News For LED

Monday, April 28, 2014

LED Die

It happens to all of us: No one's getting out of this world alive.

Another apparition from the mind of Barney Walker, who operates at a slight angle to the consensus reality.

P.S. You can enjoy more of Barney's creations at ohmart.org.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Spreading the light through solar lamps to fight ‘energy poverty’

It's power to the people, via the common plastic bottle. As part of the annual Earth Day celebration, barangay officials and representatives from Metro Manila's 17 cities were, on Tuesday, taught how to assemble low-carbon solar street lamps using readily available materials, which is then connected to plastic pipes. All you need to make a solar light bulb is a used transparent plastic bottle filled with water, some bleach, and pieces of reflective material. A bulb bottle can emit up to 55 watts of illumination.

LED Light May Aid Skin

There was a time when no one thought about light bulbs — one blew, you screwed another one in. Nowadays, it’s more complicated, as energy efficiency concerns have given rise to a slew of options, including incandescent, compact fluorescent lights, and light emitting diodes. LEDs are the most expensive option, but they are also the most energy efficient, are getting more cost-efficient, and they are growing in popularity. With this increasing acceptance, concerns have arisen about long- or short-term direct skin exposure—especially since a 2012 SBU study found that contact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs can harm skin cells due to UV-light emittance.

Steel Manufacturing Giant Replaces Various LED Lines with Induction Lighting

Earlier this year, the Gerdau facility located in Knoxville, Tennessee began searching for a lighting solution that could replace their current metal halide fixtures and withstand the heat of its facilities, while maintaining enough lumens to create visibility in its dimly lit locations. Gerdau is a leading producer of long steel in the Americas and one of the largest suppliers of special steel in the world. With over 45,000 employees, it has industrial operations in 14 countries - in the Americas, Europe and Asia - which together represent an installed capacity of over 25 million metric tons of steel per year. Gerdau’s Knoxville steel mill in the Lonsdale community has operated for 110 years under various names and owners, and Gerdau took over the mill’s operations in 1999 and employs nearly 240 local residents there.

The steel re-bar giant reached out to EverLast® Lighting to find a solution that would meet their lighting specifications where LED had failed. “Gerdau had tried to replace the metal halide fixtures with different LED lines in all three of their plant locations in Knoxville, and were not pleased with the performance of the LEDs,” explained Bruce Sizemore, Representative of Sizemore Performance located in Walland, Tennesse. “Based on their findings, we knew that we had to find a fixture that would be able to perform in their facility, with little maintenance.”

Specifically, the LED fixtures were not able to withstand the heat or the environment of the Gerdau facilities. “The ceilings in the plant are about 140-160 degrees and the lens on the LED fixtures began to melt off,” explained Steve Trefethen, Green Technician at Gerdau Steel. “We also have a lot of steel dust that floats in our air and eventually the dust begins to compile onto each fixture. The result of the weight of the compiled dust ultimately unhinged each fixture from the area it was installed sending it crashing to floor.”

As a result of the LEDs failing to meet specifications, Gerdau moved forward with replacing several hundred metal halide fixtures with EverLast® induction high bay fixtures and were exceptionally pleased. “In addition to a plethora of product, and application issues the LED was extremely expensive, and the light output was not as optimal as the EverLast® Induction fixtures. Furhtermore, Gerdau needed a fixture that was compatible with DC power, and we were able to convert from AC to DC with the EverLast® line pretty easily,” commented Sizemore. “The staff at the facilities were shocked at the aesthetics of new lighting.”

EverLast® induction light fixtures last up to 100,000 hours which is double the life of an LED. They are also available with a dimmable option, providing even more energy savings while areas are vacant. “Gerdau is now enjoying about a 70 percent savings on their overall energy consumption compared to their previous fixtures, and are very pleased with the induction technology.” stated Sizemore.

The EverLast® High Bay fixtures are commonly used in large scale facilities and can be found installed in COBO Hall in Detroit, Michigan, the Tulsa Expo Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

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Xeleum LED Lighting Selected by Lee Farm Corporate Park

Lee Farm announced that installation of Xeleum LED lighting in its public spaces and hallways has been completed at its corporate park location in Danbury Connecticut. Overall management of the project, which included installation of 107 Xeleum Cobalt 2 x 2 LED 24 Watt fixtures, was performed by USALED.

Scott Schaake, President of USALED stated, “Lee Farm is very satisfied with the new Xeleum Cobalt 2 x 2 troffers. In addition to doubling the ambient light levels, which was a major purpose of the conversion, these new LED fixtures provide a 51% reduction in energy consumption versus the prior fluorescent lighting. They have brightened up the corridors and provided a consistent color that did not exist previously. The dramatically improved lighting qualities, together with energy savings over the 10 year warranty period offered by Xeleum, are important considerations to Lee Farm Corporate Park."

Mehrdad Ghalebi, President of Xeleum stated, “Because LED lighting offers such a substantial energy cost saving to this market sector, we are excited that Lee Farm Corporate Park selected Xeleum Lighting for this project and we are looking forward to a growing business at other such commercial real estate locations.”

Friday, April 25, 2014

Hot Picks of the Week April 21-25

April.25, 2014 - 18:41 — judy.lin 83 pageviews

Keywords:

Editorial Picks

Weekly review

Hot Picks of the Week April 21-25

Unity Opto Acquires New Factory to Expand LED Production

Taiwan Can Save 10 Billion kWh Annually with LED Lighting Upgrade, says TrendForce

As Taiwan becomes embroiled in nuclear energy debates, pro-nuclear and anti-nuclear activists are becoming focused on alternative energy solutions and energy saving benefits. Taiwan could cut 45% of energy consumption by simply overhauling current luminaires with LEDs, resulting in lower power consumption and redistribute energy resources, according to a joint study by TrendForce research divisions LEDinside and EnergyTrend. Considerable energy can be conserved from the lighting sector’s transformation alone, based on the research organization’s analysis of LED lights energy efficiency benefits, international market experience, and related statistics in Taiwan.

Anti-nuclear protesters display placards reading "terminate the fourth nuclear power plant in 2014" outside Parliament during a demonstration in Taipei on April 22, 2014. Former Taiwanese opposition leader and anti-nuclear activist Lin Yi-hsiung launched an indefinite hunger strike in protest of a nearly completed nuclear facility, while some of his supporters clashed with police. (AFP PHOTO / Sam Yeh)

Energy conserved from LED lighting solutions can transform Taiwan’s energy reliance

Taiwan’s lighting sector energy consumption reached about 22 billion kWh in 2013. Around 11.9 billion kWh or a 45% energy consumption reduction is achievable if the country’s commercial, industrial and residential lighting sectors all converted to LEDs. The 10 billion kWh of electricity conserved would be equivalent to 24% of the 41.6 billion kWh electricity generated by the country’s three nuclear power plants in 2013. Pragmatically, it is impossible for all lighting in Taiwan to be retrofitted with LEDs at the moment. However, solely increasing the proportion of LED lighting could diminish the country’s reliance on nuclear energy.

A company employee introduces a LED light during a building materials fair at the World trade Center in Taipei on November 16, 2012. (AFP PHOTO/ Sam Yeh)

The most common luminaires found in Taiwan’s lighting market include conventional incandescent bulbs, halogen lamps, high pressure sodium lights and metal halides. In recent years, LED technology has taken off resulting in maturing product quality and prices. LED components especially have reached luminous efficacy of 130 to 140 lm/W, while LED luminaires have reached above 100 lm/W. If more energy efficient LED luminaires are applied in residential, industrial, commercial and public lighting (including landscape lighting and streetlights), the energy benefits could create a healthier energy structure. TrendForce projects global LED bulb demands will increase 86% YoY in 2014, while LED tube light demands growth rates are expected to reach 89%.

A policeman stands guard at the island's third nuclear power plant during a safety drill in the southern Pingtung county on September 10, 2013. (AFP PHOTO/ Sam Yeh)

In terms of energy structure, Taiwan’s nuclear plants are still base power plants, while solar energy remains as a peaker because of technical and environmental limitations. Photovoltaics (PV) can only become a load following power plant in countries with mature application environments. At current stage, it is still difficult for PV to replace nuclear energy. The Taiwan market is currently focused on whether power plants reserve capacity and nuclear energy ratio is too high.

In reality, Taiwan’s renewable energy including solar and wind energy can only be used as backup energy or share some loading from current power plants. However, the country’s green energy industry investments and developments should still be encouraged. For future energy options, Taiwan should pay more attention to biofuel, geothermal energy and other renewable energies.

Taiwan still has a long way to go before PV can replace nuclear energy. This photo depicts solar panels installed on the roof of the Future Pavilion at the Taipei International Flora Exposition in Taipei during a preview on October 13, 2010. (AFP PHOTO/PATRICK LIN)

Lower overall energy consumption by taking advantage of energy savings from lighting

Taiwan should actively develop LED lighting subsidies and industry promotional projects, said TrendForce. Based on market value calculations, the island country’s LED lighting penetration rate is about 22%, which in the short term should be raised to 50%. Aside from conventional and LED streetlight sectors, international energy saving targets should also be applied in factories, offices, and commercial lighting applications. Only by doing so can Taiwan’s energy saving benefits become truly effective.