The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has launched a new collaborative initiative, the Lighting Energy Alliance, to increase the benefits of lighting while reducing its environmental and monetary costs.

French designer Vivien Muller has created an ecofriendly solar mobile phone charger and LED lamp, Electree Mini, that resembles a bonsai tree.

This week more info is shed on Chinese lighting market trends, as more LED manufacturers contend for larger market share in China, according to latest LEDinside report. China’s growing smart city projects are expected to bring smart lighting market to US $200 Billion by 2018. LED chip price upticks in May due to tight supply in China has been refuted by chip manufacturers, while Shanghai LED quality test lab SQI recommends the country make national lighting standards mandatory.

Earlier this week, a securities firm reported that several areas in China will begin raising LED chip prices in May due to recent adjustments to the LED chip market infrastructure in China. The report continued that the supply shortage is anticipated to intensify, which will cause a price hike in all LED chips. LEDinside reporters questioned several Chinese chip and package manufacturers to see if this is truly the case. 

Lately, several prominent Japanese and Korean manufacturers have dropped OLED TV projects. Japanese manufacturers Panasonic delayed OLED display mass production plans, Sony halted OLED TV R&D, while Korean manufacturer Samsung decided to stop investing in OLED displays in 2014. LG Electronics is the only North Asian manufacturer still active in OLED R&D, according to a recent report by Chinese-language ENorth Netnews.

Macroblock anticipates LED lighting demands to grow, especially in the residential replacement lighting sector, said Chairman LC Yang at the company’s latest investor conference held on May 14, 2014. The company reported revenue of NT $457 million (US $15.1 million) for the first quarter of fiscal 2014. 

UK design firm, STUDIO BANANA THiNGS, has collaborated with The Innovation Quarter at Bangor University (UK) has created a flexible LED light for bag interior, Kangaroo Light.

In an earlier report, Shanghai Institute of Quality Inspection and Technical Research (SQI) tests conducted on 27 LED luminaires showed most were safe to use and had low blue-light hazards. In the second part of the   LED lighting product’s blue-light hazard detection, blue-rich light analysis and recommendation report” by Yu Anqi, Vice Presidentreport of SQI offers recommendations to LED manufacturers in China.

The LED industry is facing supply shortage. From upstream chip manufacturers to downstream package manufacturers are unable to adequately meet demands. In general, the industry, however, estimates May revenue will be even better. As the LED lighting market advances, China market insiders estimate the country’s LED market annual demand growth will surpass 30 percent, according to DZH News. LED chip production will increase to 10 percent during the first half of 2014, while supply and demand will tighten during the second half. 

Elec-Tech Chariman Wang Donglei faced disgruntled investors during the company’s investor conference discussing the company’s 2013 annual financial results on May 12, 2014. Although ElecTech has made it into the LED supply chain, net profit growth has yet to be seen. Wang first discussed the benefits the company recived from their aquisition of NVC Lighitng. Wang next tackled questions by investors regarding wafer expansion. 

Malaysia’s lighting industry saw a substantial increase in exports into Germany last year. Exports grew 35.4 percent to US $139 million in 2013, a huge leap from a mere US $3.9 million in 2008, said Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade). 

A recent report by mainstream Chinese media CCTV revealing “LEDs without diffusers can cause blindness within 10 seconds” in a TV program generated much interest in China. However, studies cited in the report have been taken out of context, according to a Chinese LED test laboratory report.

Industry analyst firm NanoMarkets has just published its latest forecasts of the OLED lighting market predicting a $1.4 billion market opportunity in 2019. The report, " OLED Lighting Markets-2014 "  notes that while the sector has foundered for the past few years it now appears to be worthy of some renewed optimism based on both on both improvements in OLED lighting panel performance and recent expansion of manufacturing facilities.

LED street lights have not been welcomed with open arms by UK suburbanites. Yet another report by a UK based newspaper reports citizens protesting against LED street light installations in neighborhoods. 

Lighting manufacturer Precision-Paragon [P2] announced that in the past three years, the cost difference between LED and fluorescent lighting has shrunk dramatically, thanks to substantial reductions in the cost of LED technology. 

Hadaia Azad Ezzulddin, a 9th grade student at Nilufer Girls Secondary School in Erbil, Iraq has come up with a solution using LED to stop movie pirating, according to a Student Science report.

“I consider Elec-Tech as a child I have reared. To me, it is the best,” said Elec-Tech Chairman Wang Donglei on May 12, 2014 during an investor conference to discussing the company’s 2013 annual financial results. 

Cree intends to begin construction on a new production building for a project that remains unknown. The construction could begin as early as this summer, according to North Carolina newspaper The Herald Sun.

Recent reports by mainstream Chinese media CCTV that LEDs without diffusers causing blindness within 10 seconds has generated much talk in China, but a report by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) claim LEDs are not particularly harmful compared to other conventional light sources when it comes to nonvisual applications. 

Royal Philips unveiled the spectacular illumination of Algeria’s iconic Maqam Echahid with its latest LED lighting technology, boosting the beautification of the city of Algiers and cutting energy consumption by 75%. Philips is showcasing its LED lighting solutions in Algeria as part of the fifth consecutive pan-African Cairo to Cape Town Roadshow. By making a stopover in Algeria for the second consecutive year, Philips underlines its commitment to enhance life in Africa by improving energy efficiency in Algeria.

Over the course of two years, three former high ranking officers from Chinese sapphire manufacturer Roshow Technology have been detained by Chinese authorities over insider trading, but the company has tried to downplay the incidents, according to a Chinese media China Times report. Some industry insiders also revealed company officers leaking sapphire investment info as a possible cause over the arrest.

LED manufacturer Lextar released their fiscal first quarter 2014 financial report on May 12, 2014. The company reported revenue dropped 3 percent QoQ to NT $3.22 billion (US $106.7 million) but up 11.6 percent from 1Q13. Gross margin improved 2.3 percent QoQ to 12.5 percent. Net profit for 1Q14 reached NT $21 million with EPS of NT $0.05. 

Leyard’s 0.8mm small pitch TV already has the potential to move into the residential market and will be first promoted in the high-end market. The company claims to be the first company to utilize 0.8mm technology. “No other company has the technological capacity yet,” said Leyard.

Demand for gallium is forecast to rise rapidly between 2014 and 2020 as general lighting moves away from incandescent and fluorescent lamps to light-emitting diodes (LEDs).  This strong growth is not, however, likely to result in any tightness in supply as the market is oversupplied and likely to remain so.  

Luxury vehicles are being targeted by criminal gangs in the UK who steal the LED headlights from the vehicles for use in cannabis factories, according to UK based newspaper The Telegraph. 

Sony is suspending OLED TV production as sales slump. The Japanese manufacturer is instead turning their sights to 4K LCD TVs as they are less expensive to manufacturer and sell at much lower prices compared to OLED TVs, reports Japan’s Nikkei. Half of the TV sets Sony intends to launch on the market next year include 4K sets. 

Orion Energy Systems, Inc. announced financial results for its fiscal 2014 fourth quarter and year ended March 31, 2014. Total revenue for fiscal 2014 was US $88.6 million, compared to US $86.1 million in fiscal 2013. Total revenue for the fiscal 2014 fourth quarter declined to US $12.6 million, from US $22.3 million in the prior-year period, largely as a result of delayed lighting sales coupled with a decline in the number of solar projects under construction as Orion deemphasizes its non-core solar business.

Revolution Lighting Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:RVLT) (“Revolution Lighting”), a leading provider of advanced LED lighting solutions, today announced financial results for the first quarter of 2014, ended March 31, 2014.

GE Lighting announced three finalists in its 31st annual international GE Edison Award competition from the GE Lighting Institute, a teaching facility at the heart of GE Lighting’s Nela Park world headquarters in East Cleveland, Ohio. This year’s finalists represent an arts performing center, the headquarters for a global investment firm, and an event and conference addition to a cultural center.

China has been actively promoting of smart industry development in response as the country rolls out smart city projects. China’s smart building industry market has already reached RMB 100 billion (US $16 billion) with at least 3,000 different companies. LED lighting fixtures make up around 20 to 30 percent of the smart building market. With increasing LED luminous efficacy, LED lighting fixture market share will most certainly continue to rise. This rising in smart building infrastructure trend will fuel future LED lighting industry growth.