By Brian Owen
Welcome to day two (Thursday, May 10) of Lightfair and the daily tED report from the trade show floor. Yesterday, the floor opened sharp at 10:00 am. to an eager group ready to walk the hall through close to 500 exhibitors in North America’s largest LED and lighting show. This “mall” of multiple choices in lighting can be overwhelming at times, but with proper guidance and planning, attendees can make it through. A blend of product and education from the LIGHFAIR sessions will greatly assist attendees in knowing what to look for and look out for! Education in selection and specification is key and you can refer back to those important caveats stated by Dr. Jack Curran in yesterday’s report.
In today’s news from the show:
Consortium for Solar Lighting (CSL) has announced formation and includes exhibiting founders Carmanah Technologies Corporation, Sharp Manufacturing Company of America, Sol, Inc. and SolarOne Solutions, Inc. More than sixty solar lighting manufacturers, researchers, educators and related businesses worldwide have expressed interest in joining CSL since the group was formed.
Recently the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury proposed a new regulation impacting products that are subject to Department of Energy (DOE) energy conservation standards, especially those being imported into the U.S. Intertek has examined all aspects of the newly proposed regulation and are prepared to help you understand what these energy efficiency requirements mean for you and products. A repeat of their free live webcast yesterday will take place next Wednesday, the 16th at noon eastern. They will present an overview of the DOE Announcement of Compliance and Enforcement.
Unlike analog light fixtures, LEDs are semiconductors that emit light. And just like computers, LEDs can communicate information, not just illuminate. Lumenpulse is announcing game-changing technology that will rapidly accelerate the adoption of energy saving LEDs and lighting controls.
Lighting Science Group (LSG) will demonstrate their newest control technology in booth #215. Occupancy detection and sensing is achieved through video technology noting that IR not good in cold weather and lighting is the perfect place to commence that infrastructure. LSG has also launched their RoadMaster LED street light at cost parity with traditional street light technology. “Our new RoadMaster LED street light represents a breakthrough in street light technology,” said Jim Haworth, chairman and chief executive officer. “The pairing of price and performance will save communities and cities around the world significant amounts of money. As a company, we don’t just speak of catalyzing a clean energy future, we lead—and light—the way.”
Topanga is presenting a seminar “Taking Plasma Lighting from Technology to Application” on Friday. Topanga’s VP of engineering, Gregg Hollingsworth will explore the technology advancements behind Advanced Plasma Lighting and explain how it is utilized in applications, including photometrics, fixture thermal management, unique reflector designs and a glimpse of the future for this technology.
The DOE L Prize team reports that the Philips L Prize Winning 60-watt replacement has received Energy Star qualification. It will appear on the Energy Star qualified products listing soon, and Philips will be publicizing this news at LIGHTFAIR. Great news, because now this product can be deployed into rebate programs in the U.S. and Canada.
We are eagerly awaiting the results from this morning’s Next Generation Luminaires (NGL) Solid-State (SSL) Lighting Design Competition competition, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the IES and the IALD. Here is a “scoop” received at this moment as I am writing. Albeo Technologies LED High Bay Light Fixture won a Best in Class 2012 Next Generation Luminaries Award. The NGL Solid State Lighting Design Competition has named the Albeo Technologies H-Series its Best in Class High Bay in the indoor category. As a reward of excellence, the NGL Award supports lighting designers and specifiers to easily select the industry’s best lighting solutions. The Albeo H-Series LED High Bay was honored for its modular design that provides an industry leading lumen range of 5,840 to 82,893, and the capacity to replace the majority of fluorescent and HID high bay lighting products currently on the market.
“The NGL competition is highly respected throughout our industry and the accolade Best in Class is truly an honor”, said Jeff Bisberg, Co-Founder and CEO of Albeo Technologies. Albeo’s engineering team deserves much of the recognition. “Everything in the H-Series was designed in-house including the optics, LED boards, control circuit, and thermal housing, allowing us to give our customers maximum energy savings with minimum maintenance at the best price.”
Launched in 2008, the NGL awards are geared towards recognizing and promoting excellence in the design of energy-efficient LED luminaires for general illumination in commercial lighting applications. In the indoor category, a total of 187 products were submitted, of which only 114 products reached the judging phase. From that pool, 53 products were recognized worthy of specification and three were honored with the distinction of Best in Class.
“This is not just a beauty contest, the winners also have to perform well,” said DOE Solid-State Lighting Program Manager Jim Brodrick.
The NGL Best in Class award is the third award the H-Series has won since its release in the fall of 2011. In total, Albeo Technologies has won 15 awards since its founding in 2006, including five from the U.S. DOE.
The 2012 NGL Outdoor Competition will open soon and will be announced after Lightfair. On the outdoor note, not only can you see outdoor LED products on the trade floor, but being in Vegas, LED is everywhere from the Casino signage to the Fremont Experience canopy screen and now this year, GE reports the installation of more than 41,000 GE Evolve LED streetlights in Las Vegas, which will reduce combined electricity and maintenance expenses to nearly $2.7 million a year. From the GE Lunseon panel in Las Vegas on Wednesday, panelist Tim Miller, global LED fixture product manager, outdoor applications, GE Lighting, commented, “We’re seeing a rapid adoption of LED systems for roadways across the globe. Cities are realizing very real energy and maintenance savings, and if they haven’t already adopted LEDs, many towns are in the process of testing them and researching the possibility of their use.” The Las Vegas street lighting project was opened to public bid in late 2010 and allowed for all types of illumination technologies. GE was selected as one of five finalists to participate in a trial concluding in March 2011. The following month, GE was awarded the contract for an initial 6,600 LED fixtures to replace mercury vapor and high-pressure sodium (HPS) lights on streets throughout the city. Las Vegas will launch the second phase of the project this spring, installing 35,000 additional GE Evolve LED fixtures over the next 12 months. Upon completion, more than 80 percent of Las Vegas’ 50,000 streetlights will be powered by GE fixtures. This will remove more than 12,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the city’s atmosphere annually, equivalent to eliminating the CO2 emissions of more than 2,300 passenger cars or to planting more than 3,200 acres of trees.
On the education beat, from Wednesday, Craig DiLouie and Howard Wolfman, both objective industry experts, outlined what’s new in lamps and ballasts, noting the trends in linear lighting and the growing LED alternative, but with the rare earth materials “crisis” with respect to China having control of the supply. DiLouie and Wolfman highlighted legislation change, the sunset of the T12 to T8 rebates and new DOE ballast rules. The session covered most available technologies and applications and the implications of current and proposed legislation. Lighting controls were also noted as key in achieving mandated requirements.
Lighting controls were also the subject of Michael C. Skurla’s presentation, “An Evolution in Efficiency: The Benefits of Next-Generation Lighting Controls” where he highlighted the history, advancements and progress as outlined in the images.
Here is the Friday schedule:
10:00 a.m.: Department of Energy SSL Program Overview
10:30 a.m.: What You Need to Know About LEDs/SSL Dimming and Flicker
11:00 a.m.: Recent Findings from CALiPER Testing
11:30 a.m.: GATEWAY Demonstrations: What Have We Learned About LED Performance and Cost Effectiveness?
Friday’s line-up of sessions to see include:
8:30 AM – 10:00 AM Seeing Beyond CRI: How to Overcome the Industry’s Color Quality Challenge to Harness the Power of LEDs
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM – L12S31. Taking Plasma Lighting from Technology to Application N113
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM – L12S30. Standards and Programs for the SSL Marketplace N111
10:30 AM – 12:00 PM – L12S29. A Story of Daylighting, PV-Powered LED Lights, & a very large Array
Remember that you have to register separately and in advance.
The floor day goes until 6:00 pm. today but reminder that the trade show floor on Friday, as always, opens earlier at 9:00 am. and closes earlier at 3:00 pm. We will file one more update tomorrow to get you through your final day at Lightfair.
Tagged with Lightfair, tED