Editors' Notes

Will new sockets for LED non-retrofit lights emerge? What do you think?

Kevin Willmorth, founder of Lumenique, started an interesting project. He will design 52 new SSL products in 52 weeks for 2010.

Kevin writes in his blog:


The first weeks design is already complete and posted with details here.

Specifications
24"L x 20"H x 6"W. Utilizes Lynk Labs 12VAC Tesla LEDs on 12" 12W SnapBrite strip with SnapDriver power supply. The reflector/heat sink extrusion was also provided by Lynk Labs. Custom on-off switch. Black wrinkle body, tumbled aluminum with clear coat, and matte white finishes. All finishes are powder coat.



All of the designs will be made available for sale to fund future work on the project through the Lumenique Product Center for anyone interested.

Nice New Year Resolution, Kevin. Good luck!

Aixtron reported delivery of their CRIUS® MOCVD system in a 7x4 inch configuration to SemiLEDs. It will be the first 4-inch LED chip line at SemiLEDs' production facility in Taiwan.

Do you know other companies already using 4-inch wafers for HB LED chips?

Following Philips, Osram recently announced commercial availability of its ORBEOS CDW-031 OLED panel .




Diameter of the light output area is 79.00 mm (approx. 3"), the luminous efficacy at 186 mA is typically 23 lm/W. At 186 mA, the time to half luminance (L50) is 5,000hrs. Lifetime is strongly dependent on operating current: at 93 mA the L50 is 10,000 hours, and at 47 mA, 15,000 hrs. The tile is a little over 3 in. in diameter (80mm). Data sheet.

With significantly lower efficacy than HB LEDs and exorbitant prices I liked someones note on the subject:

The Federal Trade Commission has proposed new labels for light bulbs based on light output rather than energy consumption.

The Lighting Facts label would provide information about brightness, energy cost, the bulb's expected life, color temperature (for example, whether the bulb provides "warm" or "cool" light), as well as wattage. The label also would require disclosures for bulbs containing mercury. The bulb's output in lumens—and a mercury disclosure for bulbs that contain mercury—would also have to be placed on the bulb itself.


The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was published Nov. 10, and comments on the change are being accepted through Dec. 28.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on the proposed changes. Do you think it will make it easier for consumers to pick out energy-efficient bulbs or will it just confuse them more?

Luxeon I emitters are obsolete now. LED lighting pioneers either have to redesign their products or they can turn to Avago which offers cross-reference parts.



Luxeon I emitters were the top technology few years ago. But I think it's time to move on.

More samples to test. This time it's Transcend RM2 and PM3 modules based on Acriche AC LED. Read our preview published in June: http://ledsreview.com/articles/256/ Since then, specifications got better, especially efficacy and CRI. I like these modules for simplicity and build quality. Read full review later this month.


Transcend RM2


Transcend PM3

I'll be attending LEDs 2009 event this week. If you want to schedule a meeting please email me at yaroslav@ledsreview.com.

LEDs 2009 Exhibit Hours:

Tue, Oct 20 - 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Wed, Oct 21 - 7:00 AM - 7:30 PM
Thu, Oct 22 - 7:00 AM - 3:30 PM


LEDs 2008


San Diego Skyline

Found it today browsing my scrap notes.

"Tens of thousands of remote mining sites have sprung up mostly in Asia, Latin America and Africa, using as much as 1,000 tons of mercury each year...

...Mercury comes from the dozens of companies in Europe and the United States that recycle the metal from old light bulbs, batteries or industrial waste, according to the U.N. and the Zero Mercury Working Group."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28596948/

This week we have got some interesting samples.

First was CeramCool ceramic heatsink with circuit board on it. Its made from thermally conductive and electrically insulating high-tech ceramics like Rubalit (Al2O3) or Alunit (AlN).



Then new PAR20 and PAR38 lamps from LEDTronics.




And finally Optodrive LED modules from Swedish company Optoga.






Reviews will be available soon. Please comment on this post if you have any particular question about these products..

Recently Honeywell published press release about new thermal interface material called Honeywell LTM6300-SP.

In a page long text a short message is being repeated over and over again in many different ways. ("New thermal interface material LTM6300-SP was developed.") That's it.

It would have been helpful if the press release had said anything significant about the performance characteristics of the material. Instead, it provided a link to a Honeywell Web site whose only reference to the material is the press release. Vicious circle.

Overall it's a common problem for many press releases.

Ideal press release as I see it:

-Name, part number and purpose of the product
-Quick list of most important features
-Availability date
-Link to a datasheet

One paragraph max.

It's time for PR people to realize, that "old school" press release format is not suitable for Internet era.

[F20] Taking It to the Streets: Using LEDs for Outdoor Lighting Applications (IES)
Friday, September 25, 2009, 2:30 - 3:30 PM
CEU 0.1

This session will cover the basics of LED lighting technology and standards for photometric testing and life ratings, provide guidelines for effective evaluation and specification of LED luminaires, and review case studies in Canada and the U.S. focusing on commercial exterior lighting.

Speaker: Shirley Coyle, LC, is president of Ruud Lighting Canada/BetaLED, a manufacturer of commercial luminaires for exterior and interior applications, including an extensive offering of LED luminaires. She has worked for several international lighting companies in her 26 years in the industry. Shirley is active in IES as a past president of the Toronto Section, chair of IES District 1, and a member of the IESNA Street and Area Lighting Committee.

[F33] Rethinking Lighting - The LED Promise (IES)
Friday, September 25, 2009, 11:45 AM - 12:45 PM
CEU 0.1

LED lighting systems have advanced at remarkable rates. For the lighting designer, it is critical that the performance attributes of LED systems be well understood and this presentation pulls all the pieces together.

Speaker: Martyn Timmings, LC, is vice-president of market development for Canlyte. He focuses on Lightolier Lighting Controls and Color Kinetics LED in Canada, and has been involved for more than 20 years in lighting education and demonstration programs. He is a past president of the Illuminating Engineering Society and a recent recipient of its Distinguished Service Award.

http://www.iidexneocon.com

The DOE hosted a workshop Voices for SSL Efficiency 2009 in Chicago on July 13-15. Unfortunately for me it overlapped with SemiconWest 2009 which I attended in San Francisco.

In this post I will try to gather feedback from people who attended this event.

Ted Konnerth, Ergret Consulting

We are moving to a new platform to implement social networking.

We invite SSL industry experts to start your own blog here, at LEDsReview.com. Share your thoughts and news. Discuss LED related topics in Forums. Or just socialize.

IOP Publishing, the owner of Compound Semiconductor magazine and the compoundsemiconductor.net web site, has ceased publication of the title. When I picked the latest July issue at Semicon West, I didn't know it was the last one.

Best wishes for the future to the CS Mag editorial team and thank you for coverage of virtually all aspects of semiconductor industry and R&D landscape by means of a well-composed, well-informed, exhaustive and enjoyable magazine.