News Updates for the Week of February 10

1.      Jason Brown Stumbles, Yet Charms as U.S. Opens Final Day of Team Figure Skating Event - With the U.S. sitting third in Sochi’s team figure-skating competition, 19-year-old Jason Brown, son of Steve Brown, CEO of A.L.P. Lighting and grandson of the founder, Bill Brown. making his Olympic debut, got the Russian crowd clapping along for his Riverdance-style free skate to “Reel around the Sun” at the Iceberg Skating Palace Sunday but fell short of the marks he’s capable of after falling at the front end of three-jump combination.  Brown opened with a beautiful triple axel-triple toe into a camel spin. His program gained steam from there, but the fall followed.  After taking silver at last month’s U.S. Championships, Brown’s popularity has soared with over 3.5 million hits on his YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzpyI5oavEo&feature=youtu.be  He was introduced to the Olympic audience as "an internet sensation." Jason helped Team USA win bronze in Team Figure Skating… http://www.washingtonpost.com  

2.      DOE Early Lessons Learned in Bringing SSL to Market - The U.S. DOE has published a new report that documents early challenges and lessons learned in the development of the SSL market. Entitled Solid-State Lighting: Early Lessons Learned on the Way to Market, it summarizes early actions taken by DOE and others to avoid potential problems that were anticipated based on lessons learned from the market introduction of CFLs. The report also identifies issues, challenges, and new lessons that have been learned in the early stages of SSL market introduction. The report is available at www.ssl.energy.gov/tech_reports.html. A webinar on the report will be presented on Thursday, February 20, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time. For more information on the webinar: DOE SSL website

3.      Zhaga References NEMA Dimming Spec for LED Drivers, Notes Safety Requirements - The Zhaga Consortium has formally added requirements that LED light engines with integrated control gear support the NEMA SSL 7A-2013 dimming specification and also noted that socketable modules must meet new UL safety standards. The Zhaga Consortium has announced that it will now require dimmable LED light engines that include driver electronics—what Zhaga terms integrated control gear—to perform in compliance with the NEMA SSL 7A-2013 standard for phase-cut dimming. http://www.ledsmagazine.com/articles/2013/10/zhaga-references-nema-dimming-spec-for-led-drivers-notes-safety-requirements.html

 

4.      LEDs Change Thinking About the Light Bulb - Lights are no longer just for lighting. With the development of LED lamp technology, the lowly light bulb is doing more than turning on and off. A lamp can be the centerpiece of an environment meant to improve health, moods and even food. LEDs can create light in multiple colors, generate less heat and use a fraction of the energy of older types of bulbs. And LEDs can be controlled remotely from a PC or smartphone app, as programmable as a television. Philips sells a range of energy-enhancing lights, including the goLITE BLU, a panel of blue LEDs. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/06/technology/personaltech/leds-change-thinking-about-the-light-bulb.html?_r=1

5.      Lighting Up LEDs - "Out with the Romex Wire: In with the Category 6 Cable"  The relentless penetration of IT has a long history of changing building systems; transforming analog phones to digital phones, changing analog surveillance cameras, IP-enabled access control, IPTV as well as a host of other systems. The next building system to transform to an IT structure is low voltage LED systems; it's been in the making for a few years and led by some of the innovative companies and early adopters. It's now at the point that where we can project that the IT structure for LED lighting systems will become the new norm. http://www.smart-buildings.com/

6.      2014 LED Industry Directory & Market Database - The LED Industry Directory from LED Journal is an annual reference guide to LED manufacturers and suppliers.  It contains important market information organized in a way to make it a valuable reference tool for industry analysis and contacts including business development and lead generation efforts. Readers, purchasers, and users of the directory include:

• Manufacturers of LEDs
• Manufacturers of LED Packages/Modules/Arrays 
• Manufacturers of LED Applications/OEM Integrator/LED Systems 
• Dealers of LED Products 
• Service Providers                                      

 http://www.ledjournal.com/main/order-a-directory/

7.      DOE 2014 SSL R&D Workshop Presentations Posted - Held on January 28–30 in Tampa, FL. 200 attendees explored such topics as creating added value with intelligent lighting and using spectral control to shape the lighting experience. The workshop offered a rich mix of perspectives and insights from manufacturers, research institutions, industry, academia, and government—and a unique forum to discuss innovative concepts, new directions, and key barriers that stand in the way of moving the technology to the next level. The workshop presentations and materials have been posted on: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/ssl/tampa2014_materials.html

8.      The Electrical Industry's Top Ten News Stories of 2013 - Two of the Top Ten stories in 2013 relate to what’s happening in energy:

#4. Lighting manufacturers acquire niche product manufacturers to fortify their positions in the LED market. It would be tough to name another product market that has undergone such a complete transformation as the lighting business’s fast march toward LEDs. LED new products are obsoleting entire product categories, an entire generation of new players are moving into the lighting market from the semiconductor industry, and household names in the lighting business are trying to reinvent themselves to compete in the solid-state era.

#8. Excitement over renewables dies down a bit. With the exception of the states in the Wind Belt that extends from the Dakotas down through Texas and those areas where local utilities are building massive solar farms, it seems like most folks in the electrical business aren’t quite as jazzed about the sales potential of solar and wind. The local financial incentives that help support solar in some states are drying up. http://ewweb.com/news/electrical-industrys-top-ten-news-stories-2013

9.      Cary, NC installing 8,000 American Electric Lighting (Acuity Brands) LED Streetlights - The project, done in partnership with energy provider Progress Energy, will replace the majority of the city’s streetlights with LED streetlight fixtures. http://www.newstreetlights.com   

10.  How LED Streetlights Will Change Cinema (And Make Cities Look Awesome) - The decision by the city of Los Angeles last year to replace its HPS streetlights—known for their distinctive yellow hue—with new, blue-tinted LEDs might have a profound effect on at least one local industry. All of those LEDs, with their new urban color scheme, will dramatically change how the city appears on camera, thus giving Los Angeles a brand new look in the age of digital filmmaking. http://gizmodo.com/led-streetlights-will-change-hollywood-and-make-every-c-1514840416