News Updates for the Week of March 28

1. Siemens Hasn’t Finished Revamp Yet as Board to Vote on Osram IPO - Siemens’s supervisory board may meet for an extraordinary meeting on March 28. The 20-member panel may approve an initial public offering of the Osram lighting unit and fold the industrial solutions unit into other businesses. Siemens is weighing a share sale of the lighting business before the end of April. 3/24 http://www.bloomberg.com/

2. Existing-Home Sales Decline in February - After three consecutive months of existing-home sales increases, the National Association of Realtors reported a 9.6% drop in completed transactions for February. The NAR's existing home sales figure fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.88 million, compared to 5.40 million in January. The February pace is 2.8% below the February 2010 pace of 5.03 million. The NAR also reported that the national median existing home price for all housing types was $156,100 in February, down 5.2% from February 2010. 3/21 HCN

3. New-Home Sales Sputter in February - Sales of new single-family homes in February fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 250,000, according to a report released Wednesday by the U.S. Census Bureau. The February stat is the lowest since the government began keeping track in 1963.

4. LED Fab Database - LED Fab Database co-branded with EPIC is a unique tool for business and marketing managers institutions and investors. It gives a complete vision of the worldwide LED players with products, positioning on the value chain and production capacity. In a user-friendly Excel format, it allows search and statistics for customer’s identification, and market / technology analysis. The tool is split in 3 sub-databases:

 GaN-based LED manufacturers: 97 inputs

 InGaAlP LED manufacturers: 37 inputs

 LED packagers: 114 inputs

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/product/edee3b/led_fab_database

A sample for this product is available. Please Login/Register to download this sample.

5. Cree LBR-30 - The core of the innovation is a new way to generate white light with LEDs. Designed to replace BR30 lamps, the LBR-30 provides higher efficacy and longer life than ceramic metal halide with the beautiful light quality that you would expect from halogen. Specs: 12 Watts (equivalent to 60W); 600 lumens (50 LPW); 25 and 50 Degree Beam Angles; 94 CRI; 2700K; 50,000 hours. http://www.creeledlighting.com/products/Lamps/LBR-30.aspx?WT.mc_id=CR3327

6. Nexxus Lighting's Array LED Light Bulbs to be Sold at Lowe's® - Nexxus Lighting, Inc. announced the Nexxus' Array™ brand of premium LED light bulbs will be offered on www.Lowes.com and in 1,100 Lowe's stores across the United States. Lowe's will offer seventeen different Array products, including Par 38, R30, R16, GU10 and MR-16 bulbs that have qualified for the ENERGY STAR rating. The bulbs will be available to consumers beginning June 2011. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Nexxus-Lightings-Array-LED-prnews-3143038461.html?x=0&.v=1


7. Xcel Energy Offering Discounted CFLs in NM - Xcel Energy is offering discounts for more than 150,000 compact fluorescent light bulbs for New Mexico residential customers this year to help them use less electricity. Xcel Energy will offer special prices on CFL bulbs at participating retailers throughout the year. 3/24 AP

8. Free Light Bulb Plan Gets Regulators' OK - The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has approved a revised program for FirstEnergy Corp. to distribute free CFLs. The program was postponed in late 2009 after customers and politicians sharply criticized the utility's initial proposal to distribute two CFLs door to door in a mandatory program. As part of the revised light bulb program, FirstEnergy customers can immediately begin calling 888-846-2235 to request up to six bulbs for free. The bulbs will be mailed to homes or businesses within four to six weeks at no cost. By April or May, customers who want more CFLs will be able to buy them through an online store or such area retailers as Home Depot and Lowe's for no more than 50 cents per bulb, until the 4 million bulbs run out. 3/24 The Akron Beacon Journal

9. City of Dallas to Go Green with Energy Efficient LED Lighting in Its Parking Garages - Lumetech Group, a provider of commercial LED lighting solutions, and Lighting Science Group , an American maker of LED lighting, announced today the conversion of five downtown parking garages to energy efficient LED lighting, positioning Dallas as one of the first major cities in the United States to adopt this energy and cost saving technology. Lighting Science Group's long-lasting and ultra-efficient Flat LowBay LED fixtures were installed in garages at Dallas City Hall, Dallas Public Library, the Jack Evans Police Building, the freight terminal beneath Thanksgiving Square and the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. 3/24 PRNewswire

10. Duke Energy Strives to Give Away Another 10 Million CFLs - In 2010, Duke Energy distributed more than 10 million free CFLs to approximately one million residential customers. They announced plans to distribute 10 million free CFLs to eligible customers in 2011. Duke Energy residential customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Ohio can request complimentary CFLs be delivered to their homes at http://www.duke-energy.com/freecflsnow%20or%20may%20also%20call%20(800)%20943-7585. 3/22 PRNewswire