The US Department of Energy (DOE) had suspended the PAR 38 portion of the L Prize competition in which companies were working to develop an LED-based solid-state lighting (SSL) replacement for halogen lamps. But in the Lightfair International in May 2011, the DOE planed to reopen the competition with modified competition requirements.

It is rumored that Genesis Photonics would cooperate with china's Potevio Group soon in order to ensure orders from the China market. Potevio which was a China-based state-owned business conglomerate, previously formed a LED lighting joint venture with Taiwan's Unity Opto Technology through its subsidiary in 2009. In 2010 the company also signed a cooperation agreement with power supply maker ENG Technology, which produced LED lighting products as well, promising orders worth US$100 million.

Truck-Lite has launched its new LED Snow Plow Kit, which is capable of improving overall visibility for plowing vehicles and oncoming traffic, improving safety all around. Truck-Lite's work with the U.S. military developing the first LED headlamp led to a commercially suitable, DOT-compliant lamp. That led to creating a lighting system for snowplows that offered better visibility and added safety.

City of Foshan, Guangdong Province is reported to inject about 300 billion RMB to set up “Guangdong Green Lighting Demonstration Cities”. The five districts and Dongping town will promote the Foshan road （street）, tunnel, large-scale public buildings, as well as green lighting products upgrading.

Led by the city of Dover Electric Department, a total of 118 LED streetlights are being installed in Division Street in Dover. The savings should be approximately $3,000 per fixture with a potential savings of more than $350,000 over the next 20 years, according to Ron Lunt, director of Public Utilities. It’s reported that President Obama’s Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allocated $3.2 billion to the Department of Energy to fund energy efficiency and conservation initiatives.

Lately, the village of Bomba in Belize has brought in 50 solar LED lights with help from the Austin, TX-based U.S. organization Grid Earth (GEAR), targeting to eliminate the use of kerosene in homes and to aid in the economic growth of their village partners. The lights have small solar panels that can be installed on the roof or sit in the window that will charge a par 45 size LED lamp. The village can sustain these lamps from the resulted savings of up to 75% over the cost of kerosene.

Cree has named multi-channel electronics distributor Newark, part of global Premier Farnell, as its exclusive distributor in North America for the latest range of Cree LED modules.   The new Cree LMR4 modules are available in TrueWhite and EasyWhite technology options, which can provide a simple drop-in solution that uniquely integrates driver electronics, optics, and primary thermal management.  

It’s said that Luminus Devices has supported its SBT-16 LED pico-projection chipset for the power of Aiptek’s new PocketCinema V50 Projector, one of the world’s smallest projectors enabling instant projection anywhere for business presentations, photo sharing with family and friends and gaming.

LED chip packaging company Wellypower Optronics announced its consolidated revenues for December 2010 hit a record high of NT$820 million (US$28.16 million), and the company got revenues of NT$8.9 billion in the whole years, up 25.4% on year. In December, Wellypower’s LED products sales had a 55.62% share in the total revenues, while CCFL sales was at NT$319 million (38.93%) and lighting products was at NT$44.67 million (5.45%). 4Q10 revenues were NT$2.39 billion, which better than market expectations.

Recently, Everlight has taken the leads in the world’s first 3rd party verified Carbon Footprint Declaration of LED products by SGS, an international certificate organization that follows the PAS 2050：2008 standard verification from United Kingdom Accreditation Service.

After the EU, the US, Australia and others have imposed restrictions to phase out incandescent light bulbs, it’s reported that China is in the process of making the roadmap for banning the use of these bulbs. The restriction is expected to be unveiled in March. According to Wang Jinsui, director general of China Illuminating Engineering Society, said in China Business News, "The National Development and Reform Commission has been drafting the map."

There is a pair of gloves with inbuilt LED lights to prove just the thing for cyclists wanting to supplement their headlight, signal to drivers or change a tyre in the dark. The two single-bulb LEDs are mounted on a Velcro base that can be positioned at four points on the glove. The battery lasts for 14 hours.  

It’s reported that Lighting Science Group has appointed Travis Jones as vice president of national accounts. Jones will play an integral role in the management of existing national accounts, and the pursuit of new accounts.  He will report to John Bono, Lighting Science Group's vice president for strategic accounts. Before joining Lighting Science Group, Jones worked for Cooper Lighting where he was most recently the business development manager for national accounts.

Lextar Electronics ("Lextar" or the "Company") (TAIEX: 3698) has announced its preliminary December 2010 revenue of NT$ 660 million, comparable to that of November 2010 up by 16.6% and up by 85.8% year-over-year. In the forth quarter of 2010, Lextar’s unaudited revenues totaled NT$ 1.73 billion. For the year ended December 31, 2010, unaudited revenue totaled NT$ 8.1 billion, a 297% Y-o-Y increase. Sales Report :  (Unit: NT$ million)

Sharp has showcased 70-inch Quattron-series LED TV to CES this year. Under Quad Pixel technology, Sharp added yellow to the red, green and blue color gamut. The LC-70LE732U is the largest in the series thus far, outdoing the previous 60-inch flagship.

LED chip packaging company Unity Opto Technology’ revenues for December 2010 were NT$510 million (US$17.51 million), down 8.9% sequentially but increasing 30% on year. The accumulated revenues for the full year were NT$6.77 billion, up 69% compared to 2009. Looking forward, both new LED backlit units and new clients were expected to ship much more in 1Q11. LED lighting products’ revenues were also expected to reach 20% in the total revenues in 2011 compared to 13% in 2010.

The Japan-based LED maker Nichia announced that Lumitronix LED-Technik GmbH had became Nichia’s first official LED distributor in Germany from January 1, 2011. In the past, Nichia had used to supply its LEDs directly to end-use customers, without using distribution channels anywhere in the world. Nichia had also broken with its own tradition by cooperating with Lumitronix.

The market estimated that LED lighting products’ prices would drop by 15-20% each year amid increase competition in the market as vendors reduce prices to gain market share, which even be fall to one-third of current prices. At first, the Japanese market appeared to price war in 2009. Sources from LED companies indicated that the price competition had extended to China, Europe and the US.

A leader of Ledtech Electronics introduced, in 2011, the company would emphasis on the indoor lighting and low-temperature lighting market, working hard for revenue up 50% on year, which meant about NT$2.6 billion (US$89.27 million).

It’s reported that Philips Lighting has brightened the Cebu Capitol building with LED bulbs. According to Provincial Engineer Eulogio Pelayre, launched last month, the lighted Capitol building will be maintained by the company free of charge. The LED bulbs allow the Capitol to save 70 percent in power bills. No maintenance or replacement of bulbs is needed for the next 15 years at least.

A power control IC company iWatt’s president and CEO, Ron Edgerton is reported to present as a panel member in the private company track during the Piper Jaffray Sixth Annual Clean Technology & Renewables Conference which will held at The Westin New York at Times Square on January 12, 2011. Mr. Edgerton will discuss the role iWatt’s GreenTech power supply control ICs play in the clean technology industry, and specifically in the LED solid state lighting markets.

InvenLux Optoelectronics (China) has ordered Jordan Valley Semiconductors (JVS)’ QC3 HRXRD tool which is designed to provide characterization for GaAs, InP, Si and GaN (thick buffers) for HB-LED manufacturing industry.

Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) has further simplified indoor LED fixture design with its newly optimized XLamp® MX-6 LEDs, which feature higher flux options, new, longer lifetime estimates and higher CRI options. Cree has also completed LM-80 testing on MX-6 LEDs, which can enable quicker time to market for manufacturers designing ENERGY STAR®-rated fixtures.

Samsung Electronics has showed off more than 40 new LED models with screen sizes from 19-inches to 65-inches at the International Consumer Electronics Show. The new TVs offer dramatically enhanced picture quality in 2D, 3D, HD and streaming content, as well as richer connected entertainment options delivered through one of the most comprehensive offering of apps and connected devices. In addition, Samsung will also expand the number of 3D TV models available in 2011.

Arima Optoelectronics had got the first segment of patent licensing charge from its Chinese joint venture in Shanxi. The total licensing charge was CNY270 million and the joint venture would pay the full amount in five years with the first installment of CNY120 million (US$15.45 million) and CNY102 million after tax.

For all of 2010, Thinking Electronic Industrial posted revenues of NT$4.33 billion, increasing 35.8% from a year earlier. December consolidated revenues were NT$367 million (US$12.61 million), down 3.7% sequentially. In January of 2011, the company started to receive orders as usual, and Thinking's capacity would remain tight in 1Q11 as the company's new plant in China would not come online until 3Q11. But 1Q11 revenues would remain low compared to 4Q10, following the impact of the Chinese Lunar New Year holidays.

Royal Philips Electronics (AEX: PHI, NYSE: PHG) announced today that it has acquired Optimum Lighting LLC, a privately owned company specializing in customized energy-efficient lighting solutions for the office, industry and retail segments. This acquisition complements Philips’ customer-centric innovation capabilities and strengthens its global leadership position in professional lighting solutions.

Industry sources estimated Richtek Technology 1Q revenues in 2011 would be up 5-10% sequentially, with it's working hard in the handset, LED backlight and consumer electronics. In 2010, 4Q revenues were expected to top NT$2.6 billion, which was higher than the company's projection of NT$2.2-2.5 billion, with gross margin down about 35-38%. Except that, Richtek had completed a buyback of one million company shares from the open market at an average price of NT$253.53 per share.

It’s reportedly that Taiwan's Laser Tek planed to acquire a small- to medium-sized company specializing in surface-mount-technology (SMT) equipment, in order to advance its semiconductor equipment portfolio.

The All-New GL Procyon Series-Flood Light (SP100W-CW/WW)