Novel flexible LED modules

In recent years, solid-state lighting (SSL) products have been increasingly sold in place of traditional incandescent or halogen lamps. The replacement of linear fluorescent tubes by SSL devices has lagged behind, however, due to a number of challenges. First, the efficacy advantage of SSL linear products compared with fluorescent products is small. Competitive initial costs are therefore required to ensure a return on the investment of an LED upgrade. Second, there are many different types of existing luminaires (electrical devices that create artificial light) that require different-length LED modules. Linear LED modules could thus be built in several lengths for each of these applications, but this is not a cost-effective solution. Finally, upgrading a fluorescent luminaire to an LED usually requires additional wiring and mounting of multiple LED modules during installation, which is time-consuming and also not cost-effective.

Switching streetlights to efficient LEDs takes more than changing a light bulb

LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, use less than half the electricity of old-fashioned streetlights, and they require less maintenance, too. Less juice to the pole means less pollution going from the power plant into the atmosphere. The cost savings are expected to pay for the more-expensive LEDs long before they fail. So why haven’t cities all over the metro area converted? Turns out it’s a complicated matter, and despite federal stimulus funding and a pilot project coordinated by the Mid-America Regional Council, only one metro city has fully converted to LEDs, along with a relative handful of light poles in other cities.

Printable, Robotic Lamp Can Build Itself

A team of researchers led by Robert Wood, Core Faculty member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, has developed a proof-of-concept lamp that can be printed out and can assemble itself. The self-folding elements and main structure of the lamp, the sensors, and most of the wiring can all be printed out with a special kind of printer. The self-assembling lamp also includes a mechanical switch and a capacitive touch sensor. The mechanical switch can be used to open or close the printed electrical contacts, while the touch sensor can be used to switch the lamp on or off or adjust the brightness of the LED.

LEDs: Big lights come in small packages

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) were first commercially used in the 1960s as replacements for neon and incandescent lamps found in expensive laboratory and electronic test equipment. The cost of infrared and visible LEDs units was so steep back then that there was limited practical use. These days, the technology has found its way in diverse applications ranging from consumer electronics to industrial, automotive headlamps, traffic signals, billboards and aviation lighting.

The use of LEDs in lighting applications has soared over the past decade because of advantages such as longer lifetime and lower energy consumption compared to incandescent light sources. However, manufacturing costs continue to hamper its uptake. Gallium nitride (GaN) on sapphire substrate technology, developed in the early 1990s and provided the foundation for high-brightness blue LEDs, is currently the most commonly used production process. Gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si) is now emerging as a less costly alternative to sapphire.

Place Lamp: HUE hack

Seattle-based designer Samuel Stubblefield created a cylindrical lamp prototype that lets the user connect it to their smartphones and set up several digital geofences around it to enable the lamp to communicate the user’s whereabouts. The Place Lamp is a hacked full-color cylindrical LED bulb that connects to the user’s office WiFi and to their smartphone through an app, and changes color depending on the distance of the user relative to the lamp. The lamp glows brighter as the user gets closer to the office, and eventually glows the brightest and functions as a table lamp when the user finally arrives at their desk. The lamp turns off when the user leaves the office.

Lights, lasers and LED: How concerts have shifted from songs to spectacles

Over time, smoke bombs gave way to pyrotechnics; levers and pulleys gave way to hydraulics, then robotics; strobe lights gave way to lasers; video advanced from oil on a projector lens to complex LED displays. Whenever Lady Gaga acts as the ringleader in a circus of flames, explosions and spurting fake blood; whenever Taylor Swift surfs on a huge floating robot catwalk; whenever Pink spins in a spherical cage 30 feet high — that’s because of generations of tinkerers and pioneers, beginning with Volz, who risked their fingers for theatrical immortality. “It’s totally changed from what it used to be,” says veteran effects man Jimmy Page Henderson, 67, vice president of Syncrolite, a Dallas lighting company. “Everything’s digital now. It’s so complicated now, you almost need to have a degree to go out and become a roadie.”

Lightwave RF Smart Dimmer tackles LED light flicker

If upgrading your lights to LEDs has left you in flickering hell, Lightwave RF's Smart Dimmer could give you smooth illumination and remote control. The British company's Smart Dimmer claims to fix the tricky power supply issues that lead to extreme flickering or even complete failure when dimmable LEDs are fitted in ordinary dimmer switches. You can also use your smartphone or tablet to control your lights via WiFi or even from beyond the home using other Lightwave RF smart home components.

Houston strikes deals with CenterPoint for LED lights, bike trails

All 165,000 of Houston's streetlights will be converted to more efficient LEDs over the next five years, halving electricity use and cutting air pollution in what Mayor Annise Parker said will be one of the nation's largest such initiatives. Also on Friday, the city said it had struck a deal to open up land under power lines for the construction of hike and bike trails, the result of years of negotiations in Austin to enact necessary legislation and months of local discussions. Both the trails and streetlights announcements involved agreements with CenterPoint Energy.

Will There Be LEDs In Your Lettuce's Future?

One of the best-known names in consumer LED technology, Royal Philips, is teaming up with indoor farming company Green Sense Farms (GSF) to create one of the largest commercial farms yet to use LED grow lights – approximately 7,000 of them across 30,000 square feet. Together, the two are developing “light recipes” optimized for baby romaine, kale, arugula and 11 different leafy herbs. It’s the latest example of how LED technologies could transform vertical farms, which are seen vital for growing local produce to supply an increasingly urban world population.

New At LIGHTFAIR: ILUMINARC Colorist Quad Color IP 65 Rated Fixtures

Looking for a color wash solution for those tricky applications that fall somewhere in between permanent architectural installations and temporary entertainment lighting rigs? ILUMINARC, the architectural and architainment lighting division of Chauvet, has introduced a new series of IP65-rated fixtures with Quad-Color red, green, blue and amber LEDs, the Colorist Series, created specifically for this often-overlooked “crossover” area of lighting design.

A must-see highlight at the ILUMINARC LIGHTFAIR International booth 5816, the Colorist Series consists of high-output color-mixing RGBA LED pods, panels and linear fixtures that have the adaptability to be used across markets. They come housed in sleek, low-profile white cases that are designed to blend into all types of architectural installations, as well as provide an elegant look when used in public spaces for event lighting. Robust and weather-resistant, the Colorist fixtures are also very economical and easy to set up and/or install.

Hubbell Lighting to Showcase its Outdoor Lighting Products at Lightfair International

Hubbell Lighting will be showing a wide-range of high performance outdoor lighting products next week at LIGHTFAIR International in Booth #925 in Las Vegas, NV. From LED canopy luminaires and compact LED floodlights, to contemporary designed LED luminaires and wireless street lighting modules, Hubbell Lighting offers limitless lighting possibilities for outdoor illumination.

Designed to be a one-for-one replacement of 175 or 250 watt HID systems, Beacon Products’ Ceileo LED recessed canopy luminaire only requires 55 watts delivering an 80% increase in energy savings. Utilizing high-powered LEDs, the Ceileo’s unique LED bezel and optical-grade acrylic lenses produces seamless light distribution while eliminating light trespass, reducing glare and maintaining uniformity regardless of the mounting height.

From office buildings and monuments to bridges, schools, retail spaces, walkways, parking lots and garages, Spaulding Lighting will show a new line of high performance, beautify designed LED fixtures—Arceos area/site, floodlight and garage. The Arceos area and site luminaire (ARA 1, 2 and 3) has an internalized heat sink in its smooth, sleek and modern housing and comes in three different sizes. The compact Arceos architectural floodlights (ARF 1, 2, 3, and 4) deliver excellent uniformity, optimum performance and energy savings in four different sizes. And the Arceos garage fixture (ARS) also has a smooth architectural housing design with internal heat sink and comes in three lumen packages meeting RP-21 requirements.

Spaulding Lighting will also be showing its award-winning Cimarron CL1S with new EXO optic technology. The new technology limits observational astronomy interference, circadian rhythm disruption and eye-strain by shifting short wavelengths of light (blue light) associated with the spectral response of the human eye. The EXO optic provides high efficacy, superior optical control and color quality for HPS and LPS replacement. Two configurations are available for complete application control—dynamic utilizing a mix of EXO optics and traditional optics with wiHUBB controls or static with a complete EXO optic array.

Seoul Semiconductor launches high-power Acrich MJT 5050 LEDs for outdoor lighting

South Korean LED maker Seoul Semiconductor has released a new generation of Acrich MJT 5050 LEDs, with high lumen output, reliability and cost performance optimized for the outdoor lighting market. At a drive current of 20mA and a forward voltage of 64V, the cool-white SAW0LH0A LED, with a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 4700-7000K (5600K typical) and minimum color rendering index (CRI) of 70, delivers typical luminous flux of 180 lumens (at 25°C, 5000K) and can be driven to a maximum current of 60mA (delivering up to 440lm). The 2600-3700K CCT (3000K typical), 80-CRI warm-white SAW8LH0A LED delivers typical luminous flux of 155 lumens (at 25°C).

LEDs transform shipyard cranes into a giant, mesmerizing ballet

Back in 2000, an architectural lighting designer from Pula, Croatia, had an idea: What if the shipyard cranes that loomed over the port city’s industrial waterfront could be turned into shape-shifting monuments? It took 14 years for technology (and city politics) to catch up to his vision, but earlier this month, Dean Skira‘s project, called Lighting Giants, finally launched, transforming the Uljanik shipyards into a ballet of light and industry.

LED Lights Offer Mounting Versatility

Waldmann Lighting offers Lumatris LED wide-area flood lights for small-, medium- and large-volume machines. Waldmann Lighting offers Lumatris LED wide-area flood lights for small-, medium- and large-volume machines. The 1.57"-thick lights are available in a variety of lumen packages and requiring a minimal footprint within a machine. The lights feature a rear or side connection with an M12 plug connector for integration or mounting. The luminaires connects directly to 24-V DC without additional components, or to 100 to 240 V via internal power supply.

LEDs may replace magnetism and radiation for neuroimaging

When doctors want to monitor someone's brain activity, they generally use either functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) or positron emission tomography (PET). One subjects the patient to strong magnetic fields, while the other involves radiation exposure. Scientists at Washington University in St. Louis, however, have recently had success using diffuse optical tomography (DOT). Although it may look kind of extreme, it basically just involves shining LEDs into the subject's head.

Cree and Himax: Two High-Growth Stocks To Consider For Your Portfolio

After more than a year when an outperformance rating was given on Cree (CREE), it has turned out to be an overachiever with 112% returns. Cree is a LED lighting company which has always focused on delivering the best performance at the lowest cost. The company has to face tough competition from its peers such as Philips and General Electric, but since Cree is a pure LED lighting company, it has withstood the competition. During the beginning of this year, it was anticipated by many analysts that Cree’s lighting business would suffer due to tough competition from bigger corporations. Moreover, according to analysts, Cree was priced for perfection and there wasn’t much upside left.

IKEA unveils the Death Star-like PS 2014 Pendant Lamp

IKEA has probably never created something as nerdy as this before and they’ve done so unknowingly. While the home furniture big shot claims this lamp is nothing more than a decorative lighting solution called the IKEA PS 2014 Pendant Lamp, we see things differently. For us, this one’s and exploding Death Star that sheds light every time the right strings are pulled, literally. Measuring a diameter of 14 inches, with a cord length of 4 feet and 11 inches, the lamp dims the light manually by changing the shape of the shade. Designer David Wahl states “When the lamp is closed it resembles a ball of fire, with the color of the arms creating an exciting light.” Instead, we think the lamp looks like a glowing Death Star when closed!

5 LED Companies With Plenty Of Spark

Since the January 1st ban on incandescent light bulbs went into effect, traditional light bulbs are no longer available, meaning the future for LED is very bright indeed. In fact, the LED light market is anticipated to grow 35.6% percent a year from 2012 to 2016, giving the market a total worth of around $42 billion by 2019. Such exciting numbers prompt immediate analysis and these four companies present excellent ways to gain some exposure.

Contribution of Phosphors in the Expansion of Addressable Markets for LEDs

Phosphors provide greater range of colors. The combination of yellow phosphors with blue LED improves the quality of white light, while high-quality red phosphors provide better color rendering. Existing phosphors can increase the LED efficacy by 100%, while reducing the price by 50-200%. New phosphor materials show promise to do even better. These characteristics of phosphors are helpful to expand markets where LEDs already have a market share, such as general illumination, and also markets where the penetration of LEDs are limited by consumer perception or performance concerns.

Leamington Moving Closer To LED’s

Leamington council is moving forward with a $25,000 project to have its streetlight network mapped out before it looks for companies to bid on installing new LED lights in town. The muncipality’s five year capital plan shows $1.3-million is needed to change over the roughly 2,200 streetlights in Leamington to light emitting diode technology. “We’ll probably do them in phases,” says John Paterson, the Leamington mayor stressing the mapping is a first step before committing funds to new street lighting. “There’s no way we can afford to just dump $1.3-million, we don’t have that kind of cash lying around.”