Bridgelux, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance, solid-state LED arrays, announced the selection of Bridgelux® Décor Series™ LED arrays for a new lighting installation at the Lower Basilica of San Francesco of Assisi in Italy, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Founded in 1228, the Basilica is decorated with frescoes painted by medieval artists, illustrating the unique development of Italian art. The new lighting system will highlight the unique quality of the stunning frescoes, while providing safe illumination over the delicate paint and colors.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are occurring at a rapid pace in the LED industry. Based on incomplete statistics compiled by LEDinside editorial team in China, more than 37 mergers have occurred in the LED industry during first half of 2015, averaging three acquisitions per month. Acquisitions in the industry are maturing, and new M&A trends have emerged.

Taiwanese LED manufacturer Everlight has issued a statement Thursday rebutting a DIGITIMES report released a day before claiming it has forced employees to take one week unpaid leave in November.

The California Energy Commission released a final staff report proposing the first standards for small-diameter directional lamps and light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Directional lamps are often used in commercial track lighting, while LEDs replace screw-based incandescent bulbs and compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) typically found in homes. Prompted by legislation requiring the Energy Commission to adopt standards to reduce energy use of lighting in homes by 50% and businesses by 25% from the 2007 levels by 2018, the proposed standards will save energy and improve the quality of the light bulbs that Californians are buying every day.

Saignow City in Michigan, U.S. has borrowed US $5.2 million for city projects including vehicle and LED streetlight upgrade project, according to a MLive report.

Sensity Systems, the pioneer of Light Sensory Networks (LSN), today announced that Simon Property Group is expanding its NetSense Light Sensory Network deployments to multiple retail properties across the United States. Ranked among the largest shopping mall owners in the country, Simon plans to go well beyond energy efficiency with Sensity LSNs. They are currently deploying the NetSense platform in their parking lots and garages for advanced lighting control. Smart parking, public safety and other operational applications will be implemented in the future to help the mall operator reach their strategic business goals and deliver superior shopping experiences at their properties nationwide.

Howard County General Hospital and the Howard Hospital Foundation thank all of you who have volunteered, participated or sponsored Symphony of Lights over the past 21 years. Symphony of Lights festivities will be postponed until fall 2016 to allow for the redevelopment of Merriweather Park at Symphony Woods in Columbia, Md.

The Town of Lincoln is partnering with Realterm Energy through the Association of Municipalities of Ontariol/Local Area Services for the conversion of the Town's streetlights to new LED technology.

Digital Lumens, the market leader in intelligent LED lighting systems, today announced the appointment of Steve Ronneberg as Vice President of Worldwide Sales. Ronneberg joins Digital Lumens from Montreal-based Grass Valley, part of St. Louis-based Belden Inc., which delivers end-to-end television production and content distribution solutions to meet the mission-critical network infrastructure needs of broadcast markets.

Leyard Optoelectronic, a leading worldwide provider of LED display products and auxiliary systems announced its 3Q15 financial result. The company’s revenue rose to RMB 523 million (US $82.39 million), reflecting 68.12% year on year (YoY) growth, while its net profit skyrocketed 182.67% YoY to RMB 103 million (US $16.23 million). Meanwhile, Leyard's 41.24% consolidated gross margin is considered relatively high among the manufacturers within the LED industry.

Cree, a market leader in LED lighting, announced revenue of US $425.5 million for its first quarter of fiscal 2016, ended September 27, 2015. This represents a 1% decrease compared to revenue of $427.7 million reported for the first quarter of fiscal 2015, and an 11% increase compared to the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015. GAAP net loss for the first quarter was $23.6 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, compared to GAAP net income of $11.1 million, or $0.09 per diluted share, for the first quarter of fiscal 2015. On a non-GAAP basis, net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2016 was $22.1 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, compared to non-GAAP net income for the first quarter of fiscal 2015 of $29.6 million, or $0.24 per diluted share. 

Electric utilities company Xcel Energy will be installing LED streetlights across Wisconsin city Hudson in the U.S., according to a report by Star Observer.

Illumitex is pleased to announce that Indoor Harvest, design-builder of farms for indoor agriculture, has selected Illumitex as the preferred lighting provider for their systems, which are sold to innovative growers around the world. Together, Illumitex and Indoor Harvest will engage in R&D and coordinated business development activities to offer a complete hardware solution for the indoor farming industry, all at the bleeding edge of agricultural science.

Danish researchers have found blue and turquoise LED phototherapy are equally effective in reducing hyperbilirubinemia in infants, according to a recent entry in scientific journal Nature.

Council leaders will consider proposals to install energy saving LED lamps in all Bracknell Forest street lights within three years.

Chinese LED manufacturer Nationstar announced it has signed a domestic equipment procurement agreement with ASM Pacific Technology (Shanghai), and import equipment purchase agreement with ASM Pacific Technology (Hong Kong).

Officials in Gloucester, Massachusetts, U.S. are seeking public input on the new LED streetlights installed around the city, according to a Gloucester Times report.

Rubicon Technology, a leading provider of sapphire substrates and products to the LED, semiconductor, and optical industries, announced the appointment of Hany Tamim as Chief Operating Officer. Tamim will have responsibility for all global manufacturing operations of Rubicon Technology. Tamim will be based in Malaysia and report to the CEO, Bill Weissman. The COO role is a consolidation of two senior management positions and will provide the Company with greater coordination of manufacturing operations at a lower cost.

LG announced subsidiary LG Display will be taking over LG Chem’s OLED lighting business on Monday, as part of its OLED realignment strategy reported The Korea Times and Yonhap News.

A design team with roots in the U.S. and Germany has launched a Kickstarter campaign for mimooodz, a multi-color LED light bulb that can be controlled with iPhone.

Global LED streetlight installments have often been the center of controversy, even though the streetlights are capable of cutting energy consumption costs. Citizens exposed to the new LED streetlights have often complained the lights were too bright, or in certain cases ruining scenarios. New Yorkers have been the latest to complain about the glare and uncomfortable lighting emitted from LEDs.

An environmental watch dog group in the Philippines is urging the government to take action to prevent cheap and substandard quality LED bulbs from proliferating the market.

The three most important light sources to impact human life in the 21st century will be sunlight, LEDs and lasers, said Professor Puspendu Das, Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Xcel Energy proposed a plan to replace about 100,000 company-owned streetlights with new energy efficient LED lighting. If approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, the plan would help communities reduce their streetlight energy use by about half.

Tata Power and Osram India have formed a LED joint initiative in Mumbai to lower LED tube prices to US $1.62. This is very close to the Indian government’s targeted price of less than US $1 in 2014. A lot of grow light developments in the last two weeks. A Japanese company Spread is planning to start constructing an automated vegetable factory in spring 2016. Meanwhile the U.S. government is financing an innovative lighting research project that aims to use lighting to boost plant immunity. Sharp also announced an innovative LED bulb its developing in partnership with Hiroshima prefecture to keep plants safe from moths.

San’an Opto announced Thursday its subsidiary specializing in integrated circuits (IC) has borrowed RMB 140 million (US $22.04 million) loan that will be paid in 10 year instalments at an interest rate of 1.20%.

A recent ruling made by the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board has invalidated claims of Japanese LED lens manufacturer Enplas patent for a device applied in LCD backlight, which marks a win for rival Seoul Semiconductor, reported Law 360.

Indian government incentives promoting the replacement of conventional lighting with LED bulbs has helped a state union Puducherry save INR 27.1 million (US $420,000) in energy bills, reported The Hindu.

LumiGrow Research, the research division of horticultural LED lighting manufacturer LumiGrow released seven new scientific posters that reveal how crop morphology and productivity can be affected through the application of varied light spectra. LumiGrow research, conducted in partnership with commercial growers and universities, demonstrates breakthrough capabilities that adjustable-spectrum LED lighting now provides growers.

Illumitex, LED innovator and maker of the world’s most optically advanced lighting products for horticulture, today announced it has launched a new division to further its mission of helping indoor growers become more profitable.