Taiwan LED chips and products maker Opto Tech has decided to delay its factory construction in Ningbo, China. Opto Tech indicated the delay is for an unspecified period, and construction will begin when the business environment becomes favorable.

Taiwan LED makers, including Epistar Corp., Everlight Electronics Co. and Opto Tech Corp., are hopefully to benefit from LED backlight notebook PCs sales boom with increasing popularity of LED backlight notebook PCs to generate demand for 1.5-2 billion LED chips in 2009.

Energy Focus Inc., a maker of LED lighting based in Solon, Ohio USA, announced that it has installed LED lighting to retrofit the high-bay lighting in a hanger deck on board an Arleigh Burke class Destroyer.

During the economic downturn, many manufacturers are setting to reduce the output and dismiss workers at manufacturing lines. But, small and mid-size LED makers are busy running manufacturing lines.

Taiwan surface-mounted chip LED manufacturer Harvatek Inc. recently announces that it would start an automotive-LED partnership with Osram in 2009 after two years of effort.

Orient Lighting introduces its high power UFO LED grow lights. LED Grow Lights do not consume as much power, do not require ballasts and produce a fraction of the heat of HID lamps, which adopt ideal wavelength LED emits only Photosynthetically Active Radiation to grow plants effectively and affordably. Besides, they produce little heat and save Save 75% power over HID grow lighting.

Cree Inc. has announced that it and Boston University have reached agreement with Bridgelux Inc. to settle the parties’ patent infringement litigation and to dismiss all claims and counterclaims in the suits. As part of the settlement, Bridgelux, a privately held company based in Sunnyvale, Calif., will pay royalties and license fees to settle litigation over patents held by Cree and Boston University.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Lighting Research Center (LRC) has enhanced its outreach education by taking the LED Lighting Institute “on the road.” In addition to the traditional three-day seminar held each spring and fall at the LRC, a two-day LED Lighting Institute program option has been added, which will be hosted at a program sponsor site each year.

After several years of foundering holiday sales for energy-efficient LED lighting, LED manufacturers and retailers reported sales that were surprisingly brisk even during an economic downturn.

Recently, Marktech Optoelectronics, Toshiba's optoelectronic partner in the U.S. expands its LED driver product family with two new high-performance devices from Toshiba - TB62777FNG and TB62778FNG. Their constant current LED drivers delivering a continuous current that can be regulated for superior illumination in the back-lighting of LCD panels, TV displays and notebook PCs, as well as light control for large RGB panel LED displays.

MAGA Essense Ltd. is promoting its LED light bars and T8 LED lighting fixture. The light bars are ideal for stairway lights, parking lot lights, showcase lights, cove lights, and fridge lights while the T8 fixture is made for offices.

OSRAM Opto Semiconductors announced that its series of Golden DRAGON LED has been chosen by Advanced Thermal Devices, Inc (ATD) for its LED illumination projects in Taiwan. Integrating the cutting edge chip technology and fitted with a silicone dome for greater light extraction efficiency, OSRAM’s Golden DRAGON and Golden DRAGON Plus LEDs provide high quality lighting solution for outdoor illumination. Both of them are characterized by an exceptionally long lifetime. There are two LED illumination projects ATD has been working with OSRAM.

According to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)’s recent study, the emerging solid-state lighting that replaces incandescent and fluorescent bulbs with LED can reap enormous savings in cost, natural resources and pollution. The firm claims that over the next 10 years, savings of more than $1.8 trillion will eliminate the need to burn almost a billion barrels of oil in power plants that would otherwise produce 10 gigatons in the carbon dioxide emissions.  

It’s reported that Nexxus Lighting, Inc. has begun production and sale of its new Array Lighting brand of LED lamps including Array Par 30, Par 16, G4, MR16 and GU10. The new Array Lighting Par 30, Par 16 and G4 LED are the first bulbs to begin production and offer direct replacement for conventional incandescent, halogen and CFL Par/R light bulbs and T3 bi-pin bulbs.

Cypress Semiconductor Corp. has announced that its easy-to-use intelligent lighting solutions support DRAGON LEDs from Osram Opto Semiconductors.

Rohm Co Ltd has developed the SML-L1 and SML-J1 series of side-view and top-view high-output surface-mount LEDs designed to provide autofocus flash functionality and auxiliary lighting in low light conditions for increasingly compact digital still and video cameras.

Beijing Huasun Optoelectronic Science Co., Ltd has developed a new kind of product — Flexible LED displayer, a flexible LED curtain, soft LED display, that can be folded, curved and transformed, as like the following picture.

Maxim Integrated Products has introduced the MAX16834, a current-mode, high-brightness LED (HB LED) driver for boost, buck-boost, SEPIC, and high-side buck topologies.

Shenzhen Bang-Bell Electronics Co., Ltd (BBE LED), a leader in the LED technology industry, announced that it has completed a project based on LED traffic light in Indonesia. LED technology is increasingly being used in traffic applications due to its longer life and energy-saving qualities. Compared to an incandescent Traffic Light, an LED Traffic Light will last up to 50,000 hours and significantly reduce light pollution.

Vishay Intertechnology, Inc. has released its first series of high-intensity white power SMD LEDs in the CLCC-2 flat ceramic package to offer InGaN/TAG on sapphire technology.

AIXTRON AG, a leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry, is pleased to announce an order for a MOCVD system from Showa Denko K.K., a Japan based leading manufacturer of Ultra-High-Brightness (UHB) LEDs received in the first quarter 2008.

Recently, Pegasus Associates Lighting introduces four new LED lights to its web site in light of ever increasing popularity of its selection of LED products. Three new battery operated LED products and a new LED Recessed Mini Bullet Light join a wide assortment of quality LED fixtures for the home, office, and outdoors.

Osram announces that it will set up a joint venture with Traxon Technologies Ltd., Hong Kong, a LED system and solution specialist, to strengthen its portfolio in the field of professional LED lighting systems and solutions.

Cree, Inc., a market leader in LED lighting, announces the volume availability of the LR24, a 24-inch square, recessed LED luminaire. The light fixture produces energy-efficient LED light, replacing traditional lighting such as linear fluorescents, also known as lay-ins or troffers.

Chinese LED lighting maker Everlite LED Lighting Co., Ltd, has launched its full range high power LED street lights including 30w, 42w, 60w, 84w, and 120w in terms of led power. All of them can be made into AC universal input voltage 85~265V, and also low voltage 12V/24Vdc for applying to solar lighting systems.

Permlight for Signs™, a division of Permlight Products, Inc., announced that it has expanded to the United Kingdom to manage increased demand for LED signage solutions from overseas customers. The company named Guy Young as national sales manager for the United Kingdom to support the expansion.

Recently, Supertex, Inc. introduced an LED driver- the HV9919, which designed to drive LEDs using a buck topology. The company said it is well suited for a variety of solid-state lighting applications, such as: industrial, architectural, signage, or decorative lighting; indicator or emergency lighting; and as a general purpose constant current source.

Taiwan LED lighting makers estimate LED market to take off in 2009 in spite of the ongoing financial crisis. In Taiwan, several significant LED lighting projects have launched by governments. The Taichung City government installed 5,000 streetlights by the end of October, the largest number of all. The Bureau of Energy under the Ministry of Economic Affairs has announced it will budget NT$150 million (US$4.5 million at US$1:NT$33) in 2009 to finance local governments on the island to erect a total number of 12,500 LED streetlights islandwide.

CML Innovative Technologies (CML-IT), one of the largest worldwide suppliers of miniature lighting components and systems, introduces a new 1 metre long double LED strip light unit complete with mounting base, screw holes and lens to replace fluorescent for general illumination, signage, retail lighting and transport lighting applications.

Cypress Semiconductor Corp. announced its intelligent lighting solutions - PSoC Designer(TM) 5.0 visual design software and the CY3265N-RGB evaluation kit support the Power LED series from Nichia Corporation.