Energy Focus, Inc. yesterday announced that it has been awarded a $0.5 million SBIR extension grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop and produce solid state lighting fixtures for general use on Navy ships. The new fixtures will replace 50 and 110 Watt water tight incandescent fixtures now in use. With the addition of these new fixtures Energy Focus, Inc. will be able to offer energy efficient, long-life LED lighting alternatives to replace both incandescent and fluorescent systems across the entire Navy fleet.

Utilizing its proprietary Ultra Low Distortion Solid State Power Supply technology, the fixtures to be developed over the next 11 months will replace inefficient incandescent fixtures. Beyond efficiency, life, and maintenance specifications, the fixtures must meet the Navy's new stringent requirements for LED systems which include light output, shock and vibration, corrosion, EMC and EMI compliance. "The SSL lights developed under this grant will save a significant amount of energy and maintenance. As an example, using only 26 watts, a new LED fixture saves 76% (or 84W) over the incandescent fixture it replaces. In addition, we fully expect that bulb replacement will become a thing of the past with the LEDs' projected lifetime of up to 50,000 hours or more," commented Roger Buelow, Energy Focus CTO.