LED 'Lighting for Tomorrow' Competition 2008

Solid State LED Lighting for TomorrowIts that time of year again for all of the DIY LED Grow Light Hobbyists to show some Lux, the official LED Lighting for Tomorrow Competition 2008 kicks off and plans on being the biggest yet, last years event attracted over 40 entries in the LED lighting category. If you fancy yourself a budding LED Grow Light specialist this could be your calling, and don't forget the fame and fortune if you win. Realize that the LED Lighting contest is mostly for general illumination which use Ultra-High Brightness (UHB) LEDs, but with a twist as this year a new "Future LED" Showcase category has been added and if an innovative technology entry for an indoor solid state LED plant light were to be received the judging panel wouldn't turn it away and your entry may even help create a new separate category for Solid State Plant Lighting in future LED Lighting Competitions.

This years Solid State Lighting (SSL) competition is organized by the U.S. Department of Energy, the American Lighting Association, and the Consortium for Energy Efficiency.

Important Dates to remember if you plan on entering:

January 17-21, 2008 - Lighting for Tomorrow 2008 Competition Launched at the Dallas Lighting Market

February 29, 2008 - Online Intent-to-submit form is due. (I recommend using the PDF version which is more complete, they ask that you only use one form of submission and both are due by the above date)

April 30, 2008 - All entries due

September 14-16, 2008 - Lighting for Tomorrow 2008 Competition Winners Announced at the American Lighting Association Annual Conference

Rules and Entrant Guides: For complete information on the LED Lighting design contest including applications, competition rules, guidelines, and sponsors visit: 2008 Lighting for Tomorrow Competition

Don't forget to take a look at the some of the photos from last years winners in the LED Lighting Fixtures (LLF) division for ideas on what the competition is doing with LEDs and Solid State Lighting.

This year the LED Lighting Fixtures (LLF) division has three (3) categories: 1) fixtures meeting the ENERGY STAR for solid-state lighting (SSL) requirements, 2) other decorative entries such as chandeliers, sconces, table lamps and portables using LEDs with device efficacy of at least 50 lm/W, and 3) the new "Future LED" category which invites luminaires using the world's highest efficiency LEDs; The “Future LED” category will require a minimum LED device efficacy of 90 lm/W, which would fit the bill nicely for an LED Grow Light entry.

LED lighting applications in the 'near term' and 'other lighting' categories include:

􀂉 Under-cabinet lighting for kitchens
􀂉 Portable desk/task light
􀂉 Recessed downlight rated for residential use
􀂉 Outdoor porch light
􀂉 Outdoor step light
􀂉 Outdoor pathway light
􀂉 Wall sconce
􀂉 Table or floor lamp
􀂉 Pendant
􀂉 Chandelier
􀂉 Vanity light
􀂉 Ceiling fan w/ light kit

But the 'Future LED Showcase' is wide open with a write-in of your choice, so what will you build next? A rotating LED grow light with LED light arms that track or sweep around for greater coverage could be one idea :)

Start up your wire-wrapping grow light engines and lets get this showcase shining!

For more information or to ask questions contact: Ruth Taylor, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory - 509-375-2389, ruth.taylor@pnl.gov

Strategies in Light Kicks Off 2008 Conference

When it comes to USA-based conferences serving the global LED industry, Strategies in Light defines the space. The consensus here is that by attending the US-based "Strategies" and the Taiwan-based Blue 2008 conference (BlueTaiwan.com) you'll have captured the business heart of the global solid state lighting, LED-lighting and LED industries. There are several good market, business, and technical conferences in the various LED producing countries and regions, including Korea, Japan, China and Europe, and any conference will draw primarily from the country where it is held, but Strategies and Blue do something different, making those two unique.

Strategies in Light
Now in its 9th year, Strategies is by far the largest LED conference, and successfully covers the breadth of the market. Established by Strategies Unlimited, which along with LEDs Magazine is part of PennWell publishing, the conference has kept pace with the growing market, both in its content and attendance. This year is projected to be another record-breaker, with up to 800 attendees and a still larger exhibition compared to last year. Strategies has grown so well and consistently primarily because it has made a quality agenda that matches the needs of today's market the priority. It's easy to throw out the buzz words and fill slots with "somebody", but there is truly an art to creating a neatly segmented, logically flowing 2-day conference that presents the most qualified speakers on the topics at hand. Strategies Unlimited's Dr. Robert Steele, a long time friend of our team, has been the guiding force in defining that agenda each year.

Bob is probably the most unassuming industry expert you will ever meet. He has a passion for the industry, and wants it to succeed for all the right reasons. Far from simply being a cheerleader, he brings an intimate knowledge of the overall LED marketplace and is willing to share what he knows, both in the form of his keynote talks, as well as any time you're fortunate enough to be able to engage him in a one-on-one conversation. His experience has been driven as a long-time analyst for the opto-electronic industry, which brought him to the compound semi materials, and subsequently into the application areas they serve. In the late 1990s, as the opto-communications technology was becoming ubiquitous, the LED technologies began to separate themselves as a market in their own right, with the timing of their potential for adoption in general purpose lighting starting to become evident to those that were participating. That opportunity wasn't lost on the team at Strategies Unlimited, and they began to add some additional focus into the LED arena. Interestingly, Jo Ann McDonald, our founding editor at CompoundSemi Online (which later added its Solid State Lighting Net/LIGHTimes arm), was enlisted for her conference and marketing expertise to help implement that new event, suggesting the name "Strategies in Light" in the process. Jo Ann and Bob's collaboration worked, and Strategies set off towards the success that you see today.

Perhaps the coolest thing about Strategies is that it has evolved in lock-step with the interests and opportunities of the industry as a whole. Always a west-coast US event, it is located almost exactly mid-way between Asia and Europe, much as the US LED-related market is. Asia has been the historic epi-center in chips, and strong in packaged LED lamps and the earliest mainstream applications, including keypads, handhelds, and display backlighting. Europe has been an hotbed of forward thinking lighting design, laid a lot of the groundwork for automotive applications and was the early champion of OLED technologies. In between are the US and Canada, where you find major chip, lamp and lighting companies, as well as a lot of the IP that makes up today's light engines and control systems. From an original focus on the materials and chips, Strategies has moved up the chain to a focus today on the breadth of applications and industry issues as a whole, with only a few talks on underlying componentry or technology. This is about "the markets" in which high brightness LEDs have and will find their homes.

Keynoters this year include Bas van de Kieft, Executive VP of Phillips lighting, who will share his thoughts on some scenarios regarding the penetration of the general lighting market by solid state lighting, and of course, Bob Steele who will be sharing the latest global market report and forecast. Featured speakers from luminaire manufacturers include Bob Smith, Director of Innovation and Advanced Engineering at Cooper Lighting (whose enthusiasm for SSL is extremely contagious) and Liam Kelly, who is managing director at Nualight. At the technology level, we'll be hearing from Bernhard Stapp, VP and GM of SSL at OSRAM Opto Semiconductors on the target markets and status of OLEDs. It's simple... don't miss Strategies.

Blue 2008

The next "can't miss" on the industry calendar is the Blue 2008 event, returning this year to the attractive Ambassador Hotel in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on May 7-8. Work is underway now to finalize the agenda and speakers, so expect to hear more of those details here in 1-2 weeks. Blue was launched back in 2003, as a celebration of the commercial emergence of the nitride-based blue-spectrum devices, including blue and white LEDs, as well as the blue laser diodes that were to become the heart of the "high def" DVD revolution. When blue and white were added to the existing red and green LEDs, it marked the effective beginning of the LED lighting revolution. In 2004, Blue moved to Taiwan, establishing itself as a leading industry event, with its main focus on the chip and packaged "lamp" level of the LED supply chain. In 2006 and 2007, there was an agenda emphasis on "understanding and meeting the needs of the lighting industry" with the intention to better connect the chip and packaged device producers with the rapidly emerging general lighting markets. For the 2008, it's time for Blue to bring the spotlight back onto the core level of LED innovation at the materials, chip and packaged lamp level. We're pleased to be able to bring Bob Steele and his mid-year global market update to the Asian audience. He'll be joined by Asif Anwar of Strategy Analytics, who will be covering the GaN and materials market developments, along with some related updates including a bit on blue lasers. New with us this year will be Enboa Wu of Hong Kong's research lab, ASTRI for updates on mainland China's programs and progress, and we'll be rejoined by the good folks at Taiwan's Photonic Industry Development Association (PIDA) who will provide local market insights that you don't find anywhere else. Make your plans now.

When it comes to conferences, its all about who you'll meet and what nuggets you will carry away that make a difference in your business. Who you'll meet is almost entirely dependent on the quality of the agenda, which, in turn, is driven by the organizer's market knowledge and their integration with the industry (we call it having "skin in the game"). We'll be there, and we look forward to seeing you as well at Strategies and at Blue.

Germany Embraces LED Lighting for Carbon Credits

LEDs Integrated in European Energy Efficiency Program

Major German Utility Company Promotes Energy-Efficient, CO2 Offset-Certified Lamina LEDs to Consumers and Businesses as Replacements for Traditional Lighting Products

Lamina Lighting Incorporated (Lamina), an innovator of LED lighting systems and technologies, today announced that the company’s LED lamps will be utilized in an energy efficiency initiative launched by RWE Rhein-Ruhr, the major regional energy company of the RWE Group. RWE ranks among Europe’s leading integrated electricity and gas companies and is one of the largest electricity producers in Germany.

The program represents an effort by RWE Rhein-Ruhr to help commercial and residential customers conserve energy and reduce utility bills by replacing their current light sources with Lamina’s SōL™ MR16 LED product, the only LED in the world which carries a CO2 offset certification.

“We are very proud that our SōL MR16 LED has been chosen to play a relevant part in the RWE energy efficiency program in Germany,” said Frank M. Shinneman, President and CEO of Lamina. “Working together with RWE Rhein-Ruhr and our partner-distributor Richard Schahl GmbH in Germany, we are happy to help more people become familiar with Lamina’s unique product innovations and efficiencies, and how their use can have a positive effect on the environment in the long run.”

RWE is based in Essen, Germany, and through its various regional energy companies and subsidiaries supplies 20 million electricity customers and 10 million gas customers throughout Europe. The LED initiative involves public announcements in the company’s 38 showrooms across Germany, and the distribution of almost 3 million newsletters. The newsletters explain to residential customers the positive aspects of using LED replacements; 56,000 industrial customers will also receive special brochures. Plans are underway for RWE Rhein-Ruhr to work in partnership with Richard Schahl GmbH, the European distributor of Lamina products, to train RWE-certified electricians on the correct and professional installation of the Lamina LED lamps into businesses such as hotels and retail shops, as well as inform them about potential costs and energy savings. All major electrical wholesalers will carry stock for Lamina’s SōL MR16 throughout Germany.

Lamina’s SōL MR16 LED product uses less than 8 watts of energy and produces the same amount of light, for a much longer period of time, than a 20 watt halogen light bulb. Lamina labels its SōL product with a “green tag” which highlights the bulb’s energy consumption as compared to its equivalent in the form of carbon credits offset. For the SōL this amounts to approximately ½ of a carbon credit (a carbon credit is equal to the emission of one metric ton of carbon dioxide). SōL’s CO2 offset was certified by an independent third party: The Carbon Credit Company LLC – the U.S. subsidiary of Frankfurt-based 3C Group. Among other services, 3C helps companies like Lamina – and their customers – achieve “climate neutrality” with their products and operations. The concept of carbon neutrality dictates that organizations and/or individuals make a commitment to the option of compensating for unavoidable emissions by reducing or avoiding emissions elsewhere.

Certification of the SōL is just one aspect of Lamina’s Carbon Footprint Reduction Program™, a comprehensive, company-wide environmental initiative. Along with a growing list of partners, Lamina supports a web site, truthinlighting.org that provides a wealth of information about how companies and individuals can work toward achieving carbon neutrality. Interactive forums, blogs, and RSS feeds will establish the site as a source for concrete factual information in regard to lighting and energy consumption.

Lamina is also undertaking a plan that includes a carbon footprint reduction of its own with a goal of corporate carbon neutrality, also to be facilitated by 3C Group.