Posts Tagged led lighting
Everlight LED fixtures illuminate Boston parking lot
Posted by LED Larry in New LED Technology on March 8th, 2010
Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood experiments with energy-saving LED street-light technology and realizes better light coverage.
The City of Boston, MA just installed 20 Everlight SL-Dolphin LED street-light fixtures in the city’s first cobra-head replacement project. The 128W fixtures replaced 250W high-pressure-sodium lights.
Boston installed the LED lights in a parking lot in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood. The cobra-head deployment comes on the heels of a trial of acorn-style LED lights on Boston Common. As chronicled in our story on the Common trial, the city indicated it was in the process of identifying potential sites for cobra-head lights.
In the Jamaica Plain deployment, Boston projects greater than 60% energy savings based on the efficiency of the LED lights. The 50,000-hr projected life of the LEDs will also cut maintenance costs.
It turns out that the LEDs have also improved the coverage of the light in the parking lot. Bryan Glascock, Environment Commissioner for the City of Boston, said, “The high pressure sodium lighting we had in our municipal lot here in Jamaica Plain looked pretty dated and didn’t cover the lot well. The shadowed areas along with the strong orange hue made for a surreal scene at night. But these new LED cobra heads are sleek looking and provide even light levels across the parking lot without shadows, colors aren’t washed out, you’d think the lot was brand new.”
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| Everlight SL-Dolphin street lights |
According to Everlight, LEDs provide several other advantages relative to legacy street-lighting technologies. There is no mercury or other hazardous substance in LEDs. Issues with shock, vibration, and impact are diminished since there is no arc, tube, or glass that can break. The LEDs are instant-on and –off devices and offer better color rendering.
For the city, LEDs cut greenhouse gas emissions through the energy savings. The city’s Glascock said, “LED lighting is emerging as an important component of Boston’s efforts to reduce energy costs, shrink our carbon footprint and help meet Mayor Menino’s energy goals.”
Instrument Systems buys the Light Measurement Division of X-Rite
Instrument System forms Berlin based Optronik subsidiary to integrate X-Rite’s Optronik-branded light measurement product portfolio.
Instrument Systems extended its broad portfolio of LED and light measurement technologies adding the Optronik product line from X-Rite in a recent acquisition. Instrument systems integrated the X-Rite portfolio into a newly formed subsidiary called Optronik Berlin GmbH thereby continuing the brand used previously on the X-Rite product line.
The Optronik product line targets the automotive and transportation engineering sector. The Berlin unit will continue to serve testing and certification institutes, suppliers of automotive light products, and many automobile manufacturers.
“This acquisition enables Instrument Systems to better satisfy future market demands for LEDs in general lighting applications and extend its lead in light measurement technology,” notes company president Richard Distl. “What’s more, all legacy customers of Optronik are sure to benefit from our expertise in spectroradiometry.”
Optronik’s main products include large goniophotometer systems, retroreflectometers, and photometers. Those products will add to the Instrument Systems portfolio that includes LED testers, light sources, and test software; as well as spectrometers, goniophotometers, and photometers.
E.ON installing LED street lights and traffic signals in Blackpool
A coastal resort town in the UK famous for its decorative illuminations is benefiting from a multiyear project to replace street lights and traffic signals with LED fixtures. Work has already begun on a 25-year project which will upgrade, operate and manage 20,000 street lights and 2,000 traffic signals on nearly 430 km of highway in Blackpool, a seaside resort town in the north of England. The project will track energy savings and carbon emissions at every stage of the rollout.
E.ON Sustainable Energy, part of energy company E.ON, will install and maintain LED street lights and LED traffic signals on behalf of the Community Lighting Partnership, a consortium between consulting engineers Pell Frischmann; and property partnership company Telereal Trillium.
The Community Lighting Partnership recently secured a 25-year Private Finance Initiative (PFI) encompassing both street lighting and traffic signals for Blackpool, the first place in the world to install electric street lighting in 1879.
The LED street lights and traffic signals could save Blackpool Council tax payers up to 25% of their street lighting bill, according to E.ON’s estimates, as well as removing over 1400 tonnes of carbon emissions per year. (These figures are based on a 50-watt LED light with a burn time of 4180 hours per year for each light type versus a more traditional 70-W SON light running at 85W for the same timescale.)
The project will use the Marlin LED street lights recently unveiled by E.ON Sustainable Energy and Advanced LEDs Ltd, a UK-based LED lighting manufacturer.
Benefits of LED lighting
As well as saving money through reduced maintenance and energy usage, Blackpool Council were particularly interested in the potential benefits of LED-based lighting in improving road safety, helping tourism and even reducing crime.
“LED lighting is expected to reduce the number road accidents, and improve the quality of CCTV pictures,” said Richard Scott, Head of Consultancy for E.ON Sustainable Energy. The company has performed extensive testing of the LED street lights at its own facilities.
Scott says that the rollout began in January, despite some unexpected bad weather, and is expected to take 5 years before all the street lights and traffic signals are replaced.
For the Blackpool project, everything from the energy use of the luminaire to the design of the carbon-neutral aluminum street-light columns have been scrutinized for ways to conserve resources and reduce energy consumption.
The system will also utilize remote monitoring technology and a dynamic management system which Scott refers to as “dimming and trimming.” This could for example allow lights to be dimmed, and will also indicate when lights are not functioning, removing the need for maintenance engineers to visit each light to check its performance.
According to figures from E.ON, street lighting uses an estimated 2% of the UK’s electricity, meaning that if all the street lights in the UK were replaced with LED alternatives, over 6 million tonnes of carbon could be saved over a 30 year period.
From LEDmagazine.com
LED TV backlights to drive escalation in LED production (MAGAZINE)
| Analysts forecast a ramp in LED-backlit LCD TV sales, but will LED makers be able to deliver the required capacity? MAURY WRIGHT reports. | |
| There’s a very good chance that LED-backlit LCD TVs in all sizes will significantly boost LED production requirements immediately and over the next few years. Most indications—including analyst projections and product introductions at the recent Consumer Electronics Show— point to a faster uptake of LED backlighting than previously predicted. But can the LED suppliers handle the increased demand, and will consumers actually pay the premium for LED-backlit TVs? We can’t definitively answer these questions, but we can see an unmistakable trend toward LED backlighting.
Bruce Berkoff, chairman of the LCD TV Association, states “LED-backlit TVs are going to take over the industry.” Berkoff won’t predict when LED-backlit sets will take a predominant share of market, but he can tell you why. According to Berkoff, consumers care about three things in buying large-screen TVs—“image quality, WAF (wife acceptance factor), and green.” Berkoff states, “LED-backlit sets win in all three areas.” ++++++ This article was published in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of LEDs Magazine. To read the full version of this article, please visit our magazine page, where you can download FREE electronic PDF versions of all issues of LEDs Magazine. You can also request a print copy of LEDs Magazine (available by paid subscription) and sign up for our free weekly email newsletter. |
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| About the Author | |
| Maury Wright is the Senior Technical Editor of LEDs Magazine |
Philips targets education in Africa with LED-based lights
| 16 Feb 2009 | |||
| The solar-powered reading light will be available in a standard version and a slimmed down version with a target consumer price of < $15. | |||
Royal Philips Electronics will launch a new solar-powered reading light, which enables people to both read and write after dark, in autumn 2009. “My Reading Light” was developed specifically for the education sector in Africa and will allow school children to continue with their homework after sunset.For the estimated 500 million Africans who live without electricity, nightfall means either darkness or the flickering light of a candle or kerosene lamp. Since kerosene lanterns pose health and safety risks, are expensive, and have a low light output, LED-based lamps may be a solution. Offering these lights leads to a “triple-win: the lives of people in Africa will be generally improved, LEDs result in a very low carbon footprint, and companies offering the right solutions stand to gain,” says Rudy Provoost, executive VP and CEO of Philips Lighting. The reading light is extremely lightweight and can be hand-held or placed over the page of a book, allowing the user to read or write. There is a choice of high/middle/low dimming settings. It has a built-in rechargeable battery providing between 3.5 and 9 hours of light depending on the light level selected. The reading light will be available in two versions: a standard light and a slimmed down, low-cost version with a target consumer price of < $US15. This new development is part of Philips commitment both to developing sustainable lighting solutions for Africa and to its partnership with the Dutch government on the Sustainable Energy Solutions for Africa (SESA) project, which aims to provide 10 million people with affordable, appropriate and sustainable energy services across ten sub-Saharan African countries by 2015. SESA links with the existing UN Millennium Development Goals project. |
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Solar-powered LEDs to illuminate town halls, monuments and flags across Massachusetts
Posted by LED Larry in Uncategorized on April 14th, 2009
Solar-powered LEDs to illuminate town halls, monuments and flags across Massachusetts
Framingham, MA – To illuminate signs, flags, and monuments, 38 Massachusetts municipalities are installing solar powered outdoor lighting systems. With volunteers from the Massachusetts International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and funding from the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust, SolarOne® Solutions is providing solar powered/LED lighting systems where accessing conventional power lines is prohibitive.
Each SolarOne® lighting system is powered by a photovoltaic panel and battery pack that powers two landscape light fixtures. The system is controlled by SolarOne’s proprietary SO-Bright™ Technology, which controls the solar panel and LED lamp operation with maximum efficiency, intelligently adapting to the changing seasons and weather patterns, to ensure that the flags and monuments will never be left in the dark, even in the darkest days of winter storms and during extended cloudy periods.
The systems are primarily lighting flags and monuments, paying tribute to war veterans’ service across the state from Barnstable on the Cape to West Stockbridge on the New York Border
The Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust awarded the grants to showcase and promote clean renewable solar energy while assisting municipal beautification efforts. The Trust seeks to maximize environmental and economic benefits for the Commonwealth’s citizens by pioneering and promoting clean energy technologies and fostering the emergence of sustainable markets for electricity generated from renewable sources.
“I commend the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 223 and SolarOne Solutions for partnering to bring this innovative solar lighting program to cities and towns around the Commonwealth,” Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles said. “By building local awareness about the importance of solar energy, this program is one more way we are expanding the reach of renewable power in Massachusetts.”
SolarOne Solutions, Framingham, MA, is the nation’s premier manufacturer of solar powered outdoor area lighting.
“This project has been transformative in that it moved us to a new platform from which to continue building the business in the Commonwealth and helping other businesses we work with grow as well. In fact, it has played an important role in growing our production capacity” says Moneer Azzam, President of SolarOne Solutions. “It was the impetus for our aggressive expansion activities in 2008,” says Azzam. “The program is really a model for how clean technology can integrate rapidly into the nation’s infrastructure.”
The Trust has sponsored the program because it offers significant benefits to help foster Massachusetts into the new green economy. While giving professional electricians with the IBEW experience in new technologies, such as LED lighting and solar electric power, the program also builds awareness at the municipal level about energy efficiency measures and alternative power sources.
The fixtures employ round strings of small LEDs, providing an attractive, uniform light. The LEDs themselves are housed inside a high quality commercial-grade Bronzelite® Landscape Lighting fixture. One of two types of lamps is used in each system. Wide beam flood lamps are used to illuminate signs and monuments at close distances, while spot lamps are used to illuminate flags 20 to 40 feet tall. The long-lasting LED lights significantly reduce maintenance, and perform well in cold temperatures.
The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Locals 7, 96, 103 and 223 provided not only their labor, at no charge, but also their considerable expertise in “best practices” for commercial-grade installations.
According to Marty Aikens, Business Agent for IBEW Local 103, the process allowed the IBEW workers to gain an understanding of the attributes of solar powered lighting, increasing their portfolio of capabilities, enabling them to serve a broader range of applications.
“Because solar power light fixtures require no trenching to connect to the electric power grid, siteing systems was easier and we were able to install more fixtures in the same period of time,” said Aikens.
Aikens went on to explain that the experience gained by those involved in this project will play an important role in establishing consistency across commercial lighting installations whether they are connected to the electrical grid or independently powered by solar energy; an important step in bringing solar energy into the mainstream.
“And, when the American flag is illuminated,” Aikens explained, “Ol’ Glory doesn’t need to be taken down in the evening anymore; American flags and veterans memorials will be seen at night across the Commonwealth.”
About SolarOne:
SolarOne® Solutions provides simple and effective autonomous solar powered solutions for high-value commercial applications. SolarOne® Solutions has consistently led the industry in innovation: it was the first solar powered lighting company to offer max power tracking and the first to use solar powered LED lighting for general illumination. In 2005, SolarOne® Solutions received recognition for Excellence in Design at LightFair, the most prestigious lighting exhibition in the U.S. Installations across the globe serving a wide range of applications and customers including major college campuses, government laboratories and municipalities, have fueled SolarOne’s rapid growth in this emerging industry. The company’s patent-pending SO-Bright™ Control Technology enables its HL (High Lumen) LED lamps to provide general outdoor illumination with unparalleled efficiency and reliability. The company is venture backed and supported in part by the Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust.
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