and a general sense among consumers that basic rights are being violated.
Additionally, the introduction of traditional CFLs left a very negative impression with consumers, who did not like their odd corkscrew shape, delayed warm up time, light quality or the occasional buzzing sound they emitted. To balance against this negative image of alternative or green lighting, LED lighting manufacturers have to reassure the public that their products are easy to use, are affordable and, furthermore, delight the public with new must-have features. Here are some steps manufacturers can take to make the public embrace the evolution to LED lighting.
The transition to LEDs is, literally, as easy as changing a light bulb, provided the LED lighting is compatible with the existing lighting infrastructure in homes and buildings. First of all, the bulbs have to have a similar form factor to traditional bulbs and fit into existing light sockets. Additionally, in the United States, there are more than 150,000,000 dimmers installed – a type of switch with which LED lights traditionally have not worked well. Some early users experienced poor performance using LEDs with dimmers including reduced dimming range, flickering, turning off unexpectedly and not responding properly to on/off commands when dimmer is set at lower dimming level.
08.05.12 / led light bulbs / Author: goodledlighting / Comments: (0)
Tags: LED strip lights
Elemental LED, a San Francisco Bay Area-based LED lighting company, just launched Build, a new program for building professionals. The program, which has been under development for the past several months, offers commercial-grade LED lighting products for building retrofits, as well as end-to-end energy saving solutions.
Among the most popular Elemental LED Build product offerings are T8 and T12 LED fixtures from On-Q that replace T8 and T12 fluorescent tubes. On-Q LED T8 tubes use only 16 watts of energy and reduce energy consumption 30% to 70% from traditional fluorescent fixtures. These LED replacements also don’t flicker or hum and don’t experience delay when turned on. They have a significantly longer life so they don’t need to be replaced as often.
“LED replacements for fluorescent T8 tubes is one of the most sought after retrofit products these days. Elemental LED is excited to join the market for this super cost and energy saving tool,” says Matthew John, Director of Business Development at Elemental LED.
Retrofit products are not the only energy saving tools now available through Elemental LED Build. Project management, contract pricing, product samples, energy-saving calculations, and rebate and incentive discovery are all services Elemental LED is offering customers through the Build program. In addition, Build has partnered with an energy-management software company so that it can offer customers long-term energy and cost management.
“Customers can easily get ahold of a lighting application specialist during business hours by calling us directly or contacting us through the Build web portal,” says Craig McCauslan, National Sales Manager at Elemental LED. “We’ve got folks standing by to talk to customers about their lighting needs and the challenges they face in retrofitting to LED.”
The new Elemental LED Build portal offers information on all Build product offerings, including the T8/T12 LED replacement tubes, with downloadable spec sheets and IES files. The web portal also gives customers access to several case studies that illustrate real applications of the LED retrofit products and a breakdown of the cost and energy savings associated with the retrofits.
Elemental LED is where style and affordability meet sustainable lighting. Elemental LED offers a wide selection of LED lighting products for home and business owners, including LED strip lights, light bars, puck lights, wall washers, light bulbs, controllers, power supplies and more. Products include color-changing, dimming and waterproof functionality. Elemental LED offers in house engineering and comprehensive customer service and education, from live phone support to online tutorials. LED lighting technology is the safest, hippest, and most energy efficient way to light up the world.
07.05.12 / LED candles / Author: goodledlighting / Comments: (0)
Tags: CLF bulbs
No two theatre performances can ever be the same, according to renowned actor-director Rajit Kapur who was in the city on Sunday along with the crew of Rage for the staging of their play One On One. “Our performances are driven by the audience and its reaction. Theatre is a constant exploration for me,” says the veteran thespian.
It was this urge to do “something different” that shaped the unique play, bringing together the experience of theatre and dining. But “serving drinks or food is a strict no-no while the show is going on. The clinking and clattering of glasses and cutlery is just so distracting,” says the perfectionist, who worked relentlessly to get the lighting and background prior to the show. It was part of the “Supper Theatre”.
Featuring seven short stories delivered as monologues and dialogues, the 90-minute long play weaves together stories of contemporary India with all its quirks. Except for two stories, all are delivered in English. About the growing popularity of English theatre in India, Amit Mistry who essays Kasab’s role in the story Instant Behosh, says, “Today English has become a colloquial language. We converse in it even in our day-to-day lives, and it’s only natural to incorporate English into our performances so that the audience can relate.”
The ‘Jaago Re’ poster boy Anand Tiwari plays the role of a street lamp in Load Shedding, and a North Indian in Mumbai in Aabudana. The actor, who has performed in Hyderabad earlier, looks forward to feedback from the audience. “You can’t ignore the audience. You have to live with that reality. The Hyderabadi audience is so appreciative and knowledgeable. They understand theatre so well,” says Anand.
The crew that has toured 12 cities so far with actors such as Anu Menon, Kunaal Roy Kapoor and Neil Bhoopalam; addresses subjects as varied as Indian bureaucracy, legalisation of homosexuality, obsession with fair skin and so on.