San’an Opto has raised about RMB 3.24 billion (US$ 530 million) by privately issuing a total of 151 million stocks to eight specific investors, according to a recent report by Chinese-language Aastocks.com. The funding raised is equivalent to building a new San’an Opto enterprise. 

Another wave of industry restructuring is expected to occur in Taiwan and China as LED lighting penetration rates continue to rise, according to Chinese-language Apple Daily report. LEDinside and Photonics Industry and Technology Development Association (PIDA) both projected the large enterprises expansion trends is well established. Second tier LED die manufacturers are an important observation index in Taiwan, while in China it is LED package manufacturers.

Under the influence of Apple, manufacturers have maintained a positive outlook for sapphire substrate applications in consumer electronics, according to a Chinese-language CNA report. Aside from Apple, Taiwanese manufacturers are also quickening sapphire substrate patent applications.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has published a new report that documents early challenges and lessons learned in the development of the SSL market. Entitled Solid-State Lighting: Early Lessons Learned on the Way to Market, it summarizes early actions taken by DOE and others to avoid potential problems that were anticipated based on lessons learned from the market introduction of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). The report also identifies issues, challenges, and new lessons that have been learned in the early stages of SSL market introduction.

Joe DeNicholas, Product Line Manager, Lighting Power Products, Texas Instruments (TI) tackles some common issues in Multi-string LED lighting systems in this blog entry.

LightLab has signed an agreement with Osram Fluorescent Materials to co-develop a luminescent powder for general lighting. The two parties will jointly invest resources to develop a new powder optimized for LightLab’s EEE Light™ Technology.

Viper Networks, an intelligent LED lighting solutions provider, is pleased to announce that in partnership with Apollo Metro Solutions, Inc., the Company has concluded its preliminary pilot in the city of Doha, Qatar. There is a secondary pilot already approved and set for shipment in four weeks.

Monique Cousineau, Social Media Specialist, Philips Lighting North America observes the transiting hospital lighting in this latest blog entry. Hospitals play a vital role in all cities. We have all crossed the threshold of our local hospital either as a patient or a visitor. When I was a child I thought our hospital was so impersonal and intimidating.

Plastic Logic, the leader in the development and industrialisation of flexible organic electronics, and Novaled, a leading company in organic electronic materials and technology for OLED applications, announce a partnership which will transform and accelerate the market for flexible and wearable displays. The companies demonstrate today at the Flextech Conference in Phoenix, AZ a truly flexible, plastic, fully organic AMOLED display.

Headquartered in Cary, North Carolina, U.S., LORD Corporation is a diversified technology and manufacturing company developing highly-reliable adhesives, coatings, motion management devices and sensing technologies that significantly reduce risk and improve product performance. With 15 manufacturing facilities and nine R&D facilities worldwide, LORD’s commitment to finding innovative ways to create more sustainable workplaces for its more than 2,900 employees led to Cree, the industry leader in LED lighting.

Understanding that quality of light is essential to the widespread adoption of LED lighting, Soraa discussed this week at SPIE Photonics West 2014 how whiteness rendering has a strong effect on lighting and object preference.

Great & Best Technology Corporation is devoted to machinery lights and Hi-bay lights used in factory or warehouse. 

LED industry will be able to overcome the oversupply glut over the last few years in 2014, as it hops onto lighting’s growing trend, according to estimations by Veeco. Epistar Chairman B.J. Lee projected earlier the LED supply and demand situation will gradually ease in 2014, and LED manufacturers are also optimistic about lighting developments in 2014. Large MOCVD manufacturers such as Veeco are also optimistic about a new generation of MOCVD equipment demands spurred by LED lighting growth.

In recent years, the LED light source has dramatically changed the lighting industry, adding numerous possibilities in lighting and it is expected both by the industry and the household users to completely replace the traditional light source as a brand new light solution in the near future.

Observance of an International Year of Light in 2015 will help raise awareness of the important role of photonics in solving challenges in healthcare, communications, food supply, and other important issues for people everywhere, say leaders of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics. SPIE is among scientific organizations around the world that have championed proclamation by the United Nations of the observance, and whose members are planning outreach activities and celebrations.

A standard way to configure the backlight is to use two discrete devices: a 100 V MOSFET in a DPAK package and a 100 V Schottky diode, also in a DPAK package. High leakage current of Schottky diode can be a problem in LED backlight units, especially at higher temperatures. Some customers have experienced leakage failure issue of Schottky diode during mass production. One way to improve the leakage failure is to increase the Schottky diode’s voltage rating from 100 V to 120 V, but leakage current can still be an issue when the system temperature is high.

As the Chinese Lunar New Year comes to an end this week, Scotland capital Edinburgh, U.K, has been immersed in f the festive atmosphere with the display of Lanterns of Terracotta Army at the Old College Qaud, South Bridge from Jan. 31-Feb. 7, 2014.

Philips Lumec blogger Monique Cousineau interviews two Canadian multimedia companies that threw a spectacular lighting show prior to the SuperBowl. Below is the blog entry:

LEDtronics® announced that it helped the Hilton Garden Inn in Washington, D.C., eliminate the time and costs involved in maintaining old, incandescent bulbs on their marquee canopy by replacing them with the latest in lighting technology — LED bulbs

Larson Electronics releases a New Four Color Explosion Proof LED Signal Stack Light that is Class 1 Division 1 and Class 2 Division 1 approved and may be used in wet locations and marine environments. This waterproof LED equipped light is designed for routing traffic in industrial refueling stations and process status indication in manufacturing facilities.

Apple is rumored to be actively pursuing the launch of its new sapphire plant in Mesa, Arizona for a “critical new sub-component,” according to a report by MacRumor based on documents from 9to5Mac.The company is rumored to open the plant by February.

Rubicon Technology, a leading provider of sapphire substrates and products to the LED, semiconductor, and optical markets, today announced that it will showcase its line of optical products for use in defense and aerospace, instrumentation and analytical processing, sensors and detectors, semiconductor process equipment, and medical and laser applications at the Photonics West Exhibition, February 4-6, 2014 at The Moscone Center in San Francisco, California. 

NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Conditions Index (EBCI) for current conditions in North America slipped below the 50-point level typically associated with expansion in January for the first time since October 2012. The index declined for the third straight month, falling to 40.6 from 52.8 in December. The share of respondents that reported conditions improved in January declined to 12.5 percent from 16.7 percent in December, while the share reporting conditions deteriorated increased to 31.3 percent from 11.1 percent. Just over 56 percent of respondents indicated that conditions were unchanged from December to January. 

San Diego announced today that it will illuminate its downtown district with GE Lighting’s intelligent lighting system, including LED street lighting, making it the first city in the United States to adopt GE’s LightGrid™ technology. The new system, set to be in place by spring of this year, will offer improved and energy-efficient lighting that will save the city more than a quarter-million dollars in energy costs each year.

Osram Opto Semiconductors is keeping pace with the constant growth of the market and switching its fabrication of red, orange and yellow light emitting diodes to 6-inch wafers. The German high-tech company is therefore extending the fabrication of all large-wafer LEDs to the indium-gallium-aluminum-phosphide (InGaAlP) material system and therefore expanding its production capacity. The company began switching fabrication of blue LED chips back in 2011.

Cree introduces SmartCast™ Technology, the first self-programming wireless lighting-control system that reduces energy consumption by more than 70 percent*, at half the cost of traditional lighting controls. Intuitive and easy to use, luminaires enabled with Cree SmartCast Technology remove the initial and ongoing complexity associated with lighting controls, allowing customers to realize the full savings potential of lighting controls with benefits they’ve never had before. 

TOGGLED, developer and producer of next-generation solid-state lighting technology, reported today that in 2013 it was awarded 16 new LED lighting patents by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and 5 new LED lighting patents by international patent offices. With a total of 47 patents issued and more than 40 patents pending, the company continues to invest heavily in research and development, design, engineering, and manufacturing automation.  These investments have globally positioned TOGGLED as an intellectual property leader and competitive producer of commercial-grade LED lighting solutions.

Xeleum Lighting today announced the availability its XCO-100 SMART-LIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM. This affordable and easy-to-install lighting control system reduces lighting energy usage by 80 percent or more over conventional lighting systems that do not utilize LEDs, daylight harvesting and occupancy sensing.

Universal Display Corporation, enabling energy-efficient displays and lighting with its UniversalPHOLED® technology and materials, announced it exhibited with partner IDD Aerospace/Zodiac Lighting Solutions a white OLED lighting prototype for aircraft interiors at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) 11th annual Solid-State Lighting (SSL) R&D Workshop in Tampa, FL. The workshop took place January 28–30, 2014.

Lumex announces the global launch of its TitanBrite High-Voltage, Low-Current LED, the newest addition to the TitanBrite family of high-power LEDs. The TitanBrite High-Voltage, Low-Current LED can run at a higher voltage with a lower current than alternative technologies (such as a traditional10W LED) while providing up to 45% brighter light output and superior light distribution. This allows for up to 20% cost and 50% real estate savings for applications requiring low current, but high light output. Though high-voltage, low-current LEDs provide key performance benefits for applications that use LED drivers that offer higher voltages to drive a high-power LED, few design engineers are aware that these technologies are available and can produce the comparable if not brighter light output.