News Updates for the Week of November 14

1. LIGHTFAIR International Already 99 Percent Sold Out For May 2012 Show in Las Vegas - LIGHTFAIR INTERNATIONAL (LFI) will connect tens of thousands of lighting professionals with more than 475 world-renowned exhibitors at the lighting industry’s premier event taking place May 7-11, 2012 in Las Vegas. Already the show is 99 percent sold out, a strong testament to its strength and importance in the architectural and commercial lighting industries. And it looks like it will be returning to the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia in 2013. www.lightfair.com

2. Lasers Could Offer Alternative to LED Light Sources - Two recent announcements, from Sandia Labs and car maker BMW, have suggested that lasers could ultimately provide a more-efficient alternative to LEDs in certain lighting applications. Sandia conducted experiments to evaluate whether a four-color laser system could provide a viable white-light illumination source. Meanwhile, BMW has demonstrated a prototype laser-based headlight system on its i8 Concept car that uses blue lasers and phosphors. The Sandia experiment combined the output of four laser colors – blue, red, green and yellow – to create a white light source that was compared with other light sources, including incandescent and LED-based sources. http://www.ledsmagazine.com/news/8/11/2

3. OSRAM SYLVANIA Introduces ELOGIC Wireless Dimming Technology - OSI’s ELOGIC™ Lighting Controls solution includes dimmable fluorescent ballast controls as well as dimmable LED power supply controls using wireless dimmer technology based on the company’s work with the EnOcean Alliance, a consortium of companies working to standardize and internationalize energy harvesting wireless technology for green intelligent buildings. The dimmable fluorescent ballast and LED power supply controls can both be addressed using OSRAM SYLVANIA’s wireless and battery-free single and dual rocker switches that have both manual ON/OFF switches as well as automatic OFF functionality. http://www.sylvania.com/

4. North American Business Conditions Improve in October with Further Gains Seen Over Next Six Months - NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) indicated that conditions facing the North American electroindustry improved on balance in October, climbing to 57.4 from 50 in September. The latest month was the first since May in which the index exceeded the 50-point “growth threshold.” Meanwhile, October’s EBCI for future North American conditions moved higher for a second straight month, increasing to 63 from 58.3 a month ago. http://www.lightnowblog.com/

5. Incandescent Lamp Index Increases During Second Quarter - NEMA’s shipment index for incandescent lamps increased for the second consecutive quarter in Q2 2011, showing an improvement of 5.6% over the same period last year. Conversely, the index for CFLs declined for the fifth consecutive quarter. Moreover, the rate of decline in the shipments index accelerated to 18.5% on a year-over-year basis versus 16.8% y/y and 8.7% y/y during Q1 2011 and Q4 2010, respectively. http://www.lightnowblog.com/

6. NEMA Calls on Congress to Take Action to Extend Expiring Tax Provisions - NEMA joined other businesses, non-profit organizations, and associations in calling on Congress to act quickly to pass legislation that would extend tax provisions that are slated to expire at the end of 2011. Expiring tax provisions that of importance to the electroindustry include those affecting plug-in electric vehicles, research and development, energy-efficient home construction, additional first-year 100 percent depreciation for certain improvements, and 15-year straight line cost recovery for qualified leasehold improvements. http://www.nema.org/media/pr/upload/2011%20Broad%20Tax%20Extenders%20Letter.pdf