The LED lighting phenomenon we have been anticipating is now here. While LEDs, otherwise known as light-emitting diodes, are commonly found as indicator lights on cars and electronic devices, they are now available as an everyday lighting option for your home.

As LEDs significantly reduce energy consumption, this lighting solution is beneficial for home applications that require illumination for several hours a day or places where the lights are frequently turned on and off. The challenge of changing hard to reach light bulbs such as in recessed pot lights and track lighting, can also easily be solved by using LED light bulbs. Kristine Fisher, marketing manager for Philips Lighting indicates, “LEDs are excellent for accent lighting and we have just recently introduced GU10 and MR16 spot lights in both cool and warm white to the market”.

LED lighting is more than just a light bulb, it’s a technology. Outperforming standard lighting by lasting up to 80% longer, LEDs produce more light per watt of electricity and significantly reduce energy consumption. Philips, known for its innovative lighting technologies, has mini reflectors that use only 4 watts of electricity while providing a high quality light output.

When considering the benefits of installing LED lighting, the energy savings and length of life far surpass standard lighting sources, not to mention you will have the coolest new lighting technology in your home.

Kim Lighting’s LED Lightvault and Minivault lines assure rugged, high endurance performance for decades. Both series combine efficiency with the power to illuminate monuments, trees and other architectural elements as well as traditional sources. Perhaps their most innovative feature is their low-heat output that brings an element of safety, enabling their use in areas accessible to pedestrians. Like Kim’s other Lightvault luminaires, these two new series are designed to withstand the most abusive environments of all lighting systems, having to continually resist moisture, fertilizers, flooding, debris, vandalism and UV rays from the sun.

“Our Lightvault and Minivault series both integrate the latest LED technologies with durable and intelligent design to create products that perform under the most extreme conditions,” said Bill Foley, general manager of Kim Lighting. “Once again, we are bringing new LED products to market that maintain our high standard of quality and performance.”

Kim Lighting’s Lightvault LED Series brings consistency and reliability to in-grade fixtures, which is important due to the product’s inherent inaccessibility and often high-profile placement. Key features of the line include:

--  Two distinct distribution, spot or narrow flood.
--  Low heat output.
--  Natural bronze or brushed stainless steel lens rings with eight
captive 5/16" stainless steel hex-socket cap screws.
--  18W LED super bright white technology.
--  50,000+ hours lamp life.
--  Tempered clear soda lime lens, 3/6" thick, flush with lens ring,
slightly crowned.
--  Lens gasket made from one-piece molded silicone with U-channel, wraps
completely around lens flange.
--  Composite housing made from high temperature compression molded
fiberglass.
--  Anti-siphon barrier on wiring to and from splice compartment.

The Minivault LED Series is the perfect solution for accenting small elements or for larger vertical surfaces. Key features of the line include:

--  Three distribution choices offering spot, narrow flood or wide flood.
--  Low heat output.
--  Natural bronze or brushed stainless steel lens rings with five captive
5/16" stainless steel hex-socket cap screws.
--  5W, 6W or 15W modules.
--  50,000+ hours lamp life.
--  Tempered clear soda lime lens, 3/6" thick, flush with lens ring,
slightly crowned.
--  Lens gasket made from one-piece molded silicone with U-channel, wraps
completely around lens flange.
--  Heavy wall die-cast brass housing.
--  Anti-siphon barrier on wiring to and from splice compartment.

Kim Lighting is leading the industry in the development of LED products that use the latest technologies and determining standards for the capabilities of LEDs for general outdoor illumination. Kim Lighting continues to work closely with LED manufacturers to design solutions that optimize the performance of new solid state advancements. Kim Lighting’s extensive LED landscape and bollard collections, floodlighting, wall mount and pedestrian scale luminaires are evidence of its commitment to this emerging technology.

Seasonal effect resulted in a low performance for LED industry at the first quarter, including Epistar, Everlight Electronics, and Formosa Epitaxy’s profit after tax at the first quarter has declined compare to the previous quarter.

However, the applications for products expanded and the market is recovering gradually, revenues for the second quarter are expected to grow 10-15% compared to the first quarter, the industry players noted.

LED chipmakers Epistar’s revenues for April of NT$1.06 billion were an historical high, and its order volume for May has surpassed NT$1.1 billion. Market observers estimates that the company’s second quarter revenues will approach NT$3.2 billion, with gross profit margins perhaps rebounding to 25%, up from 21% in the first quarter.

Formosa Epitaxy’s revenues for April reached NT$161.9 million, and the company has added two new equipment units to expand its capacity in the second quarter. The company expects to grow its revenues for May and June, while gross profit margins are expects to surpass 30%, up from 28% in the first quarter.

Formosa also plans to increase its MOVCD equipment from 18 machines to 35 machines, and its overall monthly capacity will increase from the current 25,000 epitaxial wafers and 330 million chips to 48,000 epitaxial wafers and 700 million chips.

LED packaging company Ledtech’s April revenues were up 42.3% sequentially to NT$100 million and its profit before tax hit NT$15 million for the month. The company’s shipment proportion coming from its LED business has increased, and new orders from Pepsi will commence this quarter, which should help the company’s second quarter revenues continue growing.

The Chinese-language Commercial Times previously reported that Ledtech had received orders for LED light bars from Pepsi.

Light emitting diodes, or LEDs, are widely used today in a variety of devices – they are often integrated in remote controls and toys, and are commonly used for street and traffic lighting. However, so far, LEDs have not become popular in the mainstream consumer market, probably because LED light sources emit strange ‘disturbing’ colors, and because they are significantly more expensive than traditional incandescent light bulbs. LSG says its new LED product line solves both of these issues, delivering a combination of high energy efficiency and light quality in a “cost effective” way.

MR16 - energy-efficient LED lamp by Lighting Science

According to the company, the unique design of their products optimizes the lamps’ thermal management, guaranteeing a life cycle of up to 50,000 hours. These lamps are also said to consume 80 percent less energy than common light sources, whilst keeping up the equivalent light output. LSG’s current portfolio consists of six different styles of light bulbs, which come in both cool and warm white, and in narrow and wide beam distributions. “The unrivaled performance of our new LED lamps will significantly reduce lifetime operating costs for customers,” said Govi Rao, Chief Executive Officer of Lighting Science Group. “Our technological leadership allows us to offer the most environmentally friendly solutions without compromising performance.”

The company hopes LED lamps’ reduced energy consumption rates will be the key to their future success. According to a recent research, conducted by “productdose.com”, consumers will be looking at $738.40 less in total spending when converting from standard incandescent lamps to LED-based light bulbs. Another research, reported by the Optoelectronics Industry Development Association, concluded that by the year 2025, “rapid adoption of LEDs in the United States alone can eliminate a cumulative 258 million metric tons of carbon emissions, save $115 billion in total electricity costs, and avoid the construction of 133 new power plants.” Such a scenario is not unlikely, especially since there is increasing pressure to establish legislation that would completely outlaw the use of incandescent bulbs.

R16 - LED light Replaces 40-45 watt standard incandescent and halogen lamps (Credit: Lighting Science)

LSG’s new line is 100 percent recyclable and unlike compact fluorescent bulbs, contains no hazardous materials, such as mercury and lead. The new products, which are offered at prices ranging from $40 to $110, are at the heart of the company’s “EcoAdvantage” Initiative, which encourages customers to “go green all the way” using LED lighting solutions.

Some have criticized LSG, saying the current cost of LED bulbs is still too high to attract the majority of the consumer market, since it is necessary to use more than one LED light source to produce enough light for a single room at home or for an office. However, LSG expects that the prices will drop significantly in the upcoming years, and says it is not worried about the starting costs. The announced range of LSG’s LED light sources is currently showcased at the “Light and Building” Exhibition, taking place in Frankfurt, Germany.

Be sure to check out our coverage of Sony’s “XEL-1” – the first commercial Organic LED TV to go on sale. For more information on LSG’s products, you can go to the company’s official website.

Don’t look now, but the lightbulb illuminating this newspaper is a relic that is likely to fade away over the next dozen years, making way for a brighter future.

A federal energy bill approved in December will require a 70 percent increase in lighting efficiency by 2020, spelling trouble for the inefficient incandescent lightbulb.

The year 2020 is several lightbulb changes away, but Roger Deane is not waiting to tap into the latest in green technology for lighting his Scottsdale home.

An admitted electronics enthusiast, Deane has converted all his interior and exterior lighting to light-emitting diodes, or LED lighting.

“I hate to say it, but it’s as plain as day” that LED lighting is the way to go, Deane said from his home southeast of Lone Mountain and Scottsdale roads.

Compact fluorescent lightbulbs are the rage for reducing energy use with more-efficient lighting.

But LED lighting is touted as more efficient and is a greener option than compact fluorescent bulbs, which have trace amounts of mercury.

Durham, N.C.-based Cree Inc., an LED manufacturer, said its products use 50 percent less energy than compact fluorescent bulbs and 85 percent less than incandescent bulbs.

LED lighting costs and availability are among the hurdles in the consumer market.

A single LED light bulb can cost as much as $100 and they are not readily available in big-box hardware stores, except for things like flashlights and night lights.

Deane spent about $4,000 converting to all LED lights in his home, but that includes specialty lighting far beyond what is found in most homes.

“As more of this type of lighting gets accepted, the price will come down,” Deane said.

Cree has developed a recessed LED-lighting fixture that sells for about $130 and can last up to 25 years.

That LED fixture is a popular alternative to compact fluorescent lights in California, which requires high-efficiency lighting in new homes, said Gary Trott, Cree vice president of market development.

Currently, LED lights account for less than 1 percent of the ambient-lighting market but within the next three years, light-emitting diodes will reach the mass market, Trott said.

“The world of lighting will be completely different five years from now,” he added.

Until then, Deane estimates that LED lights could pay for themselves within five to seven years by lowering energy use.

He figures that he shaved $20 off his monthly electric bill by changing to LED lights outdoors and an unknown amount from his interior LED lights.

However, Deane said his homeowners association objected to the color of his original outdoor LED lights until he switched to a warmer, white color for the lights.

Deane, 57, started in electronics repairing televisions in 1964, but switched to a mail-order computer-supply business in 1987.

He and his wife, Kim, now operate Wired Communications, an Internet-based business that sells cables and parts for computers, home theaters and ham radios.

Deane, whose license plate on his hybrid Toyota reads LEDMAN, is adding LED lights to his electronic catalogue.

That includes flashlights, headlamps and strips of LED lights in an array of colors.

His home highlights the many applications of LED lights.

Deane has LED light strips under his countertops, recessed LED lighting in his kitchen, LED spotlights over his barbecue and an LED spa light.

He also installed small LED lights in drawers and cabinets to make it easier to find items. And a granite bathroom countertop has red and green LED lights shining through embedded quartz.

Deane admits that the LED lighting is not cheap, but he insists that his LED fixtures will pay for themselves in the long run.

“I’m getting close to 60,” he said, “and I’ll bet you that my lights will outlive me.”

Site Lightform Bollard Series features LED versions in 15, 30, 60, or 120 W modules and is offered in 6 different styles. Each fixture has optical module that produces asymmetric light distribution using horizontal lamp and flat tempered glass lens. Series is designed with heavy-wall cast aluminum heads, 1-piece extruded aluminum shafts, and base with concealed bolts threaded into shaft extrusion.

European shares rose on Friday, led by technology stocks, after Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson (ERICb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research) roundly beat expectations with its earnings figures, while the banking sector stabilised.

Ericsson shares rose as much as 27 percent at one point during the day, after the mobile phone network equipment maker’s surprisingly robust first-quarter profits.

Ericsson shares ended up 16.6 percent, helping push the DJ Stoxx index of European technology shares up 3.4 percent, putting it on track for its first monthly gain since September last year.

Beyond techs, financials were the top performing sector, gaining after a couple of weeks in which results at several institutions have not been quite as bad as feared, and a number of banks have taken measures to shore up their balance sheets, giving investors confidence that perhaps the worst of the credit crunch is over.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 1.1 percent at 1,330.84 points, having hit a session peak of 1,336.70 — its highest since late February — which marked a gain of as much as 1.6 percent.

The index has risen nearly 0.4 percent this week, putting it on track for a 5.4 percent gain in April, making this its best monthly performance since October 2003.

But the European equity market is still nearly 20 percent below last year’s highs and has lost 12 percent this year as interbank lending rates stay high and economic data suggests the slowdown in the United States is spreading.

This week in the euro zone, German business sentiment hit its lowest since January 2006, while euro zone manufacturing data came in soft enough to boost expectations for a cut in regional interest rates this year.

The MacBook Air has become the best advertisement for why companies should use LED (light-emitting diode) backlights in notebook screens, and is driving adoption, according to market researcher DisplaySearch.

LED backlights in display screens are an improvement over old CCFL (cold-cathode florescent lamps) technology for several reasons, including a stunning picture due to more vibrant contrasts, better power savings, and they’re easier on the environment because they contain no mercury and last longer.

They also helped make the MacBook Air a marvel of thinness because they take up less space inside a screen. LED backlights are about half as thick as CCFL backlights, according to Luke Yao, an analyst at DisplaySearch.

“The problem with LED backlights is still cost, but prices are coming down,” he said during a conference in Taipei.

The price of an LED backlight is still twice as much as that of CCFL or more. And the screen of a laptop is often its most expensive component, or second only to the microprocessor.

LED costs are falling as makers increase production. The technology is gaining ground in more and more devices, including mobile phones and auto lights, after getting their start in toys, MP3 players and other small displays. As production increases, the cost per unit comes down.

Notebook PCs, desktop monitors and LCD-TVs (liquid crystal display televisions) are the next ground for LEDs to conquer, and DisplaySearch believes the technology will perform well this year. The number of laptops, monitors and LCD-TVs with LED backlights will quadruple to 16.7 million units in 2008 from 4.0 million units last year, the market researcher said.

In laptops alone, LED backlights will increase to 7.2 percent of the entire market in 2008 on screens smaller than 14-inches, from 3.4 percent last year, DisplaySearch said. The MacBook Air carries a 13.3-inch screen.

On laptops with screens 14-inches or larger, LED backlight use will rise to 4.6 percent of the market this year, from just 0.1 percent last year. Next year will be a breakout year for LEDs in this category, as LED backlights go into 19.9 percent of all notebook PCs shipped, a figure that will nearly double to 38.8 percent in 2010.

The MacBook Air didn’t start the trend to using LED backlights, but its stunningly thin design will prompt other companies to put out similar notebooks, Yao said, further spurring the LED industry.

Highway streaming-text messages may not be entertaining, but they’re crucial: “Accident ahead, reduce speed to 20 mph and use alternate Rte. 312 to avoid stalled traffic.”

Many state Departments of Transportation (DOTs) have adopted LED message centers as their preferred highway-traffic management system to inform drivers about current travel conditions. Roadside, LED text messages instantly communicate ongoing, or unsafe, driving conditions and, if necessary, suggest alternate routes.

The sign systems report such roadside incidents as slowdowns, accidents, construction, lane closures, weather concerns, amber alerts and travel-time alerts. Alerts vary from global messages that cover the entire network (amber alerts and posted speed limits) to dedicated messages concerning road incidents along specific routes.

Highway LED electronic systems take many forms. Overhead electronic sign cabinets are suspended on scaffolds across highways. The walk-in sign cabinets allow onsite maintenance without interrupting traffic flow. Signs installed on single-post stanchions supply the same message capabilities as overhead highway signs on arterial, or secondary, roads, which feed traffic to and from major highways. The sign face lifts in sections to provide maintenance access to the interior.

To serve secondary roadsides, LED units can also be towed on mobile trailers to inform travelers about temporary road incidents, such as road construction. Toll-booth signage, which displays collection fees and lane directions, helps manage traffic-funnel locations near bridges and tunnel toll-collection points.

LED message centers have been integrated into highway-traffic management to form a complex, information-gathering network. The Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) program, the U.S. DOT’s initiative to add information technology as a traffic-management component to each state’s transportation infrastructure, helps improve safety and reduces vehicle wear, transportation time and fuel costs.

The U.S. DOT refers to ITS displays as “dynamic message signs” (DMS). State DOTs may describe them as “variable message signs” (VMS) or “changeable message signs” (CMS).

Sign manufacturers who work with DOTs must provide LED sign systems that communicate with the department’s sign-network software program at its command center. The National Transportation Communications for Intelligent Transportation Systems (NTCIP) has issued protocols that define the systems’ interoperability – the manner in which system components work together.

At the Washington state traffic command center, a traffic manager monitors intrastate highway conditions. When roadside accidents affect traffic flow, messages can be posted to the highway region.

The NTCIP protocol establishes a traffic-control standard that allows DOTs to “mix and match” various types of LED sign equipment so they can operate in a common sign network, despite unique manufacturing or operating characteristics.

To understand the roadside-network environment, Georgia’s and Washington’s state DOTs have explained how they maintain and acquire electronic signage to manage traffic. Also, several LED sign manufacturers, who supply VMS signage to the state DOTs, have mapped out their VMS network.

Georgia’s CMS network

The Georgia DOT maintains one of the nation’s oldest and most comprehensive ITS installations. Monica Luck, its public-relations spokesperson, said traffic significantly increased statewide in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta compounded the situation.

By turning to an electronic traffic-management system, the DOT quickly solved how overcrowded state and local roads could safely handle Olympic visitors, plus local residents, through the metro Atlanta area.

The ITS system included television monitors of highway traffic; onsite observers, who dealt with incident management and motorist assistance; ramp meters and weather monitoring.

Overhead VMS signs help coordinate traffic flow when highway conditions change.

The DOT’s NaviGAtor website provided real-time local and regional, 24/7 traffic information. The LED message centers, which Georgia refers to as CMS, synthesized the information to alert drivers about travel incidents and, if they were serious, suggested alternate routes.

Since its Olympic success, Georgia has installed approximately 97 permanent CMS units throughout the state, Luck said.

“As our metro-Atlanta population has grown [100,000 new residents are added yearly], we can accommodate expanding traffic, not by building more roads, but by improving our ability to manage existing roads with better, information-deployment systems. Our goal is to place individual CMS, LED sign units where we think they’ll do the most good.”

The metro Atlanta area is the central hub for most Georgia highways. At least two major interstate routes, I-75 and I-85, feed Midwest and Eastern Seaboard traffic through the downtown Atlanta area.

Incidents that occur in nearby states also affect Georgia’s traffic, Luck noted. “Although we’re not directly affected by hurricane weather, we’re affected from a by-product of that weather. Many evacuees from the Florida Panhandle come here when displaced by a hurricane. To deal with that, we’ve placed CMS units in southeast and southwest Georgia to provide Floridian evacuees up-to-date traffic and evacuation information as they travel north towards through Georgia,” Luck said.

Washington state’s VMS

Washington state’s DOT operations engineer Bill Legg said his state began retrofitting existing sign cabinets in 1992 by replacing sign faces with early-model LED electronic signs.

Asked if the state’s roadside electronic signage is enough, Legg replied, “We find that ‘enough’ is a tricky word. How we place our VMS network is defined, in some instances, by how traffic activity rearranges itself [new travel patterns]; by road conditions, such as construction; or by location, like mountain passes, where weather can go through very quick extreme changes.”

Legg said the state’s electronic sign system proves its effectiveness. “When we post travel-time alerts or amber alerts,” Legg said, “we get many responses, so we know that people are paying attention.”

For new orders, the state specifies the types of signs it needs and defines the required performance capabilities and operability to work with its existing, central-control system. The state then allows the appropriate LED sign manufacturers to bid on the project.

Legg said, “We select a vendor, and, having done that, any one of Washington’s six operational regions that needs to add new VMS units can buy off the selected vendor list to fulfill its specific VMS needs.”

Daktronics

Daktronics Inc. (Brookings, SD), an LED sign manufacturer that offers commercial and sports LED-sign product lines, has provided LED signs to the DOT community since 1988.

Its family of ITS-based, LED sign systems, called Vanguard variable-message signs, includes overhead, walk-in sign cabinets; arterial, secondary-roadside signs; and a mobile trailer for road-construction and lane-closure alerts. The Vanguard signs deliver full-matrix and full-color capabilities, which enable such graphics and symbols as merging, traffic-lane symbols or the disability graphic (a blue background with a white wheelchair symbol).

In a secondary, traffic-management situation, Daktronics also offers toll-booth, lane-control signage and parking-lot price and lot-status indicator signage.

In conjunction with its Vanguard line, Daktronics also offers DOTs an NTCIP-compliant, software-management system that controls VMS signage that’s within a state-highway system. The software’s message-scheduling function allows traffic-management users to edit and change sign messages in real time, and it provides self-diagnostics of the entire LED sign network. It monitors and simultaneously interfaces with various roadside-communication systems, such as telephone, cellular, fiberoptic and radio-communication setups.

Because of a VMS network’s critical importance to highway safety, LED outdoor sign-manufacturing processes must meet more rigorous fabricating demands than typical commercial signs. Tom Becker, Daktronics’ ITS market manager, noted a few of the robust, DOT requirements for an ITS, NTCIP environment:

• Special welding standards are based on American Welding Standards guidelines.

• Structural standards for wind loading, ice loading and hurricane gust level are more demanding than commercial-level requirements.

• Redundant power-supply support is required.

• A high level of self-diagnostics must exist.

• Performance capabilities must demonstrate interoperability NTCIP compliance.

• The 9,000-nit, sign-brightness level far exceeds typical outdoor, commercial, brightness levels (usually 5,000 nits).

Government bureaucracy often lengthens the acquisition process. Becker said, “In the commercial world, the decisionmaking process moves pretty quickly in regard to sign purchases. In the DOT world, a more bureaucratic acquisition process requires a longer lead time for the DOTs in getting their VMS signs for interstate use.”

Adaptive Micro Systems

Another VMS supplier, Adaptive Micro Systems Inc. (Milwaukee), designs, develops and fabricates indoor and outdoor LED signs. Adaptive’s vice president, Ron Levac, said transportation became one of the company’s market applications when “we saw that outdoor LED signs were the perfect technology for the DOT’s ITS market, in terms of replacing the older, electro-mechanical, flip-disk technology.”

The company introduced its AlphaXpress signs as a highway sign system to DOTs nationwide. The VMS sign line includes overhead, walk-in cabinets and the smaller, arterial roadside signs.

Adaptive applies the DOT’s stringent manufacturing and operating standards — redundant power supplies, pixel-failure diagnostics and a ventilation system that manages the sign’s ambient operating temperatures – to its VMS-manufactured signage. NTCIP compliance allows AlphaXpress signage to fit within all DOT interoperability standards. AlphaXpress has been sold to most DOTs nationwide.

At the 2006 ITS America (sponsored by the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, Washington, DC), the company introduced a unique browser interface that allows service personnel to diagnose and service a VMS with any browser-enabled device.

Adaptive Micro Systems’ (Milwaukee) AlphaXpress sign was installed along a new highway route.

Dashboard signage?

VMS’ potential traffic-management effectiveness will be enhanced by once and future technology. Most electronic signs are networked via landlines, but wireless may become the new connectivity standard between LED signs and the various DOT traffic-command centers. Additional color and graphic capabilities will enhance driver/traffic-management communications.

After some crystal-ball gazing, Washington state’s Legg noted that vehicles already feature electronic-navigation systems that provide on-board maps, but, in the future, he predicts vehicles’ dedicated display panels will pick up electronic ITS sign messages and replay them on the dashboard. This wouldn’t replace LED highway signage, but “CMS” may change its meaning from “changeable message systems” to “car message systems.”