Barbados, an island country located in the Caribbean is a place most LED manufacturers overlook as a potential market, but not for Caribbean LED Lighting (CLL).

There is no reason not to establish LED manufacturing sites in Barbados, said the company CEO Jim Reid during a recent interview with The Barbados Advocate. “We presently export to 12 counties as far as England and we continue to recruit and expand in Barbados.” CLL has just set up a new factory in Lower Estate, St Michael, and has a distribution network in the Caribbean and parts of South America including Trinidad & Tobago, St. Lucia, St Vincent, Turks & Caicos, Puerto Rico and Suriname.

CLL ambitiously aims to make products that outshine Chinese competitors. “I’m on a mission to take on the dragon this year, we can manufacture here in Barbados for the same cost as they do in China and for a better quality,” said Reid.

Reid remains upbeat about the green energy sector, noting that the sector has continued to grow despite the current economic situation. Phillip Walker, Non-Executive Consultant for CLL also pointed out in a separate report that future lighting trends will move towards personal consumerism. Lighting will be seen in wearable devices or clothing currently being developed by large sports attire brands, such as Nike and Adidas. Other potential applications included warning light systems in utensils or plates that notified people of overeating.

For Walker lights that automatically turn on in hotel rooms, are relics of the past. “I’m talking about lighting becoming part of our everyday life, imaging a track suit that you wear that flashes when you about to get a heart attack from running up the stairs a bit too long, that technology exists and I believe that Caribbean lighting will seek opportunities like this and leverage quickly,” concluded Walker.