According to an interview from South Korea, bell pepper farmers are using LED lights used as a substitute for sunlight to grow the plant. One famer in the interview pointed that they are desperately lacking sunlight because of the recent climate change. So they installed LED lights as a substitute.   For the past eight months this farm has been experimenting with using LED lights to grow bell peppers.

Reportedly, Dongguan Kingsun Optoelectronics Co. Ltd recently completed the retrofit of high-pressure sodium lamps and light fixtures with 98W LUXEON LED based luminaires from Philips Lumileds on Dongjiang Main Road in Dongguan City, China.

Taiwan LED chipmaker Epistar has teamed up with China Electronics Corp (CEC), one of China’s state-owned conglomerates, to set up a joint venture, aiming at tapping into an expected boom in demand for LEDs across the Strait.

Germany LED test and measurement company Instrument Systems revenues for 2010 rose by 47.1% to EUR 10.3 million, compared with EUR 7.0 million in 2009, which was a best result since the company was founded in 1986.

With the upcoming IT Month, it’s expected that LED-backlit TV's share in the Taiwan LCD TV market and LED-backlit monitors’ market share was to reach 20% in the end of 2010. Industry insider noted first-tier vendors' price-cuts would focus on specific models and that was to edge out other products which also the Taiwan vendors worrying about. So Taiwan vendors cut price on other models.

Osram Opto Semiconductors is aligned with Wavien Inc. to develop RGB LEDs for pocket projectors and picoprojectors small enough to integrate in cellphones. Osram's LED technology with the LED light recycling technology of Wavien, a licensor of technologies for enhancing lighting will be combined in the new LEDs.

South Korea is seeking the investment opportunities with Brunei Darussalam on the fields of Smart Grid and LED technology. A South Korean investment mission led by the Asean-Korea Centre and comprising 16 Korean company representatives and related experts have presented a meeting with the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB). According to the Director of ASEAN-Korea Centre, Mr Cho Jae-Hyun, as a part of their investment promotion programmes, their Asean-Korea Centre regularly dispatches investment missions to Asean countries.

Smallest Product in its Class Now Also the Only One Approved for Obstruction Lighting in Explosive Environments Dialight (LSE: DIA.L), an innovative global leader in LED lighting technology, announced that its smallest-in-class LED L-864/L-865 flashing dual (white/red) strobe has been certified for use in Class I, Division 2 hazardous locations, making it ideal for application in the oil and gas, petro-chemical and other potentially explosive environments.

SAFC Hitech intends to set up a new, dedicated facility in Kaohsiung of Taiwan to strengthen reinforce its commitment to the Asia-Pacific electronics markets. According to the member of the Sigma-Aldrich Group, the new facility is expected to be operational by late 2011. It will extend the company's ability to serve the Asian market, leveraging the knowledge and capabilities developed at its existing Kaohsiung facility.

Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) is applying for U.S. Energy Star certification on the test of LED lighting products. According to Chuang Po-nien, deputy director of the ITRI's Center for Measurement Standards (CMS), the accreditation is expected to be achieved in the first quarter of 2011. The CMS is an organization authorized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs's Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection to conduct testing for products, including LED lighting, seeking national CNS certification.

On December 1,  China new flat-panel TV energy efficiency standards was carried out, which contained three level standards: level one for most efficient products; level two for products that meet the lowest requirements for being labeled energy-efficiency products; and level three for products meeting the minimum requirements for being allowed on the market. It’s estimated that would stimulate more price-cut promotion on products that did not meet the standard.

Recently, LED chipmaker Tekcore has signed a NT$3.8 billion (US$124.53 million) syndicated loan with a banking consortium on December 2, in order to build a new plant and to purchase equipment. Tekcore noted, benefit from shipments of high-margin blue LED chips, the company 2010 revenues would go up largely. In the first three quarters of 2010, its profits increased 100% compared to the same time in 2009.

According to CRS Electronics, its LED MR16 lamps currently have become the only LED MR16 approved for a rebate under two US undisclosed major electric utilities’   incentive program offered to their commercial customers.   It’s said that the two major utilities service a combined area of more than 100,000 sq. mi. in 40 counties within the continental United States. Therefore, it’s an opportunity for CRS to capitalize on these rebate programs.

Taiwan’s state-run banks are offering favorable loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises which dedicate in developing six emerging industries including biotech, healthcare, green energy, tourism, boutique agriculture, and innovative culture. It’s said that the First Commercial Bank plans to offer about NT$20 billion (US$625 million) in loans at 1.8%-2% per annum to small- and medium-sized enterprises that need operating capital in biotech, new energy and LED.

Soitec and Sumitomo Electric Industries (SEI) has joined force to develop engineered gallium nitride (GaN) substrates. The cooperation will combine with Sumitomo Electric's sophisticated GaN wafer manufacturing technology and Soitec's unique Smart Cut layer transfer technology.The engineered substrates retain the original, high crystalline quality of Sumitomo Electric's GaN wafer at a lower cost.

Reportedly, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has named Lighting Science Group Corporation as an advisor of the R20 Regions of Climate Action on how to use ultra-efficient LED lighting solutions to significantly reduce greenhouse emissions.

2010 Sales Have Pushed Past $20 Million for MSi a Leader in the Manufacture of Energy Efficient LED Lighting. Companies including Macy’s, Abercrombie & Fitch,9 West and Thomasville Furniture are Switching From Hot Halogen Lighting to the Cool Burning Energy Efficient MSi LED Lights.  

GT Solar has acquired its first two orders totaling more than $84 million for sapphire crystallization systems from Jiangsu Jixing New Material Co., Ltd and Jiujiang Sapphire Tech Co., Ltd. Total annual production capacity of the two orders is approximately eight million two-inch equivalents (TIE) of sapphire substrates. The two orders represent GT Solar's entry into the LED equipment market, which GT Solar stated it would pursue when it announced its acquisition of Crystal Systems in July of 2010.

LED chip maker Formosa Epitaxy and chip packaging house Unity Opto Technology would direct their focus to China's TV market for future growth, affected from South Korea TV vendors raising their own LED capacity.

Investments to support electronics in China exceed EUR 50 million in 2010 Linde LienHwa (LLH) today announced a further strengthening of its commitment to the needs of LED manufacturing with the establishment of an ultra high-purity Ammonia plant in Xiamen City, south-eastern China. This is the first operating plant in China to produce ultra high-purity Ammonia and will supply customers using world leading technology in purification, packaging and analytical metrology. Linde LienHwa (LLH) is a joint venture between The Linde Group and LienHwa MiTAC Group of Taiwan.

UK-based LED lighting manufacturer PhotonStar LED Ltd will take over Enfis Group plc, which is a developer of LED arrays and drivers for lighting and industrial applications and was listed on the AIM stock exchange in March 2007. With the shareholder’s agreement, Enfis will be named PhotonStar LED Group plc and in late December will be list on the AIM stock exchange again.

The U.S. Department of Energy Overturns the “Buy American” Waiver, Now Requiring All LED Traffic Signal Projects Funded by Stimulus to Use U.S.-Made Signals; Dialight’s Roxboro, NC Factory Stands Ready to Meet Demand

GE has installed its award-winning Evolve™ LED roadway street lights in the city of East Cleveland to replace 45 standard-technology municipal street lights on  a one-mile block along Noble Road serves as a demonstration to other municipalities of the benefits of a higher-efficiency lighting system. It’s estimated that the new GE Evolve LED street lights will reduce the city’s energy use by 28 million watts a year.

AIXTRON AG today announced a new order for MOCVD reactors from LED power chip expert and existing customer Aqualite Co. Ltd. The order comprises six CRIUS 31x2-inch configuration deposition systems. The China based company placed the order during the second quarter of 2010 and after delivery of the systems in the current quarter, they will be used for high-power LED production.

Panasonic Electric Works Co., Ltd. has decided to build a new company in Serbia to develop energy-efficient electronic devices (ballasts) for lighting fixtures. The new company will start in January 2011, which named Panasonic Electric Works Vossloh-Schwabe Serbia d.o.o. Volume production.

In 2011, Taiwan based back light unit (BLU) makers Radiant Opto-Electronics was benefit from the Japanese vendors’ orders, its revenues have risen steadily since 2Q10, with a widespread demand drop off in the large-size panel sector.

Cooper Lighting and Safety has provided 65 RXD1 LED downlights to the Dominion Centre, a former theatre that is now used as a place of worship, in Wood Green, London. The 1930-built cinema and theatre building retains 12 large 400W metal-halide house lights recessed into the ornate plasterwork. The officials of the centre have decided to supplement these main house lights by additional luminaires during a recent renovation scheme.

Food warehouses save cost and energy with Carbon Trust funded LED lighting

The Hy-Vee Food Store on Mount Vernon Road recently has participated in a collaborative pilot program to replace 12 metal halide parking lot lights with LED lamps, saving more than 40,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity each year. As part of a collaborative pilot program, Hy-Vee’s LED lighting retrofit cooperated with the following companies: Interstate Power and Light Company, an Alliant Energy company; Van Meter Industrial; and the Iowa Energy Center.  

With divestiture complete, Excelitas Technologies forges ahead as an independent company providing OEMs with customized, high-performance technology solutions   With a continued focus on delivering innovative, customized technology products and solutions to its global commercial and defense customers, the former Illumination and Detection Solutions (IDS) business of PerkinElmer was formally re-launched today as Excelitas Technologies Corp.