LED + SSL

The Next Generation Luminaires (NGL) Design Competition recently recognized 57 commercial LED indoor lighting products as part of its sixth annual awards program. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Illuminating Engineering Society and the International Association of Lighting Designers, the NGL competition recognizes excellence in the design of energy-efficient commercial general lighting. In 2013, [...]

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2014 to Isamu Akasaki, Meijo University, Nagoya, Japan and Nagoya University, Japan; Hiroshi Amano, Nagoya University, Japan; and Shuji Nakamura, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA and one of the founders of Soraa, Inc. for “the invention of efficient [...]

When a fluorescent luminaire is upgraded to LED, what happens to its electrical safety certification? It depends on whether the new lighting is an LED luminaire, LED retrofit kit or LED replacement lamp. DOE has some guidance here. UL has some guidance here. Paraphrasing the documents, in a nutshell: All new components should carry proper [...]

Below is a reprint of an article about OLED lighting I contributed to the June issue of TED Magazine: Organic light-emitting diode (OLED) is an exciting novel lighting technology. Popular for small-screen display applications such as cell phones, it’s now rapidly developing as a commercial light source. The OLED source consists of organic (carbon-based) thin [...]

Acuity Brands’ video promoting OLED lighting is an interesting take on the technology that transcends the technical and appreciates the light source as an effective tool for enriching spaces with light.

Republication of Postings from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Solid-State Lighting Program by Jim Brodrick, SSL Program Manager, U.S. Department of Energy PAR38 lamps put in long hours lighting up retail shelves, museum displays, lobbies, and other commercial settings across the country, which presents a prime opportunity to save energy. LED PAR38s, which have [...]

The U.S. Department of Energy’s CALiPER program has released a Snapshot Report on LED outdoor area lighting. Based on LED Lighting Facts data through the second quarter of 2014, the report focuses on outdoor area/roadway luminaires, parking garage luminaires, canopy luminaires, and outdoor directional luminaires. As of July 1, 2014, area/roadway products alone comprised 23% [...]

MIT Technology Review recently published an article about how Lighting and the Internet are merging, and what that means. I found this excerpt to be of particular interest: “Another look at how lighting systems are changing will emerge this November, when a 14-story regional headquarters for Deloitte, nearing completion in Amsterdam, will be festooned with [...]

Don Peifer posed this question in his recent column for LD+A: Does the hype surrounding LEDs match the reality? Or put another way: Is the battle over and have LEDs already won? Read an excerpt here. LightNOW’s take: LEDs are still only a tiny fraction of the total installed base but represent a large and [...]