LED + SSL

The December issue of designing lighting (dl) magazine has an interesting story about recent research into running infrared (IR) LEDs in reverse polarity to create active cooling. One caveat for this approach to work is that the object to be cooled has to be incredibly close to the IR LED — less than 1 wavelength’s [...]

Quantum-dot LEDs (QD-LEDs) are based on quantum dots (QDs), semiconductor particles just a few nanometers in size. Because of their extremely small size, their behaviour is governed by quantum mechanics. By ‘exciting’ quantum dots with electricity or driving radiation, they can be induced to emit light, the color of which is determined by the size [...]

In February 2022, the US DOE released its 2022 SSL Research & Development Opportunities report. While the report covers many promising directions for SSL R&D, one of the most significant evolutions predicted for LED light sources is the shift from phosphor-converted white LEDs (PC-LED) to color-mixed white LEDs (CM-LED).

The U.S. Department of Energy has released two reports which characterize the current state and viability of commercial ultraviolet (UV) LED products.

David enjoyed a product demo from Cree LED at LightFair. Their booth emphasized their latest color LEDs, as well as their RGBW packages.

Lumenpulse has introduced a new proprietary technology, Opticolor, to its color-changing projector products portfolio. The patent-pending Opticolor technology mixes color at the source, at the LED package level, within the LED optic, allowing for ultra near-field color blending, exceptional quality of light, as well as unrivaled color consistency and uniformity.

A new category of HID replacement lamps has arrived that are definitely not “corn cobs.” Their high lumen output LED filament lamps in traditional HID lamp form factors. I’ve found wattages as high as 42W (LED) that claim to replace up to 175W Metal Halide or HPS system watts (HID lamp + ballast), providing up to 75% energy savings.

Last year, an evaluation report by DNV was published about Massachusetts’ commercial & industrial lighting rebate programs. The report projected some LED adoption rates significantly higher than DOE’s predictions for the US, as a whole.

Arguably, the biggest gap in LED metrics is a product lifetime metric and test procedure. Currently, the industry is rife with fraudulent emitter life claims used as LED system product life claims (lamps, luminaires, and engines).