On September 5, 2019, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) finalized a set of new rules that eliminate the policy of LED light bulbs transition requirement starting January 1, 2020. The revise policy is considered a roll-back of the efficiency standards passed by Obama in 2017 and will slow down LED light upgrade. The policy was proposed in February 19, 2019 by DOE to withdraw the definitions of general service lamp (GSL) and general service incandescent lamp (GSIL) and other supplemental definition that adopt the efficiency standards. American Council ...

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Next Generation Lighting Systems (NGLS) program announced the launch of the next phase of evaluations of indoor connected lighting systems. The new phase will include the upgrade of existing systems as well as the addition of new systems that are also marketed as easy to install and configure. The systems will be evaluated over a two-year period for installation, configuration, control operation, lighting quality, energy savings, and user satisfaction. The initial phase began in 2017 which evaluated 12 systems installed in wor...

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $15 million to conduct early-stage, innovative research to drive further breakthroughs in solid-state lighting (SSL) technology. This funding will accelerate the development of high-quality light-emitting diode (LED) and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) products with the potential to reduce lighting energy costs for American families and businesses and to enhance U.S. global competitiveness.

3D facial recognition has come into the spotlight after Apple’s introduction of Face ID in the iPhone X. Companies in the supply chain have also become the new focuses of inestors. In fact, 3D sensing technology has been around for years, but did not have commercial applications of facial recognition in smartphones until 2017. The reasons why it happened in 2017 can be explained in terms of components, modules andsubsystems, computing and systems, end-devices and applications.

Research and development in the field of LED lighting and solar in Paso Robles is spearheading a green lighting revolution. The most energy efficient, the cleanest and most eco-friendly way of illumination is LED lighting. The United States Department of Energyreports that, “The light-emitting diode (LED) is one of today's most energy-efficient and rapidly-developing lighting technologies.”

Apple’s development of 3D sensing highly interests the market. A list of companies joining Apple’s 3D sensing supply chain has been revealed in a recent report, which includes quite a number of Taiwanese firms, including TSMC, Largan Precision, Foxconn, Tong Hsing Electronic Industries, GSEO, Xintec, and VisEra.  

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released a new Snapshot report on LED downlights. Among the key findings of the Snapshot, which is based on DOE's LED Lighting Facts® database: The efficacy of LED downlights is lower than for most other product categories, although it's higher than for downlights using conventional light sources. About 50% of the downlights listed have a luminous efficacy greater than 70 lm/W, with only 2% above 100 lm/W. The mean efficacy for downlight luminaires only increased by 1 lm/W...

The Energy Department is announcing funding for seven R&D projects that will support key scientific advancements in solid-state lighting (SSL) technology. The projects will help accelerate the development of high-quality light-emitting diode (LED) and organic light-emitting diode (OLED) lighting products that can significantly reduce energy costs for American families and businesses by using less electricity than products currently in use, and ensure that the U.S. remains a global leader in SSL innovation.

Pixelligent Technologies awarded 2 grants from the Dept. of Energy to advance its leadership position in OLED Lighting technology and a grant from the Dept. of Defense to further develop its Lubricant technology application.

DOE has published the results of a study of the expected contributions to sky glow from converting high-pressure sodium (HPS) street lighting to broader-spectrum (i.e., white light) sources, with specific focus on LEDs, and presents the contributions in a manner relative to HPS baseline conditions. These conditions represent typical conversions in the U.S. and include changes in spectral power distribution (SPD), percent uplight, and lumen output.

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has formally requested that the Secretary of Energy complete a rulemaking for general service lamps (light bulbs) that Congress required in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA-2007). 

DOE’s annual Connected Lighting Systems Workshop gathers top experts in the lighting and IT industries, and their customers, for cross-cutting dialogue on the promise, potential, and challenges of connected lighting systems. Collaboration is essential if the full benefits of connected lighting systems are to be realized. 

Snapshot reports use data from DOE's LED Lighting Facts product list to compare the LED performance to standard technologies, and are designed to help lighting retailers, distributors, designers, utilities, energy efficiency program sponsors, and other stakeholders understand the current state of the LED market and its trajectory.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has published the first part of a study to explore the energy reporting capability of commercially marketed Power over Ethernet (PoE) connected lighting systems. 

ADI Energy, an energy services company headquartered in Smithfield, Rhode Island, announced it completed construction of a significant LED Lighting Upgrade at the US Department of Energy (DOE) James Forrestal Building in Washington DC.  

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science has awarded four Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and one Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grants for projects targeting critical advances in solid-state lighting (SSL) technology. The five Phase I Release 1 grants will explore the technical merit and commercial potential of different innovative concepts or technologies that are expected to contribute to the achievement of the price and performance goals described in DOE’s SSL R&D Plan. 

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released a new Snapshot Report on LED troffer luminaires. Among the key findings of the Snapshot, which is based on DOE's LED Lighting Facts® database:

Power management company Eaton today announced that the company has joined with the NextGen Home Experience® to inspire builders to build the homes of the future today. The 2017 NextGen First to the Future™ online television series will feature and promote the United States Department of Energy’s (DOE) Zero Energy Ready Home program, which educates and encourages builders to build high performance homes that feature energy savings, comfort, health and durability unparalleled in today’s marketplace.

New LED ballasted tube lighting fixtures with external drivers from LG Electronics are among the first to meet the U.S. Department of Energy's stringent new external power supply standards that took effect this year, LG Electronics USA announced.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science published the Fiscal Year 2017 Phase I, Release 2 Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) on November 28, 2016, for the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs. Under DE-FOA-0001619, whose complete listing of technical topics was released on October 31, DOE seeks applicants for grants directed toward FY17 Phase I, Release 2 projects. Topics for this funding opportunity can be found at //science.energy.gov/sbir/funding-opportunities and include LED and OLED lighting (see topic 10b).

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Loan Programs Office (LPO) has announced an opportunity that may be of interest to the solid-state lighting community. The LPO invests in the power of American innovation to accelerate the deployment of innovative clean-energy projects across the U.S. in order to avoid, reduce, or sequester greenhouse gases. To date, it has supported a large, diverse portfolio of more than US $30 billion in loans, loan guarantees, and commitments that have covered more than 30 projects nationwide, generating over US $50 billion in total project investment, supporting job creation, cutting pollution, and enhancing American competitiveness in the global economy.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has released CALiPER Report 24: Photometric Testing, Laboratory Teardowns, and Accelerated Lifetime Testing of OLED Luminaires, which is the first CALiPER report evaluating the performance of OLED luminaires based on independent procurement and testing. Among the findings:

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released a new Snapshot report on outdoor area lighting that covers area/roadway luminaires, parking garage luminaires, and canopy luminaires. Outdoor area lighting is a major contributor to nationwide energy use, and the market segment has been an important player in the transition to solid-state lighting.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a solid-state lighting (SSL) R&D funding opportunity on October 12, 2016. Under this funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0001613, “Solid-State Lighting Advanced Technology R&D—2017”), a total of up to $10 million in funding is directed toward all three existing DOE SSL R&D program areas:

  LED street lighting has been in the news a lot lately, in the wake of the American Medical Association (AMA) issuing community guidance that cited the potential for increased blue-wavelength light in the night sky resulting from the ongoing conversion of high-pressure sodium street lighting to LED. The applicability of that guidance, however, critically depends on the accuracy of a number of underlying assumptions and other relevant factors that, unfortunately, are not covered in the AMA document. On October 20, DOE will host a webinar to examine key issues re...

The U.S. Department of Energy's GATEWAY program has released a new report on a pilot installation of tunable-white LED systems at a senior-care facility in Sacramento, CA. The installation took place at the ACC Care Center and was conducted by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), which invited GATEWAY to document the performance of the new lighting systems. Two of the primary goals identified by SMUD and ACC were to learn more about how tunable-white lighting affects the sleep patterns, nighttime safety, and other behaviors of the residents; and to better equip the staff to provide excellent care by improving the quality of lighting relative to the incumbent system.

The U.S. Department of Energy has just published the latest edition of its biannual report,Energy Savings Forecast of Solid-State Lighting in General Illumination Applications, which models the adoption of LEDs in the U.S. general-lighting market, along with associated energy savings, based on the full potential DOE has determined to be technically feasible over time. The new report uses an updated 2016 U.S. lighting-market model and extends the forecast period to 2035 from the 2030 limit that was used in previous editions.

The U.S. Department of Energy has recognized The Wendy's® Company and one of its franchisees, Wendco Group, for their partnership in the Better Buildings Challenge and for leadership in energy efficiency. The Wendy's Company has made a commitment to reduce energy consumption in U.S. company-owned restaurants by 20 percent per transaction by 2025.  Wendy's is also the first restaurant company to include franchisees in the Better Buildings Challenge. To date, six franchisees have joined and more than 570 company and franchisee operated restaurants are participating in this program. 

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released a new Snapshot report on linear LED lamps, commonly known as TLEDs. 

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