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Editorial:
Energy Efficiency's Catching On
... As we enter another long hot summer, we're reminded how important it is consider the entire notion of energy efficiency. Most all end products produced by the compound semi (CS) and solid state lighting (SSL) industries are "energy efficient" in some manner. All CS devices are designed as smaller,...
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2012
SSL Summit Series keeps its focus to Smarter, Better Lighting
Launched in 2008, the SSL
Summit has tweaked its mission to facilitate a future of better lighting.
October's New York City meet really hit the target, and we're picking up the
pace for LA/Long Beach April 3-4, 2012. The Summit brings together key lighting
influencers with industry thought leaders, pioneers, and innovators from the
across the solid state lighting eco-system to engage their visions of the future
of lighting.
Quality is the gate, the future is the focus...
Showcase participants and sponsors are vetted to separate
the wheat from the chaff... Look into the series information at www.SSLsummit.com
for the details. Sponsorships and showcase positions are available now, and
event registration will open in early January.
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June 8, 2006...TIR Systems Ltd. of Vancouver, British Columbia Canada, has reportedly inked
a deal with a new strategic development partner, Lucifer Lighting of San Antonio,
Texas. Lucifer Lighting, which focuses on high end residential, corporate, retail,
and restaurant lighting applications, has agreed to develop and market products
based on TIR’s lexel product line. Gilbert Mathews, CEO of Lucifer Lighting
stated, “The lexel provides the ability to independently tune the
color temperature and output of the light that our products are known for. We
view LED technology as evolving and foresee a day when TIR technology will give
us the means to project light in small fixture packages.”
LIGHTimes SecondPage members login for more. Guests can view membership details.
OLED Performance Worth Noting LIGHTimes StaffJune 8, 2006...A recent reported record for OLED efficiency and lifetime is worth noting. Royal
Philips Electronics of Eindhoven in the Netherlands, and Novaled of Dresden,
Germeany, in a joint project have announced what they say is a record for a
white OLED efficiency and lifetimes. The companies said they achieved a 32 lumens/watt
OLED with an estimated lifetime of 20,000 hours. The brightness of the devices
was measured at 1000 cd/m2. The measurement was done in a measurement sphere,
measuring only the forward cone of light without attaching any lens or volume
type luminaire to the device. "This is an important step forward, as it
consistently proves the potential of the OLED technology for lighting applications
and shows continuous strong advancements in the technical development,"
commented Dr. Dietrich Bertram, manager of the OLED development at Philips Lighting.
Royal
Philips Electronics News Release Optek Adds 10-Watt Lednium Product and Increases Assembly CapabilitiesJune 8, 2006...TT Electronics’ Optek Technology (Optek) of Carolton, Texas USA, has
added a 10-Watt version of its Ledmium product line and also enhanced product
assembly capabilities with incorporation of multiple thermally efficient substrates
and special optics in their devices. The company announced the advances at Lightfair
International in Las Vegas, Nevada USA. According to vice president of sales
and marketing at Optek Technology, Alan Bennet, the company’s extensive
manufacturing and test capabilities round out a complete visible LED solution.
The company indicated that its LED devices can be used in automotive interior
and exterior lighting, indoor and outdoor signage and displays, emergency vehicle
lighting, architectural lighting, navigation and bridge lights, and general
lighting applications. Company
News Release
Philips Lumileds’ Luxeon K2 LEDs Win Award at Lightfair InternationalJune 7, 2006...Philips Lumileds’ Luxeon K2 LEDs have won the New Product Showcase Award
at Lightfair International 2006 in Las Vegas, Nevada USA. In the competition
which focused on the most innovative products, a panel of judges consisting
of lighting industry professionals gave the Luxeon K2 the New Product Showcase
award in the specialty lamp category.
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DOE Gives Funding Boost to Five SSL Companies LIGHTimes StaffJune 7, 2006...The United State Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory
has awarded 5 companies funding for solid state lighting projects, according
to an article
in CompoundSemiconductors.net. The funding, which includes a 30 percent cost
share, was awarded to Color Kinetics, Osram Sylvania, General Electric, Eastman
Kodak, and SRI International. The project guidelines for all five companies
include production of field-ready prototypes for a targeted market application
with fully-defined price, efficacy, and other performance characteristics. The
goal of the projects is to get closer to the DOE’s goal of developing
solid-state lighting with a product system efficiency of 50 percent by 2025.
As part of the funding agreement each company must agree to the exceptional
circumstances determination and IP ownership measures outlined in DOE’s
“Exceptional Cercumstances Determination.” issued in June 2005.
(Ref: Coverage).
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Lighthouse Technologies to Introduce R4 LED Display Screen LIGHTimes StaffJune 6, 2006...Lighthouse Technologies is introducing its R4 LED display screen to the United
States at InfoComm 2006 in Orlando, Florida USA, June 7-10. The R4 is designed
to be an exquisite indoor display without the need for noisy fans, compressors,
or ventilators. The company has said that the R4 is its first completely lead
free and ROHS (Restriction on Hazardous Substances) compliant product. The R4
reportedly delivers very high resolution video utilizing the company’s
M4 uniformity control technology and 14 bit processing.
Lighthouse Technologies says that the R4 is ideally suited for television studios,
board and meeting rooms, and houses of worship, corporate lobbies, museums or
anywhere requiring minimal noise. The R4 uses natural convection and added heatsinks
for quiet cooling. The R4 reportedly has a mechanical cabinet system with interlocking
king-pin connectors and an integrated control system. The company says that
design allows quick, trouble-free assembly under challenging set-up conditions,
while still being rugged enough for the demands of rental and staging. "The
R4 complements our existing product line," said Mark Chan, Managing
Director for Lighthouse Technologies Limited. "We are offering our
customers a full range of LED video display screens from large-pixel outdoor
displays to quiet and ultra high resolution indoor LED video display solution."
The screen has a 140 degree wide viewing angle and it supports up to 50 to 60
frames per second. The setup allows multiple panels to be assembled in most
any configuration. Each panel is 0.64 m x 0.48 m (2.1’ x 1.57’)
and weighs 27.5 Kg (60.63 lb).
Lighthouse Technologies’ products have reportedly won an impressive list
of awards including the InfoComm 2005 Best in Show award, the IBC Exhibition
Design Award 2005, the Best New Product Award at the National Association of
Broadcasters 2002 (NAB) show, the Good Buzz award at InfoComm 2004, and the
Technological Achievement Certificate of Merit in the 2003 Hong Kong Awards
for Industry. Lighthouse was also recognized as one of the Fastest Growing Technology
Companies in the 2002 Deloitte Technology Fast 250. Company
News Release IRS Issues Notice Outlining Energy Efficiency Deduction for Commercial Buildings LIGHTimes StaffJune 6, 2006...The United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS--the part of the US government
which collects taxes) has issued an advanced copy of a notice
outlining how commercial building owners and lease holders can qualify for what
they call the energy efficiency deduction. The company that brought this to
our attention, Permlight Products, is the first to announce that its products
comply with the energy savings target outlined for the deductions. Permlight
says that its complete line of Embryton LED luminaires and LED sign products
provide 10 to 15X reduction of energy consumption over neon and a 2X energy
savings over fluorescent recessed can lighting. The deduction comes as part
of the energy policy act of 2005. It allows commercial building owners or lease
holders to deduct up to $1.80 per square foot of floor area for buildings that
achieve a 50 percent energy saving target. Buildings with below the 50 percent
cost reduction threshold can still qualify for a deduction of up to $.60 per
square foot of floor space if they meet a 16 2/3 percent energy savings target.
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Commentary & Perspective...
Energy Efficiency's Catching OnJune 7, 2006...As we enter another long hot summer, we're reminded how important it is consider
the entire notion of energy efficiency. Most all end products produced by the
compound semi (CS) and solid state lighting (SSL) industries are "energy efficient"
in some manner. All CS devices are designed as smaller, faster, increased functionality,
with highly improved power efficiency metrics than what they're replacing. It's
always been that way. As just one sector example, isn't that what the "monolithic"
in microwave components represents? Significantly increased functionality and
efficiency neatly packed into considerably less real estate? And surely our
power amps contribute to energy efficiency.
And now, with the advent of highly commercial solid state, advanced LED technology
rapidly becoming suitable for the full gambit of lighting applications, lighting
systems too are becoming smaller, with increased functionality... and way
better efficiency than the alternatives (i.e. old fashioned lighting). Thanks
to the advancements by all sorts of CS and SSL supply chain contributors, you
can also add "affordability and reliability" to the list of descriptors
as a given CS material system moves out of R&D and onto the manufacturing
floor.
I found the news, (ref: our June
6 coverage) that the USA's Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued a preliminary
online notice outlining
how commercial building owners and lease holders can qualify for what they call
the Energy Efficiency Deduction, to be most refreshing. It underscores just
how much in the forefront our technologies are in contributing to true energy
efficiency.
Energy efficiency is a great area for national governments to serve as catalysts
for increased efficiency in a nation's energy output... at all levels of use.
Mainland China is a known leader in this field, which is a primary reason we're
supporting their upcoming CIF-SSL meet
in July in Shenzhen. Gradually, we're hearing more from other countries also
taking the initiative. In the case of the USA's IRS contribution to the energy
efficiency cause, they call to the building owner's attention that this deduction
can save them serious money. Saving money is the trick to getting any environmental
incentive adopted more rapidly.
According to Permlight Products, Inc., of Tustin, California, which brought
the new IRS initiative to our attention, the deduction comes as part of the
USA's Energy Policy Act of 2005. It allows commercial building owners or lease
holders to deduct up to $1.80 per square foot of floor area for buildings that
achieve a 50% energy saving target. Buildings with below the 50% cost reduction
threshold can still qualify for a deduction of up to $.60 per square foot of
floor space if they meet a 16 2/3% energy savings target. Doing the math, those
square feet can add up. Details are in the notice.
The IRS indicated that the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) will create and maintain
a public list of software that must be used to calculate energy savings for
purposes of providing the certification. The DoE is obviously stepping up its
involvement inn SSL. DoE recently announced
the funding of five additional projects under its SSL product development program.
The recipients are Color Kinetics, OSRAM, Kodak, GE and SRI.
Our thanks to Permlight for not only keeping us informed, but for doing a great
job getting behind such government initiatives. Permlight and all the other
companies such as Color Kinetics, LED Lighting Fixtures, OptoLum, etc.... are doing
the tough job of actually getting the installed base up and running. They're
like the frontline troops carving out a genuine and lucrative industry
for solid state lighting. Other than our CS solar cell sector, I don't recall
seeing nearly as much "energy savings" publicity as potential story
hooks from compound semi companies as there could be. Unfortunately, it's been
that way since the mid-1970s when I started covering advanced semiconductors.
Back a decade or so ago, I was chartered by SEMI to author a newsletter titled
Green Manufacturing. It was incredibly hard to find "news"
not to mention garner decent readership. We dropped the noble experiment. That
doesn't mean companies shouldn't give energy efficiency a try, starting with
ISO certification. But what I'm underscoring is the publicizing of your environmental
contributions. Playing the power savings card from the standpoint of CS industry
news relations would, I think, make timely storylines these days for editors.
Think about what your company or the company you represent is doing to contribute
to true energy efficiency. At one end of the supply chain, companies like ATMI,
Matheson TriGas, Praxair, BOC Edwards, and others, contribute tremendously to
environmentally sensible solutions for handling and treating the raw materials
involved in making compound semiconductors. The end products all the way up
the chain are similarly involved, and now with advanced LEDs as an end product
qualifying as enhancements to overall energy efficiency, it looks to me like a story in the making. For example... an editor could
have all sorts of fun using the news story title: The IRS Supports Solid
State Lighting. (I considered using that as a title for this column, but
I would have had to read the IRS notice carefully... and it's kind of long and
boring).
Seriously... if all the companies in the businesses we champion in these pages
installed energy efficient SSL lighting in their buildings.... and then tackled
installing multijunction CS solar cells for some of the electricity needs...
and made sure all their connectivity was CS-based, heck, we'd not only
be practicing what we preach, we'd up the installed base of our true end products
pretty darn fast. And if you don't have control over those type building decisions...
consider at least using them in your own individual homes. That's what we're
doing. If you have questions about
the solid state lighting and compound semiconductor industries or
have
news or views to share, we want to hear from you! Feel free to contact
us anytime.

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