Market growing for energy-efficient LEDs

While growth rates among applications will vary, the global market for LED luminaires is expected to grow to $8.3 billion by 2014, according to researchers at Strategies Unlimited, Mountain View, Calif.

Several factors are behind that growth. Rapid improvements in performance and price of commercially available high-brightness LED packages, heightened awareness of energy efficiency, phasing out of incandescent bulbs and fiscal stimulus by countries around the world have all combined to create conditions for adoption of white light LED technology that otherwise would have faced the low-volume-high-cost conundrum.

Quality issues that affected the market penetration of previous energy-efficient lighting technologies continue to affect this market, but the resolve to reduce energy consumption is likely to propel this technology to wide commercial adoption.

Being the most efficient light source technology for applications requiring a directional beam of light and batteries, consumer portable applications were the largest segment of the LED luminaire market in 2010. The quality of LEDs has improved to a point that performance is no longer an issue. The issue now is the price of designing LEDs into luminaires.

Color and color-changing application in architectural and entertainment applications together had revenues of more than $1 billion in 2010. Residential lighting, the fastest growing segment of the market, starting from a small base, is forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 44 percent through 2014.

Global revenues for LED luminaires in commercial/industrial applications are expected to hit more than $1 billion in 2011. The outdoor area lighting applications, which benefited from fiscal stimulus and the need for energy conservation, are expected to grow at a 38 percent rate through 2014.

Solar powered lanterns will be a low margin-high volume application assisted by nongovernmental organizations and governments trying to save fuel subsidies. The revenues for this sub-segment are forecast to grow at a rate of 58 percent for the same period. LED exit signs have become a mature market in the U.S. and are in the initial stage of market penetration in white light application in egress signage lighting outside the U.S. China is the largest market as well as the largest supplier of LED luminaires.

SOURCES: pleaseconserve.com

MORE INFORMATION AT: strategies-u

Accidents drastically reduced with solar roadways

Unlike the dark roads we drive on by night today, the Solar Roadways will have LEDs which will "paint" the lanes, and can be instantly customized as needed.

Many people tell us that they, like us, have trouble seeing the road lines at night, particularly when the oncoming headlights are blinding them or when it's raining. With an illuminated highway, accidents will be reduced and nighttime driving will be safer for all.

This picture on the left is an area in England where solar road studs light up the lines on the road at night. A recent study showed that they reduced night time accidents by 70%.

There is no need to expend energy lighting desolate roads when no cars are traveling, so the intelligent roadway will tell the LEDs to light up only when it senses cars on its surface - say 1/2 mile ahead and 1/4 mile behind the vehicle as it travels. This way, drivers will know an oncoming car is ahead when they see the lights on the other side of the road begin to light up ahead.

The LEDs can also be programmed to move along with cars at the speed limit, warning drivers instantly when they are driving too fast. The LEDs will also be used to paint words right into the road, warning drivers of an animal on the road, a detour ahead, an accident, or construction work. Central control stations will be able to instantly customize the lines and words in real time, alleviating traffic congestion and making the roads more efficient as well as safer.

SOURCES: www.solarroadways.com

EARTH HOUR 2011

Earth Hour is a global initiative in partnership with WWF. Individuals, businesses, governments and communities are invited to turn save energy for one hour on Saturday March 26, 2011 at 8:30 PM to show their support for environmentally sustainable action.

This earth hour go beyond the hour. HomeLights invites you to make our earth a better place. Being support of environment protection is more than this 1 hour.

Record communication speeds over ceiling lights

The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute and Siemens achieve transmission speeds of 500 Mbit/s over white LED light

Researchers at Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute in Berlin together with their Siemens colleagues have scored a peak data rate of 500 megabits per second (Mbit/s) using off-the-shelf LED lights. The new benchmark breaks the previous record they held of 200 Mbit/s. Data transport over visible light is a means of transmission that is license-free, and tap-proof and that opens the way for a range of novel applications in the home, industry and transport.

Researchers at Siemens Corporate Technology in Munich and the Heinrich Hertz Institute set the new free space data transmission record for a distance of up to 5 meters using a white light emitting diode from the Siemens subsidiary Osram. Data were directly modulated from the supply current onto the quantity of light emitted by the LED. The Ostar LED used is one of the brightest now on the market and can be modulated so rapidly that a highspeed data transmission rate of 500 Mbit/s can be achieved while the human eye detects no change in the level of brightness. The receiver is a photodetector that transforms light signals into electrical impulses.

Visible Light Communication (VLC) is a medium that holds out the promise of a wide range of applications. In the home it can be a valuable extension to established WLAN technologies as in many buildings wireless networks are increasingly impeded by clogging of the three independent WLAN frequency bands which leads to collisions between data packets. As a license-free and previously unexploited medium, visible light offers a viable alternative. A further key advantage is that VLC also offers tap-proof secure lines as only the receiver located directly in the light cone can receive the transmitted data, thus precluding any “eavesdropping” on the light beam. In factories and medical technology there is a need for data transmission in places where wireless cannot be deployed or only to a limited extent. Yet another area of application is in the transport domain where LED traffic lights and railway signals can relay information to cars and trains.

The researchers also demonstrated that a network of up to five LEDs is capable of achieving data transmission speeds of up to 100 Mbit/s over a longer distance. This is a critical point for practical applications as, for instance, data from ceiling lights can then be sent to a receiver on a desktop no matter where the desk is positioned in the room. Since 2007 the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has been working on standardization of the technology in a procedure scheduled for completion by late 2010.

SOURCE: The Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute

Light Bulb Battle Heats Up and We Should Care Because…?

Statistical evidence of widespread light bulb hoarding has yet to emerge, but the anecdotes make such colorful copy that you would think everyone in the U.S. is rushing out to buy those good old fashioned incandescent light bulbs before they disappear. Seriously, let’s give ourselves a little credit for having some good old fashioned common sense. At least one survey shows that a significant majority of Americans are already trying new energy efficient lighting in advance of the federally mandated incandescent bulb phase-out. There are a couple of obvious reasons – saving money and conserving energy – and there may also be some underlying currents at work, too.

Light Bulbs and Household Hazards

Part of the light bulb ruckus is over the small amounts of mercury used in the new high efficiency compact fluorescent light bulbs. Detergents, cleansers, insecticides, lawn products, paint thinner; bleach, prescription drugs, nail polish, hobby supplies and scores of other household products contain varying amounts of hazardous substances. Most Americans seem perfectly at ease with the idea that some household products contain hazardous substances. In fact, some people passionately cling to their favorite hazardous substance-containing products. http://cleantechnica.com

Light Bulbs and Lifestyle

Compact fluorescent light bulbs are just one energy efficient alternative. Light-emitting diode (LED) technology and halogen technology are others. LEDs in particular are opening up whole new avenues for amateur home decorators and do-it-yourself fans in creative lighting design. We Americans are known as home fixer-uppers, do-it-yourselfers and gadget lovers, which could be another reason why the survey showed such widespread interest. The idea of sticking a high efficiency light bulb in a socket and being reasonably assured that you will never have to change it until you move (the average American moves 11.7 times in a lifetime) is also probably very appealing to most people.

Light Bulbs and People

Speaking of people, what is this thing about people? The new phase-out does not apply to individuals. It applies to companies. It phases in new energy efficiency standards for light bulb manufacturers. U.S. manufacturers had to decide if it was worthwhile to invest in the R&D needed to produce more efficient incandescent bulbs that could be retailed at a reasonable price. None of them were interested. People who really, really care about incandescent light bulbs will find a way to get them for as long as somebody, somewhere, continues to make them. As for the rest of us, most people seem ready to move on.

SOURCES: solarlednews & cleantechnica

Green Mountain Power to help towns pay for energy-efficient streetlights

Green Mountain Power Corp. is teaming with Efficiency Vermont on a program aimed at helping every town in the utility's territory change over to energy-efficient streetlights.

The power company plans to offer financial assistance to towns so they change out their streetlights to light-emitting diode streetlights, or LEDs.

The plan was submitted to the Vermont Public Service Board on Feb. 28, seeking regulators' approval to use $300,000 from Green Mountain Power's efficiency fund. The company also plans to file a new tariff for the LED lights, to lower the cost towns pay for leasing street lights.

SOURCE: THE REPUBLIC

HB-LED manufacturing technology looks on track to meet cost demands of general lighting market

Technical breakthroughs and manufacturing improvements should keep the LED industry on track to improve performance and reduce costs at an appropriate rate, but this is not a done deal.


In the booming HB-LED market, it’s easy to forget that the next wave of growth depends on technology that doesn’t actually exist yet. Development of a volume market for general LED lighting depends on technical breakthroughs and manufacturing improvements that reduce costs per lumen by as much as a 10x, in order to compete with fluorescents. But recent progress suggests the industry looks on track to meet the challenge.

Strong demand for display backlights propelled the HB-LED sector to better than 50% growth in 2010, and 2011 will likely see another 50% jump. Displays should continue to drive double-digit growth through 2013-2014. However, as the displays sector matures, continued growth will be dependent on the quick development of significant demand for general LED lighting by 2015. Based on our assessment of recent progress towards improving performance and reducing costs, we think the industry is on track to achieve this. But it’s not a done deal: there’s a lot more development that needs to happen.

SOURCE: LED Magazine AUTHORS: ERIC VIREY, PHILIPPE ROUSSEL, PAULA DOE and TOM PEARSALL