Recently, LED lighting startup AHA LED of Taiwan opened its flagship shop in Taipei to build global marketing in light of the huge market potential of LED lighting. The company has reportedly landed US$72 million of orders from South Africa for LED lighting for roads and streets.

Recently, Eastman Kodak Company, a pioneer in OLED technology, announced the introduction of a highly efficient OLED material that will enable low-power, full-color displays with outstanding lifetimes.

OSRAM have undertaken outstanding projects that demonstrates the wide range of colours available, their versatility, their compact size and ease of installation given to architects, designers and installers. All this offers freedom to devise completely new lighting solutions, some of which can be incredibly creative and dramatic. Below are four examples of outstanding LED projects.  1. OSRAM LED sculpture welcomes visitors to London Heathrow's Terminal 5

It’s reported that Osram introduced the Kreios™ family of LED modules to the entertainment lighting industry at LDI 2008.

It’s reported that Nittoh Kogaku KK exhibited an LED light source module for use in low-power advertising signage as a reference at Kogen (light source) 2008, an exhibition that took place at Pacifico Yokohama from Oct 22 to 24, 2008.

Cree Inc. has announced revenue of $140.4M for its fiscal 1Q09, ended September 28, 2008. This represents a 24% increase over revenue of $113.4M in 1Q08 and a 3% increase over 4Q08 revenue.

It’s reported that Dialight is moving European production from its engineering and business development base in York, UK, to its manufacturing facility in Newmarket, UK, starting October 28. It’s disclosed that the move is in response to the continuing worldwide growth in demand for high quality LED lighting products. This growth has been accompanied by customer demand for higher levels of quality assurance and third party approvals such as UL, ENEC and ATEX.

Recently, Littelfuse Inc. has introduced the PLED 6 series, an open LED protector that provides a switching electronic shunt path when a single LED in an LED array fails as an open circuit. This ensures that the entire array of LEDs will continue to function even if a single LED in the array does not.  

It’s reported that Progress Energy and the city of Raleigh would complete the installation of LED streetlights downtown as part of a test of the lighting technology.

The residential zone, "Azabu no Oka," is located in Miyoshicho, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, and developed by Toyota Smile Life Inc. The roads and pathways in the zone, which has 204 housing plots, will be illuminated by LED lamps. It will take some time before the entire subdivision is completed, but LED lamps have been used since the start of the project.

IESNA's 27th annual Street and Area Lighting Conference (SALC) held this year in Denver on October 12th through 15th. It’s reported that the event broke previous records for attendance with over 500 people present.

It’a reported that Lighting Science (LSG), a global developer and integrator of intelligent and efficient LED solutions, and the ACO Group, the worldwide leader in water drain systems and intelligent water drainage, announced the global availability of the ACO Eyeleds solution for illuminating outdoor spaces.

Recently, Cree, Inc., a market leader in LED lighting, announces the release of its new-generation high-brightness 4-mm and 5-mm oval LEDs in blue, green and red. These new oval LEDs feature optically-matched radiation patterns in blue, green and red, resulting in superior image quality for digital billboard and full-color sign applications.

Recently, Spectronics Corporation has unveiled the powerful Spectroline® OPTIMAX(TM) 365 - a cordless, rechargeable true UV-A (365 nm) LED flashlight ideal for industrial leak detection. When used in conjunction with Spectroline® fluorescent fluid dyes, it is easy to pinpoint leaks in hydraulic systems, lubrication systems, pipelines, condensers, water storage tanks and much more.  

It's disclosed that fewer than 12 months after the introduction of GE’s exclusive Vio™ High-Power White LED, five lighting fixture manufacturers are marketing and selling commercial and residential fixtures that incorporate the violet-based, chip-on-board LED package from Lumination, LLC, GE Consumer & Industrial’s LED business.

Recently, ROHM Electronics announces the availability of the BD8113EFV-E2, a white LED driver IC designed to provide constant current drive for white LED backlights in medium- to large-format automotive TFT-LCD displays.

It’s reported that the new LED Engineering Kit from OSRAM Opto Semiconductors is a powerful tool for anyone who wants to test LEDs with various accessories and applications while gaining practical knowledge of LED lighting.

DDP, a leader in engineered LED solutions, has developed customizable, low-profile linear LED lighting designed specifically for small cove and indirect lighting applications in the commercial and high-end residential building markets.

Recently, Atlanta-based Acuity Brands, a lighting and cleaning products company, said that it's entered into a strategic partnership with Herndon, Va.'s Renaissance Lighting to work on the commercialization of LED lighting. Under the deal, Renaissance is licensing its intellectual property, including its Constructive Occlusion optical system, to Acuity. Financial terms of the partnership were not disclosed.  

It’s reported that LED backlight penetration will not be as quick as previously expected, it will only reach 10 percent this year. Previously LCD panel makers projected 15 to 20 percent penetration in the market this year.  

The global LED market is taking off in 2008 and is expected to become a full-blown one by the year 2010, according HP Lighting, a major LED manufacturer in Taiwan. HP Lighting’s insight is shared by LEDinside, which has predicted that as LED makers in Taiwan and Japan keep raising production, LED prices are bound to fall further before 2009. Lower prices will eventually lead to higher LED penetration among households, said the LED industry research group.

Recently, Irish company Nualight, which specializes in LED-based food display illumination, has announced its selection by leading retailer Tesco in a EUR1million deal to implement its energy-saving LED lighting product in Tesco Ireland’s stores.

School goes GREEN

Recently, Aluwave AB signed a development and supply contract for a light engine based on its LED-bearer material Alunat™. The contract value is estimated to 10 MSEK over four years and the unnamed customer is a European based multinational lighting manufacturer. With strong requirements on technical solution and quality Aluwave AB was selected and in order to reach high light output in combination with low power consumption and long product life the properties of Alunat™ was required.

It’s reported that Raja Parvez, CEO of Rubicon Technology, Inc., a leading provider of sapphire substrates and products, discussed the importance of the shift in the LED industry to larger diameter sapphire substrates in order to speed adoption of LEDs into high volume, high performance, green applications such as commercial lighting and large area display backlighting units.

Lighting in the future, as far as fact is concerned, is heading in the same direction. Ten to 15 years from now incandescent bulbs, fluorescent tubes and CFLs are going to be lightings of the past because of rapid advances in the field of organic light emitting diodes, or OLEDs. These are electronic devices made by placing a series of organic thin films between two conductors that begin to emit a bright light when an electrical current is applied.

It’s reported that LED chipmaker Epistar Corp. has landed hefty contracts to build the chips for Samsung and begun shipping the chips last month.

Recently, Lighting Science Group (LSCG), a global developer and integrator of intelligent and efficient LED solutions, announced that it has installed several integrated LED systems to create an interactive, dynamic lighting experience for the newly opened Club Devo in Goes, Netherlands. Using close to 100 percent LED technology for its lighting needs, Club Devo is the first nightclub in Europe believed to implement LED lighting systems on such a large scale.

Recently, Fort Walton Beach's public works department plans to install lighted street signs at three busy intersections this week. Employees spent last week completing the wiring work to install the LED signs. Public Works Director Tom Murray said “At nighttime it just makes the street name signs much more visible.” “It's very low energy because it's LED lighting and they're very, very effective lights at nighttime, that's very helpful for our visitors in the area,” Murray continued.

It’s reported that Taiwan's Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), with its One-Chip AC LED technology, has been selected a winner of the 2008 R&D 100 Awards competition sponsored by the U.S.-based R&D Magazine.