OPINION POLL: Is The Incadescent Light Bulb Dead?

Just a quick opinion question….

Do You Think The Incandescent Light Bulb Is Dead?
(Click link to give your answer. You will be taken to PollDaddy.com)

I would greatly appreciate it if all readers could take the few seconds to click the link and answer the poll.

Thanks!

Sharp Takes Stab at Multi-Chip LED Modules

Sorry I’ve been away from blogging lately. Great to be back. Well, let’s start out with a neat little piece about Sharp. Sharp has recently introduced a line of LED modules each consisting of 30 LED chips divided into 10 parallel-switched groups of 3 LED chips on an aluminum ceramic substrate. The modules range from standard white to warm white up to what Sharp calls “High Color Rendering” (HCR) modules. These have CRI (Color Rendering Index) of 90. These new modules range in output from 170 lumens for the HCR modules to 280 lumens for the standard white module when driven at 360 mA. I’d like to see how well these can handle being driven to 720 mA on a graphite heat spreader. Anyrate, stated efficiencies are 80 lumens per watt for the standard white down to 50 lumens per watt for the HCR. Stated life cycle is 40,000 hours for all modules in the line.

Now all Sharp has to do is come up with a really spiffy name for these things and they’ll be all set. Maybe, Sharp Light Sabers…no,no,no….Sharp Star-O’s….Sharpeon’s? Super Sharp’s? Sharpstone? Hmmm….

Anyrate, you can check out the entire press release at LEDs Magazine

Technorati Tags: leds , led modules, led technology , leds in the news , warm white leds, color rendering index, cri, high color rendering, sharp leds, shapr microelectronics

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Finally, Germicidal UV LEDs for the Rest of Us!

I was recently asked if I knew where one could get Germicidal UVC LEDs since I had blogged about the technology a while back. Well, I do so I am blogging it here for all to see in case you may be interested. Now I am talking “commercially available” not some pie-in-the-sky R&D type of availability.

Sensor Electronic Technology (S.E.T.) is commercially shipping deep UV LEDs that they call UVTOP LEDs that range in output wavelength from 247 to 365 nm. The output power is typically 0.5 mW at 20 mA forward current. They are typically multi-die, single can LEDs mounted in TO-39 or TO-18 cans. The cans in this case are specially designed with internal reflectors to maximize output. The LEDs are available with or without ball or flat lenses to boost output power and narrow the beam profile.

Being as S.E.T. is the basically the only game in town right now (they have partnered with Seoul Semiconductor so I imagine we will start to see these coming out through Seoul’s distribution channels, especially in Asia and perhaps even see the die technology licensed off) you don’t really have a choice of deep UV LEDs so you’ll have to pay the gigantic price of nearly $300.00 each in single quantities for 250 nm LEDs (they get cheaper the further up toward the UVA you go).

Beyond price, this is still very good news for both S.E.T. and the rest of us in the LED industry since up until now, there wasn’t an alternative so kudos to S.E.T. for the way cool technology and making it available to the rest of us!

Click here to check out the line of UVTOP deep UV LEDs from Sensor Electronic Technology, including datasheets and their pricelist.

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Novaled Produces Super Efficient, Super Bright, Superlicious OLEDs

Novaled has announced that they now have OLED panels capable of producing 1,000 candela per square meter with an efficiency of 35 lumens per watt with a reported lifetime of 100,000 hours. Thats no small feat. The Color Rendering Index (CRI) was 90. The testing was done with consideration for only the forward light emissions, that is to say all light coming out the back and the sides of the panel was blocked. This accurately mimics a real-world application since these are almost exclusively used ad backlights. Evidentally, they were able to crank up the brightness to 4,000 candela per square meter and the efficiency only dropped to 31lumens per watt with no change in color or CRI.

Kudos to Novaled!

Click here to read the whole story on LEDS Magazine

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Cree To Install Cree LEDs In Cree’s Facilities

Cree announced their plans to convert all lighting in their headquarters and manufacturing facility to lighting fixtures with Cree XLamp LEDs.

I don’t know…..does anybody else out there feel like Cree’s announcement to adopt LED lighting in their headquarters and manufacturing facility seems a bit odd? Don’t you feel like Cree should have already been using LEDs everywhere? I mean, the CEO should have XLamps surgically implanted in his forehead. Hay! Headlamps! Get it? <insert groans here> That was my initial reaction and I suspect that might be the initial reactions of a lot of people, including Cree’s customers.

Releasing this announcement to the newswire does illustrate Cree’s commitment to developing efficient LED technology that will eventually replace traditional lighting but at the same time it highlights the fact that LED luminaires are fairly new and LED technology costly (initially)as compared to traditional lamps which is something that not even Cree, who makes the darn things, could ignore ,further illustrating that Cree hasn’t been using them which can be disconcerting to customers. On a more positive note: Kudos to Cree for launching the LED Workplace website (www.ledworkplace.org) which looks like it will be a terrific place to exchange information about LED luminaire data and cost savings on workplace LED installations.

Also, in the release it says “in total the new LED lights use 48% less energy than the incandescent, fluorescent and high-pressure sodium lights they replaced” Uh…commercially available Cree XLamp LEDs are not more efficient then HP Sodium lights and produce nowhere near as much light over as broad an area. I don’t think we’ll be seeing LEDs replace sodium vapor lamps anytime soon. Perhaps chock that up to an over-zealous PR writer?

Click here to read the full announcement at LEDs Magazine

Technorati Tags: leds, led modules, architectural lighting, architectural lighting design, solid-state architectural lighting, led architectural lighting, architectural led lighting, lighting design, solid-state lighting design, lighting designers, lighting artist, artistic lighting, lighting engineering, architectural lighting industry, designing with light, architectural design, office lighting, solid-state office lighting, office lighting design, leds , solid-state lighting , lighting industry news , lighting industry market , lighting market , solid-state lighting market , lighting market analysis , global led market , global led news, global lighting industry , global lighting fixtures , global lighting , led technology , leds in the news , Cree, Cree XLamps, XLamp LEDs, XLamp

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It’s a Bird..It’s A Plane…No It’s Novaled OLEDs of Steel!

I couldn’t resist. Sorry. Interesting technology, really. Essentially you deposit OLEDs onto thin, electrically conductive, flexible steel instead of the current thin glass designs and presto-change’o! You’ve got LEDs that can be rolled out by the zillions rapidly onto gigantic rolls like steel for the automobile industry. Try that with glass. BLAM!

Click here to checkout the full Novaled and ArcelorMittal OLEDs on steel article.

Technorati Tags: leds, oleds, deposited oleds, oleds on steel, steel oleds, glass oleds, oleds on glass, oled technology, novaled, arcelormittal, rgb oleds, flexible leds, flexible oleds, bendable leds, bendable oleds, innovative led technology, innovative oled technology

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Did Cree, Inc.’s Acquisition of Cotco Hurt Their Growth?

Just when you thought it was safe to jump into LED technology investing  waters…<insert theme from Jaws here>…

Cree shares fall on analyst downgrade

Oohh…..and Cree was doing so well too. All their recent R&D breakthroughs and GE buyout rumors making the press, pushing up their shares and all. Well, their shares were bound to drop but I am a bit surprised that Mr. Jed Dorsheimer downgraded their shares, dropping them 11.5%. Furthermore, I don’t agree with his reasoning that Cree’s Cotco acquisition was ill-timed and will hamper their growth.

So according to the analyst in the article, Cree’s attempt to offer individualized technology solutions to it’s customer base through Cotco hurt their market position and the better approach was to leave Cotco out on the table and remain a one-size-fits all LED manufacturer?

I don’t think so but I’m not by any means a financial analyst. Here’s what I feel Cotco adds to Cree.

Cotco gives Cree a much-needed low-cost manufacturing platform in Asia. Combine that with Cotco’s expertise in high-brightness LED die manufacture and you have the perfect shot-in-the-arm for Cree’s XLamp series which, as the analyst said, is key to Cree’s ability to grow in the upcoming quarters. Over the coming year, I think, Cree will dramatically expand their XLamp output and offerings to take advantage of this. The Cotco acquisition also gives Cree an in-road into the infant-stage adoption of LED lighting in China which is just now developing a national lighting infrastructure. It not only gives Cree a significant local manufacturing capability but also adds local sales capabilities as well. I feel there is tremendous potential for growth in the Chinese market as the high population levels dictate a need for energy efficient technologies such as high-power LED lighting.

Well, time will tell if the Cotco acquisition was the smart move. I think it was. Let me know what you think.

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What is the Current Market Price for LED Under Cabinet Lighting

Calling all sales and marketing personnel….Calling all sales and marketing personnel!

Well, sales & marketing personnel in the under cabinet lighting industry anyway.

I want to pose a question to you all: What is the current market price for LED under cabinet lighting? Obviously there is high-end and low-end markets. I am interested in the market price for high-end LED under cabinet lighting. The reason I ask is that my company has a new LED under cabinet lighting fixture called the Illumaled under cabinet lighting system which is now hitting the retail and commercial distribution channels and just as it is, I am hearing buzz that the pricepoint for LED under cabinet lighting which had been about $80 per unit has now fallen to around $40 – $50 per unit. The source of the information had a product that came in at around $80 per unit and had been selling for awhile but sales have dropped dramatically which they suspect was due to the price point drop. I suspect that my source for the information is actually targeting a lower-end market since they mention the installation was for multi-unit housing.

Has anyone heard anything from distribution channels about the current market price for high-end or low-end (if there even is such a thing due to the current cost of LED lighting in general) LED cabinet lighting? What are you hearing out there?

I’m going to try and make this post sticky for awhile to give everyone a chance to see it and comment. Thanks!

Technorati Tags: leds, led modules, led luminaire, led lighting, led luminaire design, led under cabinet lighting, led under-cabinet lighting, led undercabinet lighting, led under cabinet market, marketing leds, led marketing, lighting market, lighting marketing, led sales, led luminaire sales, led market price, led under cabinet lighting market price

Deep UV Leds for Germicidal Water Treatment? Maybe…

 

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post. I was out of the office for awhile and came back to a massive pile of “this is THE top priority” projects to do. So here we go:

 

The NIST ATP Program which funds innovative R & D projects announced several LED-based awards for this year. Two of interest are the awards to Crystal IS, Inc. in NY and HexaTech, Inc. in NC. Both are working to develop efficient deep-UV LEDs. This is of particular interest because deep UV (normally referred to as UVC) is germicidal. That is to say, it can kill bacteria, certain viruses, and other contaminates. Traditionally UVC germicidal sterilizers and water purifiers use fluorescent or compact fluorescent type tubes (no phosphors are used so nothing is really fluorescing but they are the same type of lamp) mercury tubes to produce germicidal UVC at the 270nm (most effective wavelength) or 254nm (next most effective wavelength). While these traditional lamps are efficient and have a low cost to operate, they don’t like to function in cold environments and are bulky. In water purifiers that use them, they are typically encapsulated within a a chamber where the water can flow all around the tube to maximize exposure. When the lamp dies, you have to shutoff the water and dig the lamp out. If a company can produce UVC LEDs that have enough output for effective germicidal effect, it would mean that users of water purifiers and other remotely located UVC germicidal equipment would not have to change the light source nearly as often since LEDs have a typical lifetime of 20,000 hours and up although it will remain to be seen what the lifetime of a deep UV LED will be. There is also a huge potential for energy savings, particularly when multiple water purifiers are used. Municipal water treatment plants will uses 100’s or thousands of low-pressure mercury water purifiers (this number can be reduced to 10’s or 100’s if medium-pressure mercury purifiers are used) depending on the amount of water flow. Assuming the output of the LEDs is good enough and efficient enough, municipal water treatment facilities could see massive energy savings. Cost will be a big issue. right now low-pressure mercury lamps are fairly cheap, but LEDs will likely be quite expensive. They may come in at around the same price as medium-pressure lamps. Who knows. Even beyond the cost, municipal treatment plants will save massive amounts of cash on reduced maintenance costs by not having to tear down purifiers all the time to replace tubes. LEDs also function with no ill effects in cold environments so cold water rushing around them will not shorten their life. Also, fluorescent type mercury tubes don’t like to be turned off and on (it shortens their life) where LEDs don’t care. So if a plant operator needs to shut things down, it doesn’t matter. They can do it as many times as they want, it won’t shorten the LED lifecycle, although it may shorten theirs.

Anyrate, these projects are slated for a 3 year run so it will be awhile to see if anything becomes of them. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Here’s my last thought about deep UV LEDs: take a handful of deep UV LEDs and stick them in one of these multi-LED flashlights you see all over the place now and voila!You have an instant, portable spot tanning booth! Uh…maybe not.

Technorati Tags: leds , led modules, uv leds, deep uv leds, uv led research, deep uv led research, lighting research, ultraviolet leds, deep ultraviolet leds, ultra-violet leds, low-pressure mercury, medium-pressure mercury, uvc, uvc light source, uvc leds, mercury water purifiers, , mercury lamps, mercury water sterilizer, water purifier, uvc water purifier, germicidal water purifier, 254 nm, 270 nm, effective germicidal, germicidal light sources, germicidal leds, water treatment leds, uv water treatment, uv led water treatment, nist, n.i.s.t., nist atp, nist advanced technology program, nist technology award, Crystal IS, HexaTech

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Bare Die Attachment? Yes, Please!

I pose a question to all of my readers (OEMs, engineers, developers, or anyone else for that matter): Have any of you worked on any LED bare die attachment projects? I would be very interested to know what the project entailed and how it went? Please comment this posting or, if you feel more comfortable, email me using the contact me tab above.

Thanks!

Technorati Tags: leds, led die, led dies, led chips, led manufacturing, bare die, bare die attachment, led bare die attachment