News

Evident to use unusual LED colors in holiday lights

sarafan — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 07:11:23 +0000

It’s reported that Holiday Creations/Diogen Lighting, Inc. and Evident Technologies, Inc. have signed an exclusive licensing and purchase agreement to enable quantum-dot LEDs to be commercialized in the seasonal “light-strand” market in the US and Canada.

Evident’s technology uses semiconductor nanocrystals, also known as quantum dots, and will provide a range of “never-before-seen colors” in holiday lights sold under the Dotstrand™ brand. Traditional LEDs are energy efficient, but are fundamentally limited to a handful of colors like, red, blue, yellow and green. Phosphors can be used to alter the color, but the color pallet is still limited. Evident says that its quantum dot technology removes these limitations, and enables LEDs to “emit any color, including high quality white light.”

John Hayes, CEO, Holiday Creations/Diogen Lighting, pointed out that as consumers become more aware of the energy savings afforded by LED lights, they are switching from the traditional incandescent lights. The problem with current LEDs is that their color selection is limited. Imagine if you only had five colors to choose from for painting, coloring or decorating. He said, “This new technology gives us a wide range of colors for holiday and decorative lighting. We are excited to be able to offer these colorful new products to our customers for sale in retail stores beginning in 2009."

Clint Ballinger, CEO of Evident Technologies, said "We chose Holiday Creations as our partner for this technology because they are a progressive, forward-thinking, market leader with an established track record. We are eager to see their new line of light-strand products and the Dotstrand™ brand in US and Canadian retail stores."

LightWild Completes LED Lighting Project For Harley-Davidson Museum

sarafan — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:56:41 +0000

Recently, LightWild announced that its Project Engineering Team has completed its LED lighting project for the Harley-Davidson Museum which is located in Milwaukee's Menomonee Valley. The Museum opened to the public July 12, 2008.

Tom Stafford, President of LightWild, pointed out that the lighting system required fifty-five of LightWild's 20 x 20 inch RGB Frosted Tiles recessed in concrete to illuminate the sidewalks, each tile has the ability to be individually controlled using a lighting controller and is capable of having its own color and effects.

The LightWild Tiles are outdoor-rated, in-grade LED luminaires designed to endure traffic weight and weather elements. The LED Tiles are located in Founders Plaza which borders the Menomonee River. The Founders Plaza is a series of five section sidewalks with eleven LightWild Tiles in each section.

"The reason we used LightWild Tiles is because they are absolutely durable for pedestrians to walk on and motorcycles to drive on," says Jill Cody, senior lighting designer on the project with designer Cathy Hall of Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc (HGA). "We also wanted something that would make a significant statement as the project itself is so aesthetically strong that products had to blend into the background and fit with the building design."

About LightWild
LightWild is a Kansas City area architectural LED lighting and control solutions company specified by architects and light designers worldwide. The company's blend of architectural grade fixtures, intelligent lighting controls, SmoothDim(TM) dimming systems, and a full-service project engineering team provides specifiers with Essential Lighting Tools(TM) and services for successful projects every time. LightWild's environmentally friendly accent lighting is used in commercial venues that require LightWild's DesignerBin(TM) binning for broad application white lighting or the attention- getting power of colorful and controlled lighting.

OSRAM Interactive LED Demonstration Wall Debuts at California Lighting and Technology Center

sarafan — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:38:57 +0000

It’s reported that lighting leaders from OSRAM Opto Semiconductors and OSRAM SYLVANIA's LED Systems business units, together with the California Lighting and Technology Center (CLTC) at UC Davis, California, unveiled an interactive LED demonstration wall that offers a tangible look at current and emerging LED lighting products and system solutions. The CLTC supports the adoption of energy-efficient lighting by hosting technology demonstrations, development, outreach and educational activities in partnership with the lighting industry, lighting professionals, and the electric utility community.

The interactive LED display wall at CLTC features discreet LEDs, lighting modules and subsystems from OSRAM and commercialized fixtures from partners such as Journee Lighting. The interactive demonstration, showcased in the main lobby of the CLTC educational facility, will serve to increase awareness of energy efficient LED lighting solutions. In particular, it is intended to address the interests and needs of end users such as corporations looking to re-lamp for greater energy efficiency, legislators and regulatory agencies working to establish new standards for lighting, and lighting designers looking to enhance the overall aesthetics of energy efficient designs.

LEDs are rapidly migrating into the general illumination market as the light source of choice for various applications due to their robust nature, reliability, long life, energy efficiency and low maintenance requirements. LED lighting can provide similar light output to conventional light sources while delivering higher efficiency. LEDs are small, compact light sources, making them scalable for nearly any application design.

OSRAM worked extensively with the CLTC over the course of several months to design the demonstration wall, which offers elements from each stage of the LED lighting process and includes three key elements: First, functional discrete LEDs which showcase core LED technology provided by OSRAM Opto Semiconductors including OSTAR Lighting, Power TOPLED and the bright white DRAGON family of products. Second, LED lighting modules and sub systems such as HF2Stick XB Sx and HF2DISPLAYStick from OSRAM SYLVANIA's LED Systems Group demonstrates high efficacy and high lumen output performances. Third, commercialized fixtures from partners such as Journee include LED track lighting fixtures and LED recessed down lights.

The display also features integrated elements such as a color washed wall, which demonstrates the ability to use light for architectural and aesthetic appeal. Unlike other demonstrations at CLTC, this display is constructed to allow for an ongoing up to date display of technology highlighting the continuing and rapid innovation in the LED lighting space. "Our vision for this wall was to allow for an interactive and live display of what can be done with LED lighting," said Tom Shottes, President and CEO of OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, Inc. "The partnership between OSRAM and CLTC will provide our constituents with access to the most progressive ideas and advanced design approaches in the LED lighting arena."

ABOUT OSRAM SYLVANIA LED SYSTEMS
The OSRAM SYLVANIA's LED Systems Business Unit (LS) integrates and manufactures LED systems for the general lighting market through a global network of research, design and manufacturing teams. The organization also develops new technologies for LED Systems to continually leverage its competitiveness in the industry. The OSRAM's global LS Business Unit consists of three regional business development organizations located in Europe, NAFTA and Asia Pacific.

ABOUT OSRAM SYLVANIA
OSRAM SYLVANIA is a leader in lighting solutions and specialty products that feature innovative design and energy saving technology. The company sells products for homes, businesses and vehicles primarily under the SYLVANIA brand name, and also under the OSRAM brand. Headquartered in Danvers, Mass., OSRAM SYLVANIA is the North American operation of OSRAM GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Siemens AG.

ABOUT CLTC
The California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC), at UC Davis, is a research and education facility that focuses on the application of energy-efficient lighting and daylighting technologies through research, development, demonstration, outreach and education in partnership with utilities, manufacturers, end users, builders, designers, and governmental agencies. CLTC was established through a collaborative effort of the California Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program and the University of California, Davis, with support from the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association to advance energy efficient lighting and daylighting technologies.

SemiLEDs Orders Multiple Lithography Systems form Ultratech for Advanced LED Manufacturing

sarafan — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 03:21:56 +0000

It’s reported that Ultratech, Inc., a leading supplier of lithography and laser-processing systems used to manufacture semiconductor devices, announced it received a multiple-system order from U.S.-based SemiLEDs Corp., a leading supplier of high-brightness, laser-emitting diodes (HBLEDs).

SemiLEDs will use Ultratech's Star 100 lithography tools for its white light, HBLED, high-power, UVC LED and other advanced lighting applications at its manufacturing facility in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Ultratech's advanced lithography expertise is enabling SemiLEDs to grow its position in this burgeoning market as the industry shifts from conventional lithography to projection stepper lithography technology for advanced LED production.

"With improved alignment and resolution of the Star 100 Ultratech stepper system, we will start volume production of our advanced UVA high-power LED product family, with output optical power as high as 350mW per mm2. This new family of UVC high-power LED products will enable new LED applications that could only be dreamed of polymer curing such as inkjet printers, sanitation, semiconductor processes, medical applications such as dental, cancer treatment, tanning, etc. The MvPLED blue product family has seen a 15 percent improvement in performance; the new class of SemiLEDs Solid State Lighting devices (SL-SSL) 120lumens/watt will help accelerate the adoption of solid-state lighting. We selected Ultratech's lithography steppers based on the tools' high reliability and low cost of ownership. In addition to being a leader in advanced lithography solutions, Ultratech combines technology expertise and outstanding customer service to support our LED manufacturing requirements. As a valued partner, Ultratech will continue to play an integral role as advanced LED device volumes grow, and we continue to expand our worldwide leadership position." SemiLEDs Corporation Chairman and CEO Trung Tri Doan explained.

Ultratech Chairman and CEO Arthur W. Zafiropoulo noted "While this multi-system order demonstrates our ability to provide lithography systems that enable greater economic value to emerging markets, it also reinforces Ultratech's focus on energy conservation. Today, lighting utilizes approximately 20 percent of global energy. As a result, the industry is transitioning to HBLEDs, which have a long life and use only a fraction of energy compared to incandescent and fluorescent lighting. With energy conservation driving up demand, HBLED leaders such as SemiLEDs are increasingly turning to stepper-based projection lithography due to its cost and yield advantages. We look forward to furthering our relationship with SemiLEDs and delivering lithography solutions that advance our customers' competitive advantage in this growing market."

The Star 100 lithography system is used by the leading HBLED and laser diode manufacturers and is designed to be easily integrated into a broad range of fabs with varying equipment types and wafer sizes. The tool's resolution, depth of focus, proprietary alignment system, and substrate handling capability combine to provide high productivity, reliability, flexibility, and cost-of-ownership advantages critical for advanced and emerging markets as they move toward high-volume production.

About SemiLEDs
SemiLEDs Corporation is the only mass producer of metal-base LED chips in the world. It designs, develops, manufactures and sells high brightness light emitting diodes (HBLED) using proprietary technologies to enable high-performance, (120lumens/watt) and cost-effective, solid-state lighting solutions; it also manufactures UVA HBLED products (365nm, 395nm, 405nm) at optical power output up to 350mW per mm2. SemiLEDs is a U.S. corporation, with offices in Boise, Idaho and manufacturing operations in Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan.

About Ultratech
Ultratech, Inc. (NasdaqGM: UTEK) designs, manufactures and markets photolithography and laser processing equipment. Founded in 1979, Ultratech is a market leader in gold and solder bump lithography, in addition to being a pioneer of laser processing. Its advanced-packaging lithography systems deliver strong cost-of-ownership, repeatability and throughput advantages, and are widely used worldwide in the fabrication of semiconductors and FPDs. Ultratech's advanced laser processing technology is designed to enhance yields, while enabling a cost-effective transfer to 65-nm and below production, and is being integrated into the manufacturing lines of leading-edge semiconductor manufacturers.

Optek launches LED module strips

sarafan — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 02:44:37 +0000

Recently, Optek Technology has developed a series of LED module strips for signage and channel-letter applications. The LED strips are available in three models: OVM18F4x7 Series 4 and OVM12F3x7 Series 3 LED module strips, and OVQ12S30x7 Series flexible LED light strips Available in red, amber, green, blue and white, the LED strips provide fast response times and low power consumption

According to Alan Bennett, vice president of sales and marketing for Optek Technology, Optek LED light strips provide an operating life that is longer than traditional fluorescent and incandescent light sources. Typical applications for the Optek LED light strip product line include commercial channel lighting for signage applications, media illumination, large-area backlighting, point-of-sale displays, mood-setting decoration, landscape lighting and neon replacement lighting.

The OVM12F3x7 Series 3 LED module strips are comprised of 30 modules per strip in lengths from 3in to over 40ft - the waterproof strips feature a power dissipation of 1.5W, an input voltage of 12V and an operating temperature ranging from -30 to +50C.

OVM18F4x7 Series 4 LED module strips consist of 20 modules per strip in lengths from 3in to over 30ft - the waterproof strips feature a power dissipation of 1.5W, an input voltage of 18V and an operating temperature ranging from -30 to +50C.

OVQ12S30x7 flexible LED light strips comprise 30 high-brightness LEDs per unit in lengths up to 16ft - the red and yellow LED strips feature a power dissipation of 2.7W while the green, blue, white and warm white strips feature a power dissipation of 2.3W, with an input voltage of 12V and operating temperature of -30 to +50C.

Court intervenes in the dispute from LSGC and Philips

sarafan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 06:54:37 +0000

Recently, Lighting Science Group Corporation (LSGC) announced that the Superior Court of California for Sacramento County has issued a preliminary injunction against Philips Solid State Lighting Solutions, Inc., Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. and Philips Electronics North America Corporation(collectively "Philips"), preventing Philips from using or relying on certain confidential or trade secret information obtained from LSGC.

LSGC, a developer and integrator of intelligent LED lighting solutions, has an office in Rancho Cordova that houses designers, engineers and production workers. Based in New York, the company employs 150 worldwide.

In granting a motion for the preliminary injunction sought by Lighting Science Group, the court found that Lighting Science was “likely to prevail on the merits” of its action pending against Philips. Lighting Science alleged, in a complaint filed in March in Sacramento Superior Court that Philips had misappropriated confidential information and engaged in unfair trade practices.

Osram gives up OLED Displays for OLED Based Lighting Solutions

sarafan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 06:12:16 +0000

It’s reported that Osram GmbH will cease production of OLED-based displays and close the related fab in Penang, Malaysia. In the future, the company will focus on lighting solutions, also based on OLED technology.

The Siemens subsidiary will exit the production of based passive matrix LED displays by the OLED-end of the year. Instead, it will concentrate its OLED activities on developing market-ready lighting solutions. An Osram spokesperson explained that they are a lighting company, their market expectations for OLED displays have not materialized.

Under the 'Pictiva' brand name, Osram manufactures passive matrix displays since 2003 and sells them into a broad range of applications including communication systems, industrial and mobile communications devices. However, demand has lagged far behind Osram's expectations. The experience gathered in the display sector will not be lost. "This experience will speed up considerably the development of lighting products and production methods", explained Osram CEO Ruediger Mueller.

It’s disclosed that the company will transfer 270 employees to other activities within Osram Semiconductors including the company's new LED chip fab in Penang. Also the US-based marketing and design activities are affected; the company said it is about to search new jobs for the U.S. team. Two weeks ago, Osram has broken ground for a new LED fab, in Penang which will create about 800 jobs. In addition, the company announced to increase its backend capacity in that region by 50 percent. For the new facilities, Osram has invested a double-digit million euros sum.

The new fab is scheduled to ramp up production in the first quarter of 2009. According to the spokesperson, the Penang production will not go at the expense of the company's production in Regensburg, Germany. In contrast, the company plans to increase its production here as well.

OLED lighting markets to reach US$4.5 B by 2013

sarafan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 05:51:20 +0000

It’s reported that the OLED lighting market will reach almost US$4.5 billion by 2013 and grow to $5.9 billion by 2015. It’s disclosed that in the past year the prospects for OLED lighting have made great leaps forward due to improvements in OLED performance and manufacturing.

According to the OLED lighting report analyzes and forecasts the rapidly emerging market and answers important questions on which segments of the lighting market will see the first penetration of OLED lighting. Flat-panel OLED lighting is likely to emulate FPDs by starting out with products of modest capabilities, and then evolving over time to capture more demanding applications. However, this consensus is not universal.

It’s expected that the OLED backlighting market will reach $1.1 billion by 2015. And while the first OLED lighting panels are quite small, the recent scaling up of factories in Asia to build large OLED displays will certainly benefit the manufacturing infrastructure for OLED lighting and lead to larger panels within a few years. Although OLEDs have an efficiency edge over OLEDs today, that edge may narrow or even disappear. Moreover, point sources of light like OLEDs are not especially effective at delivering area light and typically require additional optics to do the job. OLEDs, in contrast, already have exactly the kind of broad area light that’s needed for backlighting.

The flat and flexible format presented by OLEDs creates an opportunity to design high-value added lighting fixtures with an appeal to upscale consumers and especially architects. During 2008, lighting designer Ingo Maurer introduced the world's first OLED "function table light" and researchers at GE are targeting lighted curtains and lighted wallpaper.

The unit costs of OLED lights are likely to remain higher than older general lighting technologies but the extra costs will be offset by improved OLED lifetimes and efficiencies. During 2008, OLED lifetimes improved from 24 Khrs to 100 Khrs. Meanwhile, the US Department of Energy now expects OLED lighting to reach 150 lm/W efficiency in 2012 rather than 2014 as previously forecast.

Manufacturing processes for OLEDs have also progressed significantly. GE and the Fraunhofer Institute have both demonstrated roll-to-roll manufacturing of OLED lighting which will ultimately lead to significant cost improvements in OLED fabrication. Low cost printing approaches and new small molecule inks will also help propel OLEDs into the backlighting market.

LED Firms Push towards Lighting Focus

sarafan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:46:31 +0000

It’s reported that India's US$1.5 billion lighting industry is growing 15% a year and bringing in new technologies. At the Light India International Exhibition and Conference early in 2008, the focus was on saving energy in lighting and the spotlight was on LEDs.

Indian lighting engineers are excited about the LED opportunity, said HS Mamak, president emeritus, Indian Society of Lighting Engineers. Mamak said: "Because of the pricing problem, the share of LED-based lighting is still very small. However, anticipated potential is tremendous: in five years 4-5% of the lighting market could be LED-based, rising to 10% a few years after. Lighting companies like Philips, GE and Osram, which have a presence in India, see up to 50% of their production LED-based in the next 7-10 years."

Philips, which controls 30% of the local market, is setting up a global lighting electronics R&D center near Delhi. Philips' India CEO, Murali Sivaraman noted that engineers will work on globally defined lighting R&D programs. Philips is investing Rs80-100 million in the center which will function by the year-end.

A nanotechnology research center at Anna University, Chennai, has come up, with Rs75 million in government money, to work mainly on crystal growth and characterization of gallium nitride-based semiconductor nanostructures for LED applications. Materials for white LEDs are a main focus area, and a key department, the Crystal Growth Center (CGC), functions as an inter-university facility for relevant research, besides implementing industrial consultancy work.

According to Dr K Baskar, assistant professor at CGC, thay are taking the aluminum gallium nitride route to push wavelengths into the deep ultra violet region suitable for white LEDs, which has acquired a Rs55 million MOCVD system.

While big Japanese names initially dominated India's LED imports, Chinese and Korean companies have appeared recently. Seoul Semiconductor has sales agents in Mumbai and Delhi, and is technology partner to lighting solutions startup d.light. YS Baik, Seoul Semiconductor's general manager, said, "We don't have specific products for the India market, but are willing to consider a design partner." Small Indian design startups are growing fast to tap the design opportunities. Arrow Asia and Cree Inc conducted seminars on LED lighting to create interest among Indian designers. Baik noted, "The Indian market needs Chinese prices with Japanese quality. Seoul Semiconductor is strong in R&D, and is famous for its LEDs with high luminous efficacy of 100lm/W. Our product Acriche is the world's first AC-driven solid state lighting device, which works at high AC voltages (110V~220V) without secondary components like converters and drivers. It's the most promising device for future LED lighting, as the generally used DC LEDs can sometimes be constrained by the 20,000-hour life span of AC-DC converters."

LED lighting has hitherto failed in India's rural areas because of the US$50 to US$100 price tag. Now, said Gabriel Risk, CTO, d.light, "LED efficiency has improved and prices of LEDs superior to CFLs in luminous efficacy have dropped." d.light's Nova lamp, which sells for US$15 to US$30, has a battery with patented circuitry to protect it from deep discharging and over-charging, and fast-charges under a range of voltage conditions. Alternatively, a portable solar panel fully charges the Nova in 10-12 hours of direct sunlight.

d.light's Comet, described as "The world's most affordable solar light," uses an ultra efficient Seoul Semiconductor LED and sells for US$8 to US$15. "We use the highest efficacy LEDs available, rated 90-100L, for the lowest possible price. The products are contract manufactured in Shenzhen, and lamp designs and charging methods are tweaked to regulate brightness according to end-use and to keep costs low," said Risk.

LAADtech to develop New LED technology for advertisers

sarafan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:00:15 +0000

It’s reported that a new lightweight LED screen developed by UQ Business School's Enterprize business plan competition finalist, LAADtech, proposes to make outdoor advertising more versatile and easier to install.

LAADtech, along with six other outstanding finalists, will compete for the $100,000 prize at the UQ Business School Enterprize Pitch Day on Thursday, October 16 in Brisbane.

LEDs are used extensively as large replay screens at sports stadiums and increasingly for dynamic billboard advertising. However these are often heavy and require specialised structures to support them. LAADtech has developed a lightweight LED technology that allows for a dynamic advertising screen to be fitted to an existing billboard without any additional modifications.

Team leader Peter Inglis said the innovative design of the LAADtech LED screens allowed them to be up to one quarter of the weight of traditional LED screens, making dynamic billboards an affordable option for billboard owners. He indicated that their screens are a maximum of 20mm thick and can be folded up, this means they can retro-fit the screens to existing billboards without any modifications to support the weight. By upgrading an existing static billboard to a dynamic display, owners could increase their advertising revenue by up to seven times.

Peter Inglis stresses that dynamic billboards have the advantage of being able to display more advertising and make it possible to manipulate the display for different times of the day. By winning Enterprize, Mr Inglis said the team would be able to refine the technology used for managing the signs from a remote location. "We want to be able to refine the way that we run the billboards remotely so that someone working in an office could run several billboards," he said.