OptoElectronix announced Wednesday a new series of small, high-efficient, 180-degree LED modules. The round, 60mm (2.35-inch) diameter, aluminum modules are precisely engineered for optimal thermal management. They integrate the LED, lens, and electronics, and are rated for 50,000 hours. The modules are designed to flush mount through a standard 44.5mm (1.75-inch) mounting hole with three screws, and the flange and lens are only 4mm (0.16 inches) thick.

Bloom of worldwide lightweight and ultra-thin laptops market is boosting use of LED backlights in netbook PCs and CULV-based notebook PCs, from which Taiwanese LED industry is benefiting significantly, according to industry sources.

LED lighting developer ilumisys Inc. is to partner with the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS) to develop environmentally sustainable solid-state lighting on a $590,000 grant from the Department of Energy (DOE).

Inlustra Technologies, a US-based startup spun out from the world-renowned gallium nitride research laboratories at the University of California at Santa Barbara, has now developed a scalable production process for nonpolar and semipolar GaN substrates. The company is expanding its production facilities and has recently started to fill orders from customers. 

Opto Diode Corporation, a US-based manufacturer of LEDs, has recently developed a new 60 Die LED array product line.

Mouser Electronics,  Inc., an electronic component distributor known for its rapid introduction of the newest products, announced on Tuesday to have signed an agreement with OSRAM Opto Semiconductors to distribute the lighting, sensor, and visualization sectors, adding to its existing portfolio of OSRAM’s high-powered, mid-powered, and standard LEDs as well as infrared and sensor products.

Seoul Semiconductor, a leading LED maker of Korean, has signed an agreement to license its UV patent for a portable fluorescent forgery detector. Portable fluorescent forgery detectors are mainly applied in identification of forgeries of bank notes, securities, passports, gift coupons, and ID cards by commercial banks, financial companies and small businesses that mainly transact securities. As counterfeit money raise concerns around the world, demand of the product is expected to grow substantially.

Taiwan government has got plan to invest in the new energy industry and to develop it into another industry with annual output value exceeding NT$1 trillion, according to the Flagship Plan For The New Energy Industry which is scheduled to be launched by the Cabinet on April 23. Photovoltaic and LED lighting will be stressed as two mainstays in the industry.

Taiwan government is planning to invest NT$50 billion (US$1.48 billion) to the adoption of devices powered by renewable energy and green industries, including LED, as part of its NT$500 billion public construction program, reported the Chinese-language Economic Daily News yesterday, citing Minister of the Public Construction Commission Fan Liang-shiow.

Gardasoft Vision in Cambridge, UK, has acquired the worldwide rights to VCube LED Linelight and Traffic Monitoring lights. The liquid-cooled VLX2 Linelights feature brightness many times higher than that of conventional air-cooled LED linelights. They can be applied in linescan applications such as printing, paper, plastic film, or web inspection up to 4 m wide.

Braemar Energy Ventures has invested in Nuventix Inc., a cooling systems company in Texas, according to the company. Braemar contributed $3 million of the $8 million total that closes out the Series C round for Nuventix. Another $1 million was from Uniquest of Korea and the remaining come from an agreement with Silicon Valley Bank that makes $4 million credit available to the company.

Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and Advanced Thermal Devices (ATD) Inc. have recently received the safety certifications offered by UL Taiwan. The government-backed ITRI was awarded the certification for an alternate current LED module, while ATD was awarded for an LED streetlight.

Aiming at the global LED streetlight market, Delta Electronics Inc. of Taiwan has set to strive for contract production orders this year with efforts of all its 27 overseas sales outlets scattering in mainland China, Japan and Europe.

The Orca LEDs from Bivar is featured with the optimum flux and intensity that offers the highest light output among competitors. Orca can be applied to design of vehicle brake lights, decorative interior or exterior lighting, specialty stage lighting, or a multi-colored signage presentation.

Osram Sylvania has opened an expanded, multi-million dollar Clean Lab LED center on April 8 that is dedicated to solid-state lighting research in Beverly, Massachusetts. Osram received $2M award in US DOE Solid State Lighting Research and Development Program last month. And the award will allow the company to fund an LED replacement for a halogen MR-16 spotlight and research on phosphors for white LEDs.

Instrument Systems, a leading global manufacturer of LED Test & Measurement systems has recently developed its ISP 1000 Integrating Sphere which has been specially designed with a diameter of one meter for precise measurement of the total radiant power and luminous flux of lamps. It is particularly suitable for larger and more powerful LED modules with applications in solid-state lighting.

Raleigh-Durham International Airport will have 2,000 incandescent bulbs on a runway replaced with energy-efficient LED lighting, supported by a $4.5 million stimulus grant from The Federal Aviation Administration. A total USD 1.1 billion stimulus grant has been handed out by the Federal Aviation Administration for airport projects. And RDU will use its grant, announced Wednesday, to upgrade lighting on the 10,000-foot runway adjacent to Terminal 2.

How should the signage look like in the airport in heart of Silicon Valley? Jacobs Carter Burgess — the architectural firm overseeing the expansion and renovation of the Mineta San Jose International Airport — has come up with the idea of  a sleek, modern, eco-friendly sign design in a 4” deep sign cabinet—the slimmest double-faced illuminated sign ever produced.

The goals set for solid-state lighting (SSL) development in 2008 by the Department of Energy (DOE) have been met individually, some even been surpassed, but there is not a single product that can meet all of those targets simultaneously, according to a DOE’s latest annual report on SSL research and development. The report has detailed the wide range of work in the US aimed at fundamentally changing the country's lighting infrastructure to one based on LEDs instead of bulbs.

Green Energy LED Light Bar

Everlight Electronics Co., Ltd. (TSE: 2393) announced the availability of the EHP-B02 3 in 1 Full Color LED in a new surface mount (SMT) package. The EHP-B02 combines the benefits of high power and high efficiency, and each LED has sufficient brightness to replace a lighting fixture consisting of neon lights, CCFL and LED arrays. For LED users, EHP-B02 offers small-size package, high luminous flux and dominant wavelengths.

Taiwan’s major LED markers have all seen their March revenue surging beyond expectation, with Formosa Epitaxy Inc. taking the lead with a 68.5% rise from February. Epistar Corp. and Unity Opto Technology Co., Ltd also post robust revenue records.

After release of the energy efficient C8000 REGZA LCDs, Toshiba is ready for its higher end LED backlit ZX8000 (labeled SV670 in the U.S.) series. Featuring a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio and local dimming technology, this series also pack the latest edition of Super Resolution+ upconverting, ClearScan 240Hz motion and fifth generation Pixel Pure image processing.

Hamamatsu Photonics has recently launched its new LC-L2 range of UV curing systems. Comparing with the established LC-L1 range, the LC-L2 systems feature higher power UV LEDs of high durability ensured by the company's heat dissipation technology.

Solid state lighting has been claimed by some to be more energy efficient and more environmental friendly than other forms of lighting technology. But is it ready to enter the mass market?

Litepanels, a Vitec Group company, has recently released its new 1 x 1 LED light fixture the 1 x 1 Bi-Focus, which is also the first LED light fixture capable of variable spot and flood focusing. Comparing with the inefficient Fresnel lights, the ultra-thin and portable 1 x 1 Bi-Focus offers a cool-to-the-touch, low energy draw solution that provides the flexibility of the width of light beam.

This April, the month of the 40th World Earth Day, Lemnis Lighting has released a new energy-efficient LED product, the Pharox LED bulb. The bulb developed using the most advanced lighting technology produces light equivalent to that of a 40Watt incandescent bulb, while with only 5W of energy. And the life-span of the bulb reaches up to 50,000 hours or approximately 35 years.

Cypress semiconductor has recently developed PowerPSoC which has been claimed by the company to be the first single chip device to control and drive high power LEDs. PowerPSoC features four integrated, independently operated 32V/1A mosfets based on Cypress' PSoC platform, with up to four programmable hysteretic controllers providing controlled current output. Floating load buck, floating load buck-boost, and boost converter topologies provide design flexibility. The device also supports 16bit dimming.

Ilumisys, Inc., a provider of solid state lighting technology and products, has recently claimed Patent No. 7,510,299, which has been issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for the replacement of fluorescent tubes with LEDs.

Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC) has released on Wednesday two new highly-efficient white LED drivers, TB62730WLG and TB62750FTG, both of which designed to drive white LEDs for backlight use in LCDs. The two LED drivers were among several products Toshiba launched yesterday for expanding its Mobile Strategic Initiative, a product and customer support program aimed to facilitate ease of design for new mobile phones and other portable devices.