Thirty-seven commercial LED outdoor lights were recognized for their excellence by the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) fifth annual "Next Generation Luminaires" (NGL) solid-state lighting design competition, as announced at PennWell's Strategies in Light conference (Feb. 12-14, 2013).

Sponsored by the DOE, the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America, and the International Association of Lighting Designers, NGL was launched in 2008 to promote excellence in the design of energy-efficient LED luminaires in commercial lighting. The competition began evaluating indoor and outdoor products separately in 2012, and the winners announced today are the 2012 outdoor winners -- the first outdoor winners to be announced as part of a separate NGL competition.

Better overall performance, worse glare

Compared to previous years, the 2012 NGL outdoor results show a marked improvement in overall performance. The recognized products performed best in terms of color, illuminance, and light distribution and not quite as well in terms of glare, which was somewhat of a concern to the judges. Tellingly, color and distribution, together with increasing efficacy, highlight the improvements manufacturers continue to make in product quality and performance. In terms of form factors, the judges saw some encouraging entries and would like to see more development in this area.

NGL outdoor entries for 2012 were judged on color, appropriate illuminance, light distribution, glare control, appearance, serviceability, value, and energy efficiency. Power quality and lumen maintenance were also evaluated, and flexibility, innovation, and controllability were taken into consideration when appropriate. “The goal here is to recognize products that are not only attractive, but that are also energy-efficient and deliver good lighting quality,” says DOE solid-state lighting program manager Jim Brodrick.

To evaluate lighted performance and appearance, street and roadway luminaires were installed on poles at appropriate heights along roadways, parking lot luminaires were installed on a truss in a parking area, parking garage luminaires were installed indoors, and other building-mounted or landscape luminaires were installed on or near exterior facades or indoors.The 120 products that were judged represented 42 different manufacturers and covered 10 different outdoor-lighting categories. Of those products, 37 were chosen as “recognized” winners; four received the additional designation of "best in class."

Although they did not earn recognition for their lighting and energy performance, three products were noted for their interesting form factors: a parking lot fixture from Cree, and streetscape and roadway fixtures from Eleek and Philips Lumec.

The awards were presented at Strategies in Light (Santa Clara, CA) on February 14, 2013.