Nichia, Everlight, Cree, Osram, Connected Lighting

Nichia and Everlight continue to scrap over intellectual property with the former taking new action, while Cree and Osram make executive appointments and The Connected Lighting Alliance will study commercial indoor SSL.

Nichia and Everlight continue to scrap over intellectual property with the former taking new action, while Cree and Osram make executive appointments and The Connected Lighting Alliance will study commercial indoor SSL.

LED-Intellectual_Property

Nichia has announced new filings with the US District Court in its ongoing LED-centric patent dispute with Everlight Electronics. Cree and Osram have both made changes to their board of directors, and Cree promoted Norbert Hiller and launched a new LED lamp. The Connected Lighting Alliance, comprising some of the industry’s top lighting companies, has announced plans to study the controls situation in the indoor commercial solid-state lighting (SSL) sector.

Nichia and Everlight

Nichia and Everlight have waged an extended intellectual property (IP) battle with Nichia generally claiming Everlight has infringed the former’s patents, and Everlight attacking the validity of Nichia’s patents. In the latest amended complaint filed in US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Nichia asserts that Everlight, subsidiaries Everlight Americas and Zenaro Lighting, and Zenaro distributor Zitroz LLC are infringing four Nichia patents.

The latest action amends a September 11, 2013 filing centered on one specific Nichia US patent — 7,432,589 — and extends the claim to cover patents 7,462,870, 7,521,863, and 8,530,250. The lawsuit (2:13-cv-703) is pending before District Judge J. Rodney Gilstrap and Magistrate Judge Roy M. Payne.

As Nichia acknowledged in its most recent press announcement, the companies have active legal disputes ongoing in several other countries including Japan and Germany. In September, Nichia announced that a German court ruled in its favor in an infringement case. There has still been no word on damages in that action and apparently Everlight is still seeking to have the German court nullify the patent in question.

Everlight has also attacked the validity of a Nichia patent in the US this past March, and prior to that had filed its own patent infringement lawsuit against Nichia.

Cree lamp and exec moves

Moving to some product news and executive reshuffling, Cree has added a 75W-equivalent Soft White LED lamp to its A-lamp family. Apparently the design is near identical to the 60W product in terms of the LEDs used, although the drive current has been increased to enable 1100-lm output. The main change in the design is a noticeably bulkier and heavier heat sink to keep the LEDs cool at the elevated current. We have a detailed article on the A-19 SSL retrofit lamp over on our Illumination in Focus website.

Cree also has appointed Norbert Hiller to the position of executive vice president lighting. Hiller has served in a similar role in the company’s LED operation for more than two years. Apparently the move was driven by Cree’s increasing presence in the lighting space as witnessed by the lamp announcement.

“The growth in our LED fixture business combined with the success of the Cree LED bulb has expanded the scale of our lighting business and increased the focus on sales and marketing,” said Cree chairman and CEO Chuck Swoboda. “Norbert brings a unique skill set and track record of success to the next phase of Cree’s growth.”

Cree also announced that Anne Whitaker has been appointed to the company’s Board of Directors. Whitaker is president of Sanofi’s North American Pharmaceuticals operation. Swoboda said, “Anne has proven herself to be a leader throughout her career and her extensive experience in strategic management and organizational development will be a tremendous asset to our company as we continue to carry out our mission to accelerate the adoption of LED lighting.”

Osram executive announcement

Osram is also making changes to its Supervisory Board. Peter Bauer is the new chairman for both Osram Licht AG and Osram GmbH. Bauer had previously been a member of both boards and succeeds Siegfried Russwurm as chairman.

Osram had said back in June that Russwurm would be stepping down, and Bauer is a ready replacement having served as deputy chairman in the past. Bauer had a long career with Siemens and Infineon, and currently works as a management consultant.

The Connected Lighting Alliance

Moving to something of a technology story, The Connected Lighting Alliance has announced that it has formed a study group focused on lighting networks and controls for the commercial space. Previously the industry organization has been focused on the residential sector, having endorsed ZigBee Light Link as the technology of choice.

The action in the commercial sector focused on indoor lighting could have a major business impact because of the companies behind the organization. Founders include GE Lighting, Lutron, Osram, Panasonic, Philips, and Toshiba. If the organization decides to tap a specific technology, the action will carry broad impact.

“After the endorsement of ZigBee Light Link last summer, our members have decided to raise the bar and address the complex solutions required for indoor professional lighting,” said Simon den Uijl, secretary general of The Connected Lighting Alliance. “The benefit of this activity goes beyond stimulating the adoption of wireless lighting solutions and provides the lighting industry with an opportunity to interface with other industry stakeholders, such as building automation companies. We hereby invite any interested company to join the Alliance now and help shape the future of indoor professional lighting.”

Nichia, Everlight, Cree, Osram, Connected Lighting

London makes LED street light plans; US and UK projects

London will get the country’s largest deployment of LED street lights by 2016 aiming for 40% energy savings, while a project in Rhode Island may change the thinking in the US on lighting ownership, and North East Lincolnshire pursues another significant UK project.

The UK’s largest city will also get the country’s largest deployment of LED street lights by 2016 aiming for 40% energy savings, while a project in Rhode Island may change the thinking in the US on lighting ownership, and North East Lincolnshire pursues another significant UK project.

London-makes-LED-street-light-plans

The Transport for London (TfL) transit authority has announced plans in conjunction with the Mayor’s office to upgrade 35,000 streetlights with LED luminaires and to install a networked adaptive control system to monitor and control the streetlight inventory. North East Lincolnshire is also pursuing a solid-state lighting (SSL) project in the UK targeting 16,500 lights. In the US state of Rhode Island, meanwhile, the activity of a small utility district has shown the cost-saving benefits of LED lighting, and the state is planning a program to aggressively push adoption of SSL.

London SSL plans

The London streetlight project will support Mayor Boris Johnson’s target goals of reaching a 60% reduction in carbon emissions by 2025. “With tens of thousands of lights marking the way on our road network it makes complete sense to focus energy and resources on bringing them up to 21st century standards,” said Johnson. “This is the largest investment to modernize streetlighting on major roads in our capital’s history and will not only cut carbon emissions and save money but it will also lead to even better and safer roads for Londoners.”

The TfL authority has a total inventory of 52,000 lights on the TfL Road Network (TLRN). The plan is to ultimately upgrade all of the lighting over ten years, but the first phase will focus on 35,000 lights that will be replaced by 2016 either as part of normal TfL maintenance or as targeted retrofits that can deliver the most savings. The first phase is projected to reduce emissions by 9700 metric tons annually while saving TfL GBP 1.85 million (about $3 million) — a 40% savings. The initial phase will cost GBP 10.9 million so payback will take a few years.

The savings will be extended in terms of both maintenance costs and maximum energy efficiency by a lighting network with controls and what TfL terms a Central Management System (CMS). TfL will use the system to set light levels to the minimum safe levels based on traffic and pedestrian activity, and to automatically detect required maintenance.

TfL said that it has already awarded a contract to supply the CMS to Harvard Engineering. Moreover, it said that the value of adaptive controls has already been proven out in other UK-based SSL trials. For example, London was one of the cities that took part in the LightSavers consortium trialing LED-based lighting and controls. The TfL also installed LED lighting in the Upper Thames Street tunnel two years back.

Burrillville, Rhode Island

Meanwhile, municipalities large and small continue to pursue SSL streetlight upgrades around the globe. The Pascoag Utility District in Burrillville, Rhode Island, for example, became the first entity in the state to test LEDs on 56 streetlights, according to the Providence Journal. The small project has resulted in a $1710 decrease annually in energy costs and $2535 decrease in maintenance costs.

But the impact of the project could be far greater. In part the success is leading Rhode Island to be the first state to force utilities to allow municipalities to buy energy-efficient streetlights and capitalize on savings. Work in the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission will allow municipalities to get a lower rate for lower-power fixtures, and an even lower rate when adaptive controls are applied. The action could make the state a leader in LED adoption for roadway lighting.

North East Lincolnshire

Back across the pond in the UK, London is far from alone in installing LED lighting. We recently covered a project in Bath involving LEDs installed on the A4 roadway. Moreover, the Yorkshire Post recently reported that the North East Lincolnshire Council was launching a project involving 16,500 streetlights.

The upfront cost of the project will be GBP 8.2 million that will be spent over the next two years. But the Council pointed to a combination of energy savings, safer roads, and reduced light pollution as justification for the expense.

London makes LED street light plans; US and UK projects

Osram Joins Cree and Philips Lumileds in "Hot-Binning" with Oslon Square

Osram has started hot binning the Oslon Square which reportedly withstands high ambient temperatures particularly well. Osram notes that to ensure that the colors of several LEDs in a luminaire remain uniform even at higher temperatures. They are measured and binned at 85 degrees Celsius (°C), a ...

Osram has started hot binning the Oslon Square which reportedly withstands high ambient temperatures particularly well. Osram notes that to ensure that the colors of several LEDs in a luminaire remain uniform even at higher temperatures. They are measured and binned at 85 degrees Celsius (°C), a temperature that comes very close to that encountered in lighting applications within buildings, in everything from spotlights to retrofit light sources. For this reason, Osram contends that measuring and binning at operating temperatures of 85° C is of great significance to customers who further process the light-emitting diodes into luminaires. According to Osram, its OEM customers receive precise information on parameters such as luminous flux or color stability, which they need to optimally define the properties of their products. Osram says it has optimized the heat dissipation of the Oslon Square to allow an increase in the junction temperature.

“With our new conversion technology, we can produce significantly thinner converter layers. The thinner layers better dissipate the heat, thus enabling the higher temperatures in the LED,” says Ivar Tangring, SSL Product Development at Osram Opto Semiconductors. Osram claims that with this heat dissipating structure, Oslon Square can reach a lifetime of considerably more than 50,000 hours even at high temperatures of up to 135° C in the LED.

In addition to longer life, Osram says that the improved temperature behavior leads to higher luminous efficacy in the application. “This luminous efficacy, meaning the ratio of luminous flux to applied electrical power, helps our customers to significantly optimize the price/performance ratio of their luminaire solutions,” Tangring emphasizes. Also, thanks to the higher permitted junction temperatures, fewer large heat sinks are required, the company pointed out

The Oslon Square comes in a color temperature ranging between 2,400 (warm white) and 5,000 Kelvin (cool white). The color rendering index of the LED is over 80 and the luminous flux is an impressive 202 lumens (lm) at 3000K operating at 700mA. This translates to about 100 lm/W at 2.9 V. Currently, Osram says that the new LED is undergoing extensive quality testing including the certification process under the LM-80 long lifetime standard. The results of the 3,000 hour test are expected at the end of the year, those of the 6,000 hour test in spring 2014.

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LED hot binning

the-xlamp-mt-g-shown-here-was-the-first-LED-to-be-binned-hot-at-85c

As the name implies, hot binning is binning the LED lamps at a higher temperature than the conventional 25°C. The LED manufacturers who have decided to launch new products binned at an elevated temperature have converged on 85°C as the new conventional binning temperature. Though 85°C, like 25°C before it, is somewhat arbitrary, it has one major advantage it is a lot closer to the typical operating temperature of many solid-state lighting luminaires than 25°C.

Binning at 85°C makes the initial part of the design process slightly easier and more intuitive. For example, if a designer were working on an LED system that needed 1,000 lumens at an 85°C temperature, then he or she could simply select 10 LED lamps with a luminous flux of 100 lumens per LED, binned at 85°C. Thus, hot binning makes it easy to estimate the performance of these LED lamps in this real-world situation. On the other hand, if the LEDs were binned at 25°C, the same 10 LED lamps would need to be binned at 114 lumens each and de-rated per the LEDs mathematical framework (Fig. 3) to arrive at the same 1,000 lumen goal at the system level.

So, the good news is binning at 85°C makes the first-pass math more intuitive. The bad news is you still have to do the same math if your system runs or ever runs at any temperature other than 85°C. Examples of this would be outdoor luminaires (60° to 65°C is much more common) or freezer cases (20° to 25°C is typical) or downlights in insulated ceilings or almost any retrofit bulb (often over 100°C). In each of these cases the value of binning at 85°C is lost and the designer is back to doing the same math from a new mathematical framework where, arbitrarily, 85°C is now set to equal 100%.

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OSLON Square LED

oslon-square–white-2nd-gen

Features

• Different luminous flux packages from one package family


• High luminous efficacy at high currents


• Superior corrosion robustness


• Binned at 85 °C


• 135 °C Tj max., 1.8 A If max.


• Package: SMT ceramic package with silicone resin and silicone lens


• Full CCT range available: 2400 K – 5000 K (warm and neutral white)


• CRI: min. 80 (typ. 82)


• Viewing angle at 50 % IV: 120°


• Luminous Flux: typ. 202 lm @ 3000 K, 85 °C


• Luminous efficacy: typ. 100 lm/W @ 3000 K, 85 °C


• Lumen Maintenance: Test results according to IESNA LM-80 available

Osram Joins Cree and Philips Lumileds in "Hot-Binning" with Oslon Square

AOP Lights Up Songshan Cultural & Creative Park

AOP provides luminaires and corresponding control system while the lighting designers choose HP Linear light with a fixed color temperature (4000K) for the façade. IP68 dustproof and waterproof lighting fixtures are installed on observation windows on each floor to wash the façade of the b...

The Songshan Tabacco Factory, situated in Taipei City for almost 80 years, was built during the period of Japanese occupation in Taiwan to produce and process tobacco in order to provide a better income for the Japanese government. It stopped its tobacco industry in 1998 and was nominated as a municipal historical site in 2001. In recent years, the Factory has been transformed into a park for cultural, art and creative activities. Alliance Optotek Corporation (AOP) was commissioned to give it a new face by illuminating it in a culturally creative way.

aop-lights-up-songshan-cultural-creative-park

Located in the center of Taipei City, the Shongshan Tobacco Factory is built with a spacious hinterland. The well preserved complex courtyards illustrate the architectural style and excellent craftsmanship dating back to 1937. With the prosperous increase of Taiwan’s cultural and creative industry in recent years, a great number of designers and artists are eagerly seeking for a foundation to present their creativity to the public. The conversion of the historical Songshan Tobacco Factoryinto the Songshan Cultural Park now provides a perfect platform for cultural exhibitions and events.

There is only one new building in the park– Eslite Songshan Tobacco Factory Store which started operation in July, 2013. It offers a brand new comfortable commercial space for both domestic and offshore renowned designer brands to reside, becomeing a new landmark building for Taiwan’s cultural and creative industry. The new building is designed by an internationally renowned architect, Toyo Ito. The central designing concept lies in the green balcony which retracts upwards layer by layer. This balcony offers a function of overlooking the surrounding environment of Songshan Tobacco Factory relics, patio and lily ponds. It creates new interactions between the new and old buildings. When it comes to exterior lighting design, it is necessary to figure out some ways that can highlight the features of the building without disturbing the tranquil atmosphere.

AOP is responsible for this project. The company provides luminaires and corresponding control system while the lighting designers choose HP Linear light with a fixed color temperature (4000K) for the façade. IP68 dustproof and waterproof lighting fixtures are installed on observation windows on each floor to wash the façade of the building and present a steady and peaceful look at night. At the same time, such lighting also emphasizes the specific style of the building. For the grid structure on each side, SDC controllers and HP projection lamps of both high and low color temperatures (6000K/3000K) are used to create a dynamic and static performance. These interesting changes between light and shadow present a more vigorous aspect to the building.

The biggest challenge of this project is to satisfy lighting designers’ demand and insistence on light quality, control system, color temperature and so forth. The lighting plan for such a large and continuous scale actually imposes extremely high requirement on product stability and consistency for every single lamp. Alliance Optotek Corporation has already accumulated a relatively solid foundation for this which is the reason why owner of the project selected Alliance Optotek Corporation’s products.

aop-lights-up-songshan-cultural-creative-park-HP-Series

Project Name: Songshan Cultural & Creative Park

Location:

Taipei, Taiwan

Year completed:

2013

Client:

Songshan Cultural & Creative Park

Photography:

AOP

Architect:

Toyo Ito

Product Designer:

AOP

Product Applied:

HP Linear light, IP68, HP projection lamp

Website: http://www.aoptk.com

Related Website: http://www.songshanculturalpark.org/

AOP Lights Up Songshan Cultural & Creative Park

Plessey releases PLW114050 - a brighter new generation of GaN-on-Si mid-power LED

Plessey has announced the PLW114050 mid-power LED family with emitters available over the CCT range from 2700K to 6500K. The new products hit efficacy levels as high as 64 lm/W essentially doubling the performance of Plessey’s first gallium-nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) LEDs shipped in...

The UK-based semiconductor company says that it has doubled efficacy since shipping its first GaN-on-Si LEDs back in April, and that its roadmap includes eclipsing the efficacy advantage currently held by sapphire-based LEDs.

Plessey has announced the PLW114050 mid-power LED family with emitters available over the CCT range from 2700K to 6500K. The new products hit efficacy levels as high as 64 lm/W essentially doubling the performance of Plessey’s first gallium-nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) LEDs shipped in April of this year, and moving the LEDs close to service in general solid-state lighting (SSL) applications.

Plessey-introduce-PLW114050

The new LEDs are part of Plessey’s Magic (Manufactured on GaN-on-Si I/C) portfolio. The company insists that manufacturing LEDs on low-cost, 6-in. Si wafers using depreciated and automated silicon IC fabrication facilities for the back end of the production process will yield lower LED prices. “Our Magic LED products have a cost advantage over comparable sapphire-based LEDs as we use 6-in., high yield, standard, automated silicon manufacturing technology,” said Plessey CTO Keith Strickland.

Still, Plessey has yet to produce an LED with competitive performance specifications. Back at the April 2013 launch of the first-generation LEDs, efficacy topped out at 36 lm/W and maximum flux output was 3 lm. Subsequently, the company launched blue-pump LEDs for remote-phosphor applications in July with increased performance, but those aren’t directly comparable because Plessey didn’t announce a phosphor-converted white LED at the time.

The new white LEDs deliver flux ranging from 7.9–12.3 lm when driven at 60 mA. The typical forward voltage is 3.2V, which yields efficacy ranging from 41–64 lm/W. While doubling performance in just over six months is impressive, the products trail sapphire-based mid-power LEDs significantly. For example, Seoul Semiconductor announced slightly-larger mid-power LEDs back in July that can hit 180 lm/W at 60 mA.

Plessey, however, claims that it will continue to ramp performance and soon match sapphire LEDs. “We have a roadmap that puts Magic ahead of the efficacies achieved by sapphire-based LEDs and, thereby, sets a new milestone in terms of lumen per dollar performance,” said Strickland. “By approaching efficacy parity, we are accelerating the widespread adoption of GaN-on-Si LED-based lighting products.”

For now, the Plessey LEDs will be applicable primarily to decorative lighting, instrument panel backlighting, and signaling. But should Plessey double performance again inside eight months, and ship the products in volume, the SSL world will start to take notice.

About Plessey Semiconductors

Plessey-Logo

Plessey has continually improved the quality of people’s lives for over 50 years. This has been achieved through the development of products using innovative and creative technology from the production of the first televisions for John Logie Baird in 1929 to the High Brigntness LEDs it is bringing to the market today.

Today Plessey are leading experts in the development and manufacture of semiconductor products used in sensing, measurement and control applications. Plessey’s products are found in a wide range of markets including communications, manufacturing, medical, defence and aerospace. Plessey designs products for high performance applications and its range of integrated products includes CMOS image sensors, HBLEDs, Hall Effect devices and its award-winning EPIC electric potential sensors. These products all benefit from Plessey’s high precision, high temperature and radiation tolerant technologies.

Plessey releases PLW114050 - a brighter new generation of GaN-on-Si mid-power LED

Rishang Malaysia to Launch LED Commercial Lightings in Malaysian Market

Rishang LED, manufacturer of LED lighting modules and components, will be launching its wide range of products for the Malaysian market. Marketed through Rishang Malaysia, there will be all types of products that can be used in the commercial lighting sector of the local market segment that will...

Rishang-logo

Rishang LED, manufacturer of LED lighting modules and components, will be launching its wide range of products for the Malaysian market. Marketed through Rishang Malaysia, there will be all types of products that can be used in the commercial lighting sector of the local market segment that will cover commercial and private properties respectively.

Rishang Malaysia is the sole and exclusive distributor for Rishang LED products in Malaysia where the company will be involved in all areas of distribution, marketing, sales and support for the complete product line. This is a significant milestone for Rishang Malaysia which will see the rolling out of all types of commercial lighting modules, LED power supply, components and LED bulbs that are suitable for use in all spaces.

LED or Light-Emitting Diode lights have been one of the fastest growing technologies in the world especially through its known benefits which offer better cost savings in utility bills like electricity. Apart from that, LED lights can operate for a longer time up to 7 times more than conventional lighting. By emitting lesser heat, LED lights help the premise owners to depend less on cooling units like air-conditioning systems which will in the long-run provide more savings and making them the ideal replacement for conventional light bulbs.

To launch the campaign, Rishang Malaysia will be bringing in popular modules like LED modules and LED strips for lightboxes and signages in Malaysia. In offering affordable options in this area, business owners who are using lightboxes and signages in their premises have a more economical and beneficial option. Rishang LEDs have been used in many businesses to replace fluorescent bulbs for signage purposes. The brand is currently being used by large corporations and organisations like AIA and the Pavilion Shopping Center in Kuala Lumpur. Apart from that, Rishang LED products are used in retail and convenience stores like 7-Eleven and many others.

Rishang Malaysia will be offering a wide range of LED bulbs in Malaysia which can be used in all types of environments. This product is highly energy-efficient and cost-effective which can be used for lighting, illumination, decoration and any other purposes required. The LED bulbs can be used for spotlights, wall-washers and in display cabinets as well as for customized purposes like garden and outdoor lighting in which the bulbs can be mounted into waterproof enclosures to withstand any type of extreme weather conditions.

Another popular product that business owners can consider through the launch is to replace the current fluorescent lights with Rishang Malaysia’s T5 and T8 LED tubes. These tubes are among the most commonly used and installed in many spaces where the dimension and length are identical. With minor adjustments, business operators can now enjoy up to 50% in electricity savings per month which would be highly advantageous in the long term.

Customers of Rishang Malaysia will enjoy technical support and customer service in terms of installation and on design. Pricing of the products are very competitive and based on the current market rate where bulk purchases will enjoy additional discounts. All Rishang LED products come with 5-years warranty with 1-to-1 exchange against manufacturer’s defects with no questions asked.

As part of this launch, Rishang Malaysia is inviting LED distributors from all regions around Malaysia to apply for exclusive distribution privileges. Entry into this market requires very low capital where Rishang Malaysia will be offering support in all areas. This includes providing the appointed distributor with a website for better online presence and e-commerce facilities for ordering of stock and other services. From there, Rishang Malaysia will facilitate all orders and make arrangements like logistics, delivery and technical support. Meanwhile, Rishang Malaysia will be responsible in the support of the distributor’s network through a well-planned and run advertising and promotions campaign throughout the year to ensure business growth for the partners.

On top of that, Rishang Malaysia is partnering with the Malaysian Advertisers’ Association through a collaborative programme which will be venturing into a major campaign to improve the Association’s services to its members. Rishang Malaysia will work with all parties involved to assist the Association in becoming more relevant and to play a more integral role for the enhancement and strengthening of the Malaysian advertising industry.

About Rishang

Rishang Malaysia to Launch LED Commercial Lightings in Malaysian Market

10W Blue LED emitter - US$ 8.99

10W Blue LED emitter
Products Model: BY-HP10WBL-R
Key Specs: 10W, High Power LED, Emitted Color Blue 460 ~ 470nm, IF 1000mA ~ 1500mA , VF 9-11 Vdc, Viewing Angle: 110 Degrees, Rectangular shape
Wholesale Price: US$ 8.99, MOQ: 1 PCS
Free Shipping from China
Buy 10W Blue LED emitter on...

10W Blue LED emitter
Products Model: BY-HP10WBL-R
Key Specs: 10W, High Power LED, Emitted Color Blue 460 ~ 470nm, IF 1000mA ~ 1500mA , VF 9-11 Vdc, Viewing Angle: 110 Degrees, Rectangular shape
Wholesale Price: US$ 8.99, MOQ: 1 PCS
Free Shipping from China

Buy 10W Blue LED emitter on TopLEDlight.com

Product Description

10w-blue-LED-emitter

Specification

• Emitted Color : Blue


• Wavelength: 460 ~ 470nm


• Intensity Luminous (Iv): 450 ~ 600LM


• DC Forward Voltage (VF): 9.0 ~ 11.0 Vdc


• DC Forward Current (IF): 1000mA ~ 1500mA


• Viewing Angle: 110 Degrees

Packing List

• 1 x 10W Blue LED emitter

10W Blue LED emitter - US$ 8.99