Cree, Inc. announces that it won the top prize in the 2009 Lighting for Tomorrow - Solid State Lighting Competition. The Cree LR6-DR1000 recessed downlight was awarded the coveted Grand Prize at an award ceremony at the American Lighting Association (ALA) Conference this week. The Cree LRP-38, a PAR38 bulb, and the LR6-HE (high-efficiency) were also recognized with Special Focus Awards for technical innovation and high efficiency, respectively.

The Grand Prize-winning Cree LR6-DR1000 is a high-output six-inch downlight that produces more than 1000 lumens of light output. Targeted for commercial release early next year, the LR6-DR1000 is designed to operate off an input power of less than 13 Watts, delivering an efficacy in excess of 77 lumens per Watt which makes it the most efficient, specification-grade LED downlight.

The winner of the technical innovation award, the LRP-38 bulb features Cree TrueWhite(TM) technology to deliver the vibrant color of halogen with high efficacy. Released in May 2009, the LRP-38 is replacing halogen and ceramic metal halide (CMH) lamps in numerous applications including fresh food displays, furniture stores, retail environments and museums.

This international design competition is organized by the ALA, the U.S. Department of Energy (represented by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) and the Consortium of Energy Efficiency. A panel of 11 judges from various areas of the lighting industry evaluated the entries based on color appearance, color rendering, efficiency, innovation and other criteria.