LED Magazine 2018-10

OCTOBER 2018
+
LEDsmagazine.com
In the chips
Cashing in on
smart cities P. 15
Smart hotels
Interacting with
the guest P. 19
Closing the loop

TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS OF LIGHT EMITTING DIODES Horticultural
lighting P. 31
Packaged
LEDs
Ascending
the quality
pyramid P. 23
1810leds_C1 1 9/21/18 10:32 AM

Natural & Healthy Light
• Improves the light experience for human health benefits

• Closely matches the spectrum of natural sunlight
• Harmonizes light output with natural circadian rhythms
• Minimizes negative effects of conventional LED light sources
Visit seoulsemicon.com to learn

more about SunLike Series LEDs.
1810leds_C2 2 9/21/18 10:26 AM

ISSUE 109
2018
October Cover Story
Progress in packaged LEDs extends
from manufacturing techniques to
addressing spectrum requirements in
niche applications (see p. 23; cover by
Chris Hipp. Packaged LED device images
courtesy of Cree, Lumileds, Osram Opto
Semiconductors, Samsung, and Seoul
Semiconductor).
features
15 INDUSTRY INSIGHTS
The next wave in outdoor lighting is built on
smart cities
Martin Wittmann, Osram Opto Semiconductor
columns/departments
19 CONTROLS & IOT
Signify pushes into new data territory at 3 COMMENTARY Maury Wright
Recognize excellence and light quality in
Singapore hotel LED development and SSL system design
Mark Halper
7 NEWS +ANALYSIS
23 FOCUS ON PACKAGED LEDS

LEDs deliver significant gains in light quality, move
Acclaim Lighting bathes
iconic Radio Flyer facility with
colorful LED beams
toward CSP future
Maury Wright Signify still sells lights! Unveils
some 20 new Hue models
Fluence publishes cannabis
31 SPECIAL SECTION:
HORTICULTURAL SSL
horticultural lighting research,
names new COO
Spectral sensors enable horticultural SSL to Michigan State Controlled
increase crop yields for indoor farming Environment Lighting Laboratory
explores LEDs for horticulture
Markus Busz, ams
Fagerhult sets start date for
new CEO, as Brexit strikes an
36 HORTICULTURAL: DEVELOPER FORUM
Indoor farming poses circuit protection challenges
otherwise decent quarter
Zumtobel cites ‘gross negligence’
for LED lighting systems as reason for firing CEO
Todd Phillips, Littelfuse LED industry marks latest
round of IP skirmishes
Cree toughens XP-G3, LG Innotek
40 LAST WORD
Halogen lighting wanes while LED lamps are
targets continuous disinfection
on the rise
Simon Reed, Sylvania
LEDsmagazine.com OCTOBER 2018 1
1810leds_1 1 9/21/18 10:37 AM

HortiCoolture.
LED it grow!
© eiPal
#LEDITGROW
electronica Hall B6 Booth 404

Horticulture LED Lighting
New horticultural products from the high power ceramic series. Specially chosen wavelengths  High efficacy
(450 nm, 660 nm and 730 nm) increase photosynthesis, optimizing plant development and growth.  Individually adjustable color spectrum
With outstanding PPF-value, small size and low power consumption, the WL-SMDC for each plant
is the future choice for horticultural lighting. Available ex stock. Samples free of charge.  Full color spectrum available incl.
white, UV and IR-LEDs
For further information please visit:  Low thermal resistance
www.we-online.com/leditgrow  Electrically neutral thermal path
 One footprint for all colors
For a short introduction of Horticulture LEDs read our Application Note:
www.we-online.com/AN-Horti
1810leds_2 2 9/21/18 10:37 AM

commentary
Recognize excellence and light quality in

LED development and SSL system design
T
here has been a troubling age (CSP) LED architectures. Similarly, continued improvement is needed and
thought lurking in the far the brilliant solid-state lighting (SSL) sys- it is happening. But the lighting indus-
reaches of my mind for a tem design isn’t recognized. It’s almost try, and the consumers involved, should
while — one that was never fully as if electrical lighting has always been not accept commodity-grade light-
focused and never present in a commodity and always will be, so the ing because excellent technologies are
the forefront. But gathering the technologies involved in complex SSL sys- already on the market.
information for our Focus on: tems get commodity treatment. And let’s close on the subject of excel-
Packaged LED feature (p. 23) for But if you peruse the products included lence. By the time you read this, we will
this issue brought out the con- in our cover story, it becomes very appar- be approaching the final Oct. 19 dead-
cern front and center. Too many people ent that the best packaged LEDs are line for our fifth-annual LEDs Magazine
— those working in the lighting industry not commodity devices. We are seeing Sapphire Awards (https://www.ledsmag-
as well as in adjacent technology and con- incredibly complex components that can azine.com/sapphire-awards). Make sure
sumer goods sectors — fail to recognize yield lighting scenarios such as we have your organization does not miss out on
the value captured in the best packaged never seen before. We had a recent web- a chance to win Sapphire at the Gala we
LEDs. There is far too much disregard for cast on lighting for health and wellbeing will hold in Las Vegas next year during
the brilliant material science, manufac- (http://bit.ly/2NbXecn), and one speaker, Strategies in Light (https://www.strat-
turing techniques, package technologies, Dr. Octavio Perez, was asked if the incan- egiesinlight.com). The program covers
and more that so many engineers — or descent source was a perfect one from the components to luminaire design. And
what we often call illumineers — spend perspective of human physiology and psy- our Illumineer of the Year Award will cap
their long days bringing to fruition. chology, ignoring the problematic inef- the awards ceremony. Visit our blog at the
I’ve heard far too many people of late ficiency. Perez said that at low intensity, link below to learn more about the pro-
just flippantly say that LEDs can replace ncandescent provides a perfect nighttime gram and find more inspiration to aid
any light source in any application. I’ve source. But only the sun or broad-spec- in presenting your submissions’ most
said and written those or similar words trum LEDs, probably with tunable spectral important qualities to our judging panel
too often myself. The words are true. power distribution (SPD), can approach (http://bit.ly/2N7uGke).
But the way they are used often seem to perfection over 24 hours.
undervalue the technology inherent in And that’s the basis of my beef here. Maury Wright,
packaged LEDs or even the technology LEDs enable features and benefits that no EDITOR
that has allowed the sector to remove source other than the sun ever has. LEDs mauryw@pennwell.com
most of the package in chip-scale pack- aren’t perfect. As our article points out,
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1810leds_3 3 9/21/18 10:37 AM

FEATURED events
| web exclusives Horticultural Lighting Conference – USA
October 9–10, 2018
Portland, OR
IALD Enlighten Americas
Editorial Digest October 11–13, 2018
Seattle, WA
LED testing methodology
LightShow West
must evolve to meet demands October 17–18, 2018
on new SSL designs Las Vegas, NV
http://bit.ly/2N6Yrlf Photometry Institute
October 23–24, 2018
Lighting Research Center
Webcasts Troy, NY
Display industry reflects an application- LED Specifier Summit Chicago

November 13, 2018
driven shift in illumination technologies Chicago, IL
http://bit.ly/2nJRZSc LuxLive
November 14–15, 2018
London, UK
Full-spectrum LEDS and
Lux Awards
indoor daylight support for November 15, 2018
health and wellbeing London, UK
http://bit.ly/2nH3865 LED Expo Benelux

February 6–7, 2019
Brabanthallen, Den Bosch, the Netherlands
Market Research Strategies in Light 2019
February 27–March 1, 2019
Lighting for health and wellbeing: Las Vegas, NV
The market for circadian light LEDs Magazine Sapphire Awards Gala
and lighting for disinfection February 28, 2019
Las Vegas, NV
http://bit.ly/2N7MxaQ
MORE: www.ledsmagazine.com/events
For more online exclusive resources, go to: ledsmagazine.com/resources
ADVERTISERS index
American Bright Optoelectronics .......................................... 27 Lutron Electrics Co. Inc. .......................................................17
Cree Inc. .......................................................................... CV4 Masterbond ........................................................................ 16
CSA Group .......................................................................... 21 Osram Digital Systems ........................................................ 11
Eptronics ............................................................................ 16 Samsung Electronics............................................................. 6
Future Lighting Solutions ....................................................... 5 Sapphire Awards 2019 ....................................................... 30
Griplock Systems LLC.......................................................... 39 Seoul Semiconductor Co. Ltd. .......................................... CV2
Hubbell Lighting Components .............................................. 25 Shenzhen Ledfriend Optoelectronics Co. Ltd. ...................... 22
Instrument Systems GmbH.................................................. 33 Shenzhen Moso Electronics Techology Co. Ltd. ..................... 9
Inventronics (Hangzhou) Inc. ................................................ 12 Shenzhen Sosen Electronics Co. Ltd. .................................. 35
Lighting Science .................................................................. 13 Strategies in Light 2019 ..................................................... 29
Linear Technology ............................................................. CV3 UL....................................................................................... 39
Lumileds ............................................................................. 14 Wurth Elektronik Eisos GmbH & Co. KG ................................. 2
Luminus Inc. ...................................................................... 18
This ad index is published as a service. The publisher does not assume any liability for errors or omissions.
4 OCTOBER 2018 LEDsmagazine.com
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1810leds_6 6 9/21/18 10:36 AM
+
news views
FAÇADE LIGHTING
Acclaim Lighting bathes
Photo credit: Acclaim Lighting.

iconic Radio Flyer facility
with colorful LED beams
Acclaim Lighting has released details of a dynamic LED
color façade lighting project at the Radio Flyer company describes as a “whimsical spirit” in the organization. More-
headquarters on West Grand Avenue in Chicago, IL. The over, the company wanted to be able to light the 167×30-ft
company long known for its bright-red kids’ wagons can façade day and night.
now make its facility appear equally bright red, day or JR Lighting was tasked with the lighting design that had
night, alongside the giant replica wagon just outside to meet Radio Flyer’s vision and perform in Chicago’s harsh
the front door. Acclaim supplied the solid-state lighting climate. “The client requested that the lighting be viewable
(SSL) products to a team including JR Lighting Design, during the morning and daytime hours on an east-facing
Gensler Architects, Leopardo Construction, and Grand wall that is made primarily of glass,” said Jason Reberski,
Kahn Electric. president of JR Lighting Design. “Any element of the light-
Radio Flyer sought to revamp its headquarters, which ing system needed to be able to withstand the harsh condi-
had been a brick-clad building, in a way that more closely tions an outdoor permanent installation faces in Chicago’s
matched the sleek and colorful wagons, scooters, bikes, winter and summer months.”
and other ride-on products that it produces. The answer The environmental conditions meant that the lumi-
was a tube-steel-frame and channel-glass front wall that naires installed would have to be IP65 rated. A feature arti-
welcomes visitors with sparkle and what the company cle explains that concept with more details on the ingress
SMART LAMPS HORTICULTURAL LIGHTING
Signify still sells lights! Unveils Fluence publishes cannabis

some 20 new Hue models horticultural lighting
Now, something for readers who might be heartened to know that
lighting companies are still providing lights, despite their obsession research, names new COO
with becoming Internet and data firms: Signify is adding a num- Fluence Bioengineering has announced the results
ber of snazzy models achieved via the installation of LED lighting at the
to its color-changing San Francisco Eve Farms legal and licensed industri-
Hue home line, both for al-scale cannabis farm. The indoor facility uses a two-
indoor and outdoor use. layer vertical configuration and the SSL has enabled a
Signify unveiled some near doubling of output and a higher-quality product.
21 new Hue products at Meanwhile, the company has also announced that
the IFA consumer elec- David Cohen, most recently CEO of Schréder Lighting
tronics and home appli- USA, has joined the executive team as COO.
ance show in Berlin sev- Eve Farms compared the performance of new LED
eral weeks back. lighting in an indoor grow room relative its prior
Hue is Signify’s brand high-pressure sodium (HPS) lighting. The company
Photo credit: Signify.
of LED bulbs, strips, and installed Fluence SPYDRx Plus horticultural fixtures
luminaires designed to change color and CCT to suit different moods that feature a central linear structural element and
and occasions. Not that Hue is miles away from the “data and Inter- as many as eight perpendicular LED light bars. The
net” strategy that today defines the push by both Signify » page 8 largest configuration is designed to uni- » page 10
1810leds_7 7 9/21/18 10:35 AM

news+views
protection rating (http://bit.ly/2NLhYUM). capable such SSL system in the world. Osram Signify from page 7
Meanwhile, the project demanded a close Innovations and Osram Opto Semiconductors (http://bit.ly/2LAk0VC) and the SSL
chromaticity match across the luminaires, partnered to develop the enhanced version industry to equip the lighting infra-
enough light output to be visible during the of the Osram Phytofy system, stretching the structure with chips and sensors that
day, and simple-to-use controls. spectral flexibility with seven dedicated LED collect data transmitted via the Inter-
JR Lighting settled on Acclaim fixtures. channels (http://bit.ly/2wKT8xT). The sys- net (http://bit.ly/2PamxYX). After all,
“The most important part was that the batch tem equips the MSU horticultural depart- Hue lights tend to be controllable by
of installed fixtures color match as much as ment with broad flexibility to test light reci- Internet-connected apps, and thus have
possible, because the façade system as a whole pes and to experiment with changing the look data-collecting implications.
was one large surface that needed to be illumi- and taste/smell of cultivars. Of the 19 new Hue LED lights, one is
nated evenly and show no signs of color varia- Dr. Erik Runkle, PhD, directs the horticul- aimed squarely at the home entertain-
tion,” Reberski said. “Acclaim’s ability to ensure tural research work at CELL. Runkle is our key- ment and gaming community, two are
a near-perfect color match across fixtures was note speaker at the LEDs Magazine Horticul- intended for outdoor use, and the oth-
a key component in selecting this product.” tural Lighting Conference this year in Portland ers are targeted at living rooms, dining
The project uses Acclaim Dyna Drum HO (for more on the conference, see p. 33). Runkle rooms, kitchens, and bathrooms.
custom RGB+R flood fixtures. As the model and his team of researchers are using the LED Gaming is an important part of
name implies, the luminaires have red, green, system on a variety of cultivars including leafy Signify’s Hue efforts. Early this year,
and blue LED channels to allow the genera- greens. The work seeks to improve yield and it teamed with Razer to integrate
tion of any color. But the +R suffix indicates productivity along with exploring the potential prompts into computer games that
the addition of a second channel of red LEDs. of impacting the essential oils in plants. change room lighting in sync with
That custom modification allows perfect rep- The custom-designed SSL system includes game action, for what is being called
lication of Radio Flyer’s iconic red color and the following LED channels: “immersive lighting,” while providing
makes it visible even during the day. • UV-A 380 nm similar capabilities for Windows and
The luminaires are connected and con- • Blue 450 nm Apple games (http://bit.ly/2NLkU3K). ◀
trolled using the Acclaim Aria wireless DMX • Green 520 nm MORE: http://bit.ly/2NOFLTL
transceivers. The products are outdoor rated • Hyper red 650 nm
and afford 15 communication channels in the • Far red 730 nm
unlicensed 2.4-GHz band. The Radio Flyer • Warm white 2700K matic channels including an ultraviolet (UV)-
project marked the first commercial instal- • Equalized (EQ) white 6500K C-band channel. As we covered in an article
lation of the Aria technology for Acclaim, but Horticultural lighting science has long on the Horticultural Lighting Conference
the team that worked on the project said the held that blue and red spectral energy align 2017, UV-C spectral energy can stress plants,
controls are working flawlessly. with chlorophyll absorption peaks that drive creating a change in the look and flavor or
We regularly write about SSL projects photosynthesis. We covered much of that potency of cultivars (http://bit.ly/2wMeoTG).
on iconic buildings or at historic sites. And lighting theory in a feature article on the The two phosphor-converted white chan-
many are spectacular, such as our recent topic (http://bit.ly/2wKGoGs). We have also nels, meanwhile, deliver the broad spectrum
coverage of Salesforce Tower in San Fran- covered the theory that broader-spectrum for biomass yield and good light for work-
cisco (http://bit.ly/2NLnC9e). And the light is needed for crops such as tomatoes ers. The EQ white has prevalent yellow-green
details of how a designer achieves the goals or cannabis that develop biomass. energy and was originally developed for the
of a project are inevitably interesting, such The MSU system features five monochro- Osram Brilliant Mix technology — a blue-
as the project at the John Hancock Center in shifted yellow plus red approach
Chicago that had custom lighting elements to high-efficacy and warm-white
in play (http://bit.ly/2NQJsrR). But the Radio luminaires for general illumination
Flyer façade lighting project will likely stand (http://bit.ly/2wGVk9E).
out, attracting families visiting Chicago to There is an excellent video on the
drive by the facility to see the new lighting Osram website that discusses ele-
and the matching giant replica wagon. ◀ ments of Runkle’s work (http://bit.
ly/2wGW66y). The smart SSL sys-
Michigan State Controlled tem both enables simple control of
Environment Lighting Laboratory the seven channels and eliminates
explores LEDs for horticulture the need for manual verification of
The Controlled Environment Lighting spectrum and intensity at the plant
Laboratory (CELL) at Michigan State canopy. Ultimately, the research
University (MSU) has a horticultural light- could yield a cloud-based reposi-
ing system installed across multiple growing tory of light recipes via Internet of
areas that is arguably the most complex and Photo credit: MSU.
Things (IoT) technology. ◀
1810leds_8 8 9/21/18 10:35 AM

news+views
SSL BUSINESS
Fagerhult sets start date for new CEO, as

Brexit strikes an otherwise decent quarter
The incoming, IoT-steeped CEO at Fagerhult Group has now taken the
helm of a lighting company that has just reported a second-quarter
financial pickup while voicing optimism in geographies other than
the UK, where it is noticing Brexit-related jitters.
Habo, Sweden-based Fagerhult had previously said that Bodil
Sonesson would start by Nov. 24 “latest” (http://bit.ly/2wKTWCV).
It recently confirmed October for her arrival.
She replaces Johan Hjertonsson, who is stepping up to become CEO
of investment firm Investment AB Latour, which owns nearly half of
Fagerhult, the publicly-traded, SEK Swedish krona 5.17 billion ($566
million at today’s exchange rate) LED lighting and luminaire company.
Hjertonsson left Fagerhult on Aug. 31. The company’s chief
financial officer, Michael Wood, served as acting president
and CEO in the interim.
Sonesson comes with plenty
of experience in connecting
things and their communica-
tions chips and sensors to the
Internet for data collection
and data analysis. She joins
Fagerhult from security-cam-
era stalwart Axis Communi-
cations, which claims to have
Photo credit: Axis Communications via Flickr.
been the first company in the
world to have launched a net-
worked camera, back in 1996, the year Sonesson joined. That back-
ground should help as Fagerhult, like the lighting industry in general,
outfits lights and the lighting infrastructure with chips and sensors
that tie not only into lighting controls and building management sys-
tems but also into data clouds.
Meanwhile, Fagerhult, which had reported a depressed first quar-
ter earlier this year, brightened up in reporting that net sales for the
second quarter ending June 30 grew by 9.3% to SEK 1.42 billion ($155
million), although when adjusted for currency — a common bugaboo
for European lighting companies these days — and for acquisitions,
sales actually dipped slightly by 0.4%. Net profit for the period also
rose, by 7.6%, to SEK 116.9 million ($12.8 million). ◀
MORE: http://bit.ly/2wIXK7p
Zumtobel cites ‘gross negligence’

as reason for firing CEO
After parting ways with the company earlier this year, ex-Zumtobel
CEO Ulrich Schumacher is seeking at least €4.3 million ($5 million)
alleging unfair dismissal in two civil actions that the SSL provider
strongly contests, countering that it fired Schumacher for “several
cases of gross negligence.”
Schumacher left Dornbirn-based Zumtobel on Feb. 1, when neither
party said much about the falling out (http://bit.ly/2wKPIeh). But with
Schumacher’s legal claims of unfair dismissal recently surfacing in
Austrian media, Zumtobel is now speaking up publicly about why it
ended Schumacher’s contract early.
LEDsmagazine.com
1810leds_9 9 9/21/18 10:35 AM

news+views
“After an audit carried out under stock Fluence from page 7 went from nine weeks to eight weeks,
corporation law brought to light several formly light a 4×4-ft canopy with an aver- yielding the equivalent of 35 additional
cases of gross negligence by Dr. Schumacher, age photosynthetic photon flux density cultivation days per year. Between the
his employment contract was also termi- (PPFD) of 1535 μmoles/m2/sec. For more larger canopy and improved plant pro-
nated by the supervisory and management information on horticultural metrics, see duction, the farm has improved yield from
boards with immediate effect,” Zumtobel one of our feature articles on the topic 100–125 lb per harvest to 200–250 lb. The
said in a statement it released in late sum- (http://bit.ly/2wKGoGs). energy efficiency of LEDs enabled the
mer to explain its early 2018 decision. Ultimately, the move to SSL afforded Eve increased output with only a 5% increase
A news report on the website Vaaju said Farms benefits in two distinct ways — the in power consumption.
Zumtobel was fed up with “Schumacher’s ability to grow in two layers and the per- In other Fluence news, Cohen has joined
private large-scale parking space in Ger- formance of the lighting in terms of plant the company to lead marketing, sales, and
many, company costs, flight costs, and growth and vitality. We’ve covered verti- operations teams. “David will be an inte-
about 20 business agreements concluded cal farms on a regular basis
without the board’s approval” (http://bit. in our horticultural light-
ly/2wIl9WP). The report also referred to a ing articles, generally in rela-
poor relationship between Schumacher and tion to leafy greens and herbs
Zumtobel chairman Jürg Zumtobel. (http://bit.ly/2ChDYp1).
The Vaaju account notes that Schumacher In leafy green or herb opera-
has taken two actions in Austria’s Feldkirk tions, some commercial grow-
Regional Court, the aforementioned €4.3 ers stack racks twenty or more
million suit and another seeking €500,000 layers deep. But cannabis plants
($585,000). “Plaintiff Schumacher says he grow much taller and most
was fired unfairly as CEO at the end of Febru- indoor growing operations
ary,” the report states. “The 60-year-old boss have relied on ceiling-mounted,
justifies his financial claims with his CEO heat-radiating HPS sources a Photo credit: Fluence Bioengineering.
contract, which would expire in two years. long way from the plant canopy
The complainant argues about salaries and and are limited to a single layer of plants. In gral part of Fluence’s growth trajectory as
bonuses. In addition, Schumacher wants to the Eve Farms installation, the plants still the company expands to become the global
be compensated for the risk of no longer find- require substantial free height for growth, leader of the horticultural lighting indus-
ing an equivalent managerial job.” but the Fluence technology easily supports try,” said Nick Klase, CEO and co-founder
LEDs Magazine was not able to reach either two layers of plants. The company said that of Fluence Bioengineering. “David’s experi-
party for further comment. Eve Farms realized 70% more canopy in the ence in directing high-growth products in
Schumacher had originally offered to same physical space just by moving to the the LED lighting industry will ensure Flu-
begin separation talks with Zumtobel in vertical configuration. ence anticipates and addresses developing
mid-January, in the week preceding a cor- The LED lighting, meanwhile, has also trends in food and cannabis production
porate warning that earnings for the April delivered increased biomass and faster around the world.” ◀
30, 2018 fiscal year would plunge as much crop cycles. Eve Farms found that cycles MORE: http://bit.ly/2ClojEY
as 70% (http://bit.ly/2oFOqwL). By Feb. 1, he
was out. Former chief financial officer Karin
Sonnenmoser also left soon afterward. ◀ For the week prior to Sept. 10, Signify Fry’s integrate technology that infringe 15 of
MORE: http://bit.ly/2OSDIyd added 623,942 shares at an average price Seoul’s patents. Nichia has announced that a
of €24.14 ($28.02). The total investment German court had upheld a patent that had
Signify continues to was €15.1 million ($17.5 million). You can been challenged by Everlight Electronics.
repurchase shares monitor the buyback activity on a website And Sensor Electronic Technology Inc (SETi
Signify has continued to repurchase shares that Signify is updating weekly (http://bit. – a Seoul business unit) has filed ultravio-
of its stock on the open market, and as of ly/2NsPmCT). ◀ let (UV)-centric infringement cases against
Sept. 10 had added 2,670,681 shares at a Bolb Inc and Quantum Egg Inc.
cost of €64.2 million ($74.5 million; http:// INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
bit.ly/2Nx58MY). Seoul vs. Fry’s
When Signify launched its share buyback LED industry marks latest Seoul’s patent infringement suit against Fry’s
program at the very end of July, the company round of IP skirmishes is just the latest example of an LED company
had just announced flat quarterly results Seoul Semiconductor has filed an intellec- with a significant IP portfolio going after a
yet clearly saw a positive trend on the hori- tual property (IP) suit against Silicon Valley- retailer when it proves virtually impossible
zon. The company said it would repurchase born, big-box retailer Fry’s Electronics to stop consumer electronics manufacturers
as much as €230 million worth of shares. charging that LED TV products sold by in regions of Asia from using infringing
1810leds_10 10 9/21/18 10:35 AM

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1810leds_11 11 9/21/18 10:35 AM

news+views
LEDs and technologies. Other LED makers In this latest instance, Everlight had PACKAGED LEDS
taking a similar route include Nichia, which sought to get the patent in question
recently settled an LED-centric lawsuit annulled. It marked the second time a Ger- Cree toughens XP-G3, LG Innotek
against home-improvement store Lowes man court had upheld the validity of the pat- targets continuous disinfection
(http://bit.ly/2Nx7hIw). Seoul has also pre- ent. The court set the value in dispute for the Cree has announced the XLamp XP-G3 S
viously targeted Kmart with legal action nullity action to €7.3 million ($8.5 million), Line LEDs (below) that are intended for
(http://bit.ly/2NB6mGV). although that value is still subject to appeal. usage in more harsh environments and oper-
Seoul said the TVs sold by Fry’s infringe a ating conditions. Indeed, Cree said the com-
number of patents that all relate to manufac- UV sterilization patents ponents would be well suited to IoT appli-
turing processes for LED-based TV backlight Moving to the UV space, SETi asserts that
units. Those patents range from component Bolb and Quantum Egg are selling sterilizers
level including LED packaging, fabrication, that infringe six of its UV-LED patents. The
and epitaxy and to the system-level back- IP action was filed with the US District Court
light structures, lenses, and more. for the Northern District of California. SETi
said the patents infringed range from cov-
Nichia vs. Everlight ering UV LEDs and fabrication to UV-LED
In other IP news, Nichia said the German sterilizer structures and drivers.
Federal Patent Court had confirmed Nichia’s Seoul Semiconductor’s Seoul Viosys busi-
patent EP 936 682 (DE 697 02 929) — often ness unit has long partnered with SETi, work- cations that might see LED-based lighting
called the YAG (yttrium aluminum garnet) ing to commercialize what they called Violeds switched on and off on a recurring basis
patent that covers the use of YAG phosphors (http://bit.ly/2NCLNd6). Then Seoul gained US driven by occupancy-sensor controls (http://
and blue LEDs to produce white light. The Department of Defense (DoD) approval to buy bit.ly/2CKTPfR). LG Innotek, meanwhile,
companies have battled over various patents SETi in 2016 (http://bit.ly/2NxDorw). ◀ has become the latest of a rapidly-grow-
around the globe for more than a decade. MORE: http://bit.ly/2NyUEN7 ing list of LED and SSL manufacturers
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1810leds_12 12 9/21/18 10:35 AM

news+views
targeting continuous disinfection applica- days of SSL technology when man-
tions using LED lighting indoors. ufacturers stressed the reliability
advantage of SSL. Cree, however,
Expanding XP-G3 offering says IoT connected lights could be
The XLamp XP-G portfolio is perhaps Cree’s subject to 10× more power cycles
broadest packaged LED offering, with the relative to standard lights. And
original component announced back in the company said the S Line com-
2009 at an efficacy of 111 lm/W (http://bit. ponents will withstand more than
ly/2CK9YSU). The XP-G package features a double the cycles of any compet-
popular 3.45×3.45-mm footprint and a dis- ing lighting-class LED.
crete single-emitter light source. Cree has
regularly used numbering schemes in iden- Continuous disinfection
tifying follow-on products in a family with Moving to a vastly different application, the We believe that LG Innotek is the first
the XP-G2 being a prime example when it universe of LEDs capable of continuous dis- packaged LED manufacturer to overtly tar-
came to market in 2012 with efficacy in the infection has expanded tremendously this get the visible-light disinfection sector with
151–165-lm/W range (http://bit.ly/2CJbuo9). year, as we noted in a report from LightFair a product in its standard catalog (above). The
The XP-G3 packaged LED emerged in 2016 International (http://bit.ly/2CLLEA6). The company said it would market the LEDs glob-
with efficacy surpassing 200 lm/W (http:// participants have been primarily lighting ally to lighting manufacturers. The company
bit.ly/2CHkbiI). manufacturers with the packaged LED sup- has not announced detailed specifications
Neither Cree, nor competitors, regularly pliers enabling the developments lurking beyond the 405-nm center wavelength.
publish specifications defining how many in the background. But we did report that You can find out more about packaged
on/off cycles that a component can tolerate. Vital Vio had won what apparently was an LED developments of the past year in our
Immunity to such cycles has been a common LED-centric patent related to the applica- feature article on p. 23. ◀
claim of LED manufacturers since the early tion (http://bit.ly/2CHQChh). MORE: http://bit.ly/2MQYlOD
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1810leds_14 14 9/21/18 10:35 AM

industry insights | SMART CITIES
The next wave in outdoor lighting

is built on smart cities
With cost reductions and performance improvements already in play, outdoor lighting providers must
now add value to networked lighting to enhance municipal safety and achieve sustainability goals,
writes MARTIN WITTMANN.
T
he outdoor lighting industry is at a
switching point. It has spent years
working to drive down costs and
improve performance and it has largely
achieved those goals. Now it must retool its
priorities and address a new challenge: Offer
innovative technological features that give
customers the power to use light in ways
they have not before.
Semiconductor technology is transform-
ing all sorts of other industries. Consider the
automotive industry, for example. There is a
wide range of technological innovation hap-
pening now in the automotive space, from
infotainment interfaces to cutting-edge
safety features (http://bit.ly/2BKCFyo), most
of it driven by novel applications of chip
technology. Now consider outdoor lighting,
where there’s also plenty of room for innova-
tion. The solutions you see illuminating our Smart sensor-enabled street lights will enable smoother control, data gathering, and
roadways, urban areas, and public spaces actionable public safety insights for the modern smart city.
have not changed dramatically in years.
Yes, there has been progress in some segments to make LED lighting warmer, more on occupancy and ambient light. We have
ments. Five years ago, for instance, LEDs pleasant, and more human friendly. We’re also seen the benefits of LED lighting sen-
barely had any penetration in the market. achieving this via specialized white spec- sors in warehouses, where they help optimize
Today, they’re the gold standard. But we need tra that provide benefits in a broad range the space and improve workflows. Intelligent
to move beyond incrementally better LEDs. of applications and help drive further adop- light fixtures with the latest sensing function-
We need to inspire customers to embrace tion of LEDs. ality can actually increase productivity by
new lighting options and further fuel growth We need to change the way customers see tracking the movements of goods and work-
throughout our industry. light — from light as mere utility to light as ers through the warehouse space and gener-
The traditional complaint regarding out- a smart solution that can add real value in ating data for real-time optimizations (http://
door LED lights is that they were cold and a wide array of areas. The good news is that bit.ly/2BILFUD). Innovative, infrared-based
harsh, emitting an unpleasant glare. LEDs technologies exist to make this happen. sensing methods such as “time of flight”
have come a long way since those early With proper application, these technologies are available for measuring the distance to
days, but they’re still not perfect. As a com- will empower outdoor lighting to profoundly objects or tracking the direction of move-
pany, we’re working on technology advance- improve the way people live, work, and play. ment. Traditional passive infrared (PIR)-
based motion sensors are limited to on and
MARTIN WITTMANN is team lead, marketing Smart sensing on city streets off in their respective fields of view.
and business development for general lighting Today, many offices have lighting that senses In the past, street lights worked primarily
at Osram Opto Semiconductors (https://www. occupancy and harvests daylight. The fix- on a simple timer. They had two modes: on
osram.com/os/). tures automatically change light levels based and off. And the day- and nighttime control
1810leds_15 15 9/21/18 10:36 AM

industry insights | SMART CITIES
lacked accuracy. Furthermore, occupancy didn’t matter even though

nighttime occupancy rates are significantly below 50%.
The same return on investment in office settings can be realized by
cities in their outdoor lighting use cases — without impacting safety
and accuracy. LEDs fitted with the right semiconductor technology
can sense motion and proximity to deliver benefits.
The energy footprint for outdoor lighting in most major cities,
such as New York or Los Angeles, is enormous. By adding smart
motion sensing throughout downtown areas, cities can signifi-
cantly reduce their energy consumption and improve their budgets.
Advanced power electronics and sensing can be combined to
improve the delivery of light. We now have the ability to control illu-
mination levels according to the available ambient light smoothly
We need to inspire customers to

embrace new lighting options.
and precisely. So a street light might dim when it’s still bright out
and intensify when it’s cloudy and darkness comes early. This kind
of daylight harvesting can provide further energy-savings benefits
because it maximizes the use of natural light and minimizes the
use of artificial light.
Air-quality sensing is another potential application, especially in
locations such as Asia where air pollution is a serious issue. Smart
cities can use the sensors in street lights to monitor carbon dioxide
levels, for instance. Examples include using real-time data for warn-
ing citizens and for adjusting traffic flow.
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UV22DC80 of messages, from an advertisement on the sidewalk to an acci-

dent alert on the road.
This kind of technology will soon be making its way to market
in the automotive space. For example, adaptive headlights increase
safety at night or in low-light conditions by improving visibility
(http://bit.ly/2BIN1ib). In the future, adaptive-beam headlights
might also send messages or project information in front of a vehi-
• Dual cure formulation utilizes UV light and heat cle in order to communicate with pedestrians or other cars on the
Cures at 80°C in shadowed out areas road, such as flashing a message to pedestrians that it’s now safe for
• Dimensionally stable & abrasion resistant them to cross the road.
Nanosilica filled Messaging technology could also be put to use in outdoor light-
• Optically clear ing. Imagine a parking garage where the lights direct traffic or
Refractive index: 1.52 flash directions like “Turn right to access Highway 101.” Address-
able micro-structured LEDs can be used in outdoor lighting to proj-
ect this kind of valuable information.
The outdoor lighting industry has the opportunity to drive inno-
vation beyond the adoption of efficient and cost-effective LED light-
ing. When we bring all the benefits of semiconductor technology to
LEDs, we will enable exciting new applications in many areas of out-
154 Hobart St., Hackensack, NJ 07601 USA
door lighting. It’s up to us in the industry to open our eyes and envi-
+1.201.343.8983 • main@masterbond.com
sion the many opportunities ahead of us.
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1810leds_16 16 9/21/18 10:36 AM

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1810leds_17 17 9/21/18 10:36 AM

1810leds_18 18 9/21/18 10:36 AM
ssl projects | CONTROLS & IOT
Signify pushes into new data

territory at Singapore hotel
Signify’s Interact IoT system improves heating and lighting efficiency at the five-star Swissôtel and
tends to guests’ comfort — all while gathering data and keeping an eye on people via occupancy
sensors. And as MARK HALPER discovers, there is not a single Signify lamp or luminaire in sight. Once
again, data is the new lighting.
I
n another sure sign that lighting com-
panies are staking their future as much
on selling information technology and
data as they are on providing illumina-
tion, Signify is playing a key role in the ren-
ovation of Singapore’s towering, 1261-room
Swissôtel, but not as a lighting company in
the conventional sense.
Rather, it is outfitting the 741-ft-tall, I.M.
Pei-designed hotel with a sensor-equipped
system that controls heating and lighting
both from within the room and centrally.
Photo credit: Swissôtel The Stamford.

The LED lights at the five-star facility come
not from Signify but from Singapore-based
Million Lighting, hotel administrators told
LEDs Magazine.
Signify — which changed its name from
Philips in May (http://bit.ly/2PbZrBm) and
is the world’s largest lighting company —
is furnishing an IT system called Interact The iconic Swissôtel The Stamford shines with light and, less obviously, with data in
Hospitality that guests can manipulate via the Singapore skyline.
a wall-mounted touchscreen panel to con-
trol temperature and to tailor the lighting to Herting, manager of the hotel, called Swis- vacy issues related to the in-room occu-
their favorite ambience. The panel can even sôtel The Stamford, in a promotional video pancy system.
remember specific lighting scenarios and (https://youtu.be/Yxdj6SXN4R0). “Not at all,” a hotel spokesperson told
deliver them at the push of a button. The system will also turn out lights when LEDs. While it is possible for guests to
The control system also helps facilities guests leave the room — even if guests want deactivate the auto-control and the sen-
managers at the hotel cut down on energy to leave a light on — and it communicates sors, “we have not received any such
consumption. The touch panels, as well as through the IT system that the guest has requests to date,” she said.
occupancy sensors mounted in each room, left. Likewise, the lights turn on automat- In addition to offering one-touch heating
alert central staff when the guest is wast- ically when the person re-enters the room, and lighting control, Interact Hospitality is
ing energy. and the system is aware of the guest’s loaded with other useful guest features, such
For example, if the guest is in the room return. Swissôtel is also programming it as the night floor lights, and buttons for do
with the balcony door open and the air con- so that occupants cannot leave bathroom not disturb, room service, and laundry — all
ditioning on, the system turns off the cool- lights on when they go to sleep; rather, floor communicated to “dashboard” computer
ing within 30 seconds, and a staff member lights turn on whenever the guest gets out screens in an operations room.
will alert the resident to take action. of bed in the middle of the night. “We were looking for a system that
“A single phone call will do, advising the Despite some of the Big Brother implica- meets our sustainability goal, enhances
guest to close the balcony door,” said Katya tions, Swissôtel claimed there are no pri- the guest experience, and also provides
1810leds_19 19 9/21/18 10:37 AM

Photo credit: Signify.

Occupancy sensors know when she enters, and when she leaves.
Guests can change lighting and other things at the push of a button via
touchscreens mounted bedside and elsewhere in the room.
staff efficiency,” Nicholas Mak, the hotel’s back to a cloud-based platform, an IoT plat- Magazine, known for following cutting-edge
director of facilities, said in the video. form that is called Interact,” he said at the time. developments in SSL?
The hotel version of Interact exemplifies It’s modern lighting-industry talk, of
Let there be data the new IoT zeitgeist as much as, if not more course. While Signify has left all the new
Interact Hospitality is part of Signify’s than, other variations on the Interact theme. LED lights to Million, its own role at the
broader Interact line of Internet of Things “Interact Hospitality is different to our other 70-story Swissôtel is really that of an infor-
(IoT) hardware and software, aimed at using Interact systems in that it is primarily a mation technology and building manage-
infrastructure such as lighting to deliver room management system that also man- ment supplier.
the backbone of IT networks that collect ages lighting rather than a lighting system Take, for example, the occupancy sen-
and analyze data, which can be monetized per se,” a Signify spokesperson explained. sors. While they might sound like a job for
(http://bit.ly/2LAk0VC). It is representative “By integrating lighting, sensors, HVAC, a more conventional electrical, IT, or build-
of the solid-state lighting (SSL) industry’s and property management systems, Inter- ing management company, they come from
attempt to transform into more of an IT pro- act Hospitality allows managers to moni- — you guessed it — Signify. The Dutch light-
vider, now that profits are hard to come by tor their entire property via a single dash- ing giant is supplying its Dynalite infrared
in simply selling bulbs and luminaires using board,” said Jella Segers, Signify’s global lead sensors, mounted not inside the lighting but
long-lasting LED light sources. Industry for Interact Hospitality. “The system’s open within ceilings and walls inside guestrooms.
number-two Osram is also pushing hard into application program interface [API] enables “They are recessed into the bathroom
the IT trend, which LEDs has dubbed Data its connection to a variety of hotel systems, ceiling, and surface mounted to the wall as
is the New Lighting (http://bit.ly/2PamxYX). so that real-time information can be fed into you enter the bedroom,” explained Signi-
So pronounced is the industry’s intent everything from housekeeping to engineer- fy’s Segers. In straight-ahead tech dialect,
on recasting itself as an IT player in today’s ing systems, helping to make hotel opera- she added, “These passive infrared sen-
“everything digital” economy that when tions more efficient.... By using data from sors with additional lux and IR inputs help
Signify unfurled its Interact banner back occupancy sensors located in guest rooms to input movement for our real-time occu-
in March, it mentioned the word “data” no and information from property management pancy logic.”
fewer than 17 times in a press release before systems, Interact Hospitality can automati- That so-called real-time occupancy logic is
trotting out CEO Eric Rondolat to extol the cally turn down systems — including HVAC at the core of the Signify Interact Hospitality
new IT value. and lighting — when rooms are unoccupied.” systems, as it gathers information that popu-
“You can imagine all these devices — lamps, lates the computer screens — the dashboards
drivers, luminaires, sensors — being con- Talking the talk — that central hotel staff read and act upon.
nected, sending information through software, Cloud? Dashboard? API? Real-time infor- And oh, those dashboards. Once the proj-
and all this software sending this information mation? What kind of talk is that in LEDs ect is fully complete, they will display real-
1810leds_20 20 9/21/18 10:37 AM

time conditions of all 1261 rooms

up to the 66th floor (the top 4 floors
do not have guest rooms), includ-
ing granular details such as when the
room was last made up, the room tempera-
ture and humidity versus what the guest has
set, whether it’s occupied, whether the bal-
cony door is open, the fan speed, the status More and more, lighting companies are
of the do not disturb sign, and more. Hotel selling hardware other than lighting,
staff sit in front of their computers like engi- such as this Dynalite sensor from
neers at a mission control center, looking Signify, which fits into the room
both for operational inefficiencies and for ceilings at the Swissôtel.
guest requests.
“As a hotel catering for the next genera- jointly seek smart-city deals in Canada Photo credit: Signify.
tion, we’re constantly looking for ways to (http://bit.ly/2Lz3fuc), echoing Signify’s
improve how we manage our hotels and technology roll at the Singapore hotel. new environment,” said Segers. “This may
deliver new value for our guests,” said hotel affect sleep quality and prevent deep sleep.
manager Herting. “This new system helps us Fine-tuning the lighting With our new room management system,
to improve levels of service even further and There are, of course, also many lighting low-level night lights come on automati-
gives our managers a 360° overview of our features at play within Signify’s hospital- cally when a person steps out of bed, so as
operations across the entire hotel. This tech- ity systems at Swissôtel. “For example, we not to wake them fully or disturb others in
nology is helping us to eliminate unneces- know that around 35% of hotel guests leave the room.”
sary work for our staff while enabling them a light on in the bathroom during the night Again, with the night lights, Signify is not
to service guest requests in record time.” to orientate themselves when waking up in a providing the lights as you might expect
While that might sound like the usual
scrubbed-up user testimonial for a technol-
LED Horticultural Light Testing

ogy product, what is notable is that Herting
is referring here to an IT system provided
by a lighting company, Signify. To repeat
the point, which cannot be overempha-
sized: General lighting companies are try-
ing to morph into information technology Get a complete picture of the effectiveness and efficiency of your lamp
and data companies as they search for a new
business model now that the era of long-last-
ing LED light sources has destroyed their
old model of selling bulbs, luminaires, and
their replacements. The transition marks the
biggest change in the industry ever — big-
ger even than the still fairly-recent move to
SSL. The IT metamorphosis has been finan-
cially difficult, evidenced by recent com-
pany reports and warnings from Signify
(http://bit.ly/2LyuSmZ), Osram (http://bit.
ly/2LA8klR), and others.
But vendors are intent on making the
change to becoming technology providers or
facilitators, and it is growing more common
for lighting companies to serve as IT provid-
ers without furnishing lighting. Osram, for llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
instance, has provided Bluetooth commu- l
nication beacons to a Swiss retailer (http://
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
bit.ly/2LAzaKw), and GE’s Current division
has teamed with telecommunications firm
Nokia to provide outdoor sensors, software, CSllGlllllSlllllllll(425)l605-8500lllllllllllllll@llllllll.llllll
and data analysis as the two companies
1810leds_21 21 9/21/18 10:37 AM

from a lighting company, but it is supply-

ing infrared sensors recessed in the back
walls of bedside cabinets, which trip the
lights into action. And the system allows
guests to customize light settings and
scenes across the room, from a range of
bright to relaxing.
Signify has also fashioned touchscreen
controls — another trapping of the IT indus-
try — that not only make it easy to dial up
light settings but that also give guests fin-
gertip, fuss-free access to room
service, laundry, do not disturb,
and so forth.
Many of the rooms have
already been refurbished with
the Interact system, all part of a Swissôtel operations staff don’t
general hotel renovation which miss a move as they follow data
is nearing completion as Swis- on their computer dashboards
sôtel works its way up the guest for all those rooms up to the
rooms. It expects to complete the 66 th floor such as room 2754,
final stage — floors 50 through which in this case they know is
66 — by the end of the year on unoccupied and 25.4°C.
this, the maiden voyage for Inter-
act Hospitality. Photo credits: Capture (top) from Signify YouTube Video. Image (bottom) from Signify.
If successful, it will be a spar-
kling debut for the system, being Could more Swissôtels be in Interact Hos- related hospitality operations. Its 4500
deployed at a landmark that is a familiar pitality’s future? “Yes, plans are certainly in hotels and nearly 650,000 rooms reach into
part of the Singapore skyline. It is also part the pipeline,” replied the Swissôtel spokes- about 100 countries. Some of those coun-
of the city-state’s Raffles City complex of person, who also represents Fairmont. tries might have data and privacy rules that
convention center, shopping center, offices, Accor operates a total of 25 hotel brands could throw some challenges. But Signify is
and hotels that also include the Fairmont — spanning budget through luxury, such as hopeful that its arrival in Singapore marks
which, like Swissôtel The Stamford, is owned hotelF1, Ibis, Mercure, and Sofitel along a memorable first step in its efforts to check
by Paris-based Accor S.A. with Swissôtel and Fairmont, plus other into the IT industry.
1810leds_22 22 9/21/18 10:37 AM

focus on Packaged LEDs
LEDs deliver significant gains in light
quality, move toward CSP future
Packaged LEDs achieved the performance level several years back to displace legacy
light sources in nearly all general illumination applications. But frankly, light and color
quality, and just the human experience under many solid-state lighting (SSL) products
needed improvement. Since our last roundup of packaged LEDs (http://bit.ly/2MOq7vh),
the situation has changed dramatically. While there are still many commodity low-end
LEDs populating products such as troffers for industrial spaces, and glare in some products
remains an issue, there are far more premium-quality LEDs on the market that are more
eye pleasing and that may deliver on the human-centric lighting promise. At the same time,
the SSL industry is moving toward enhanced mid-power packages and chip-scale package
(CSP) technology for many applications and stretching quality improvements across the
low-to-superhigh-power sectors. And the overall technology march also extends beyond
general illumination to hot sectors such as horticultural lighting and ultraviolet (UV) and
infrared (IR) LEDs that operate beyond the human visual range. — MAURY WRIGHT
Seoul targets applications such as high-end retail, muse-

Seoul Semiconductor SunLike ums, lighting for health and wellbeing or human-centric
Let’s start with discussion of an LED family that touches lighting, and even horticultural lighting. ◀
several of the trends we mentioned in the opening para- MORE: http://bit.ly/2Nf3wY7
graph. Seoul Semiconductor introduced the SunLike LED
technology during the summer of 2017 with the archi-
tecture based on a violet emitter or pump in place of the Osram Opto Semiconductors Oslon Pure
more typical blue pump, and with a three-phos- There are many architectural approaches to light quality
phor mix developed in partnership with Toshiba at the LED component level, ranging from materials like
Materials. The spectral power distribu- phosphor to steps in the manufacturing process to package
tion (SPD) mimics the sun and elim- design and more. Osram Opto Semiconductors has a unique
inates the blue energy peak that approach that combines CSP concepts with laser lift-off of the
can potentially cause circa- active LED layers in manufacturing. The company announced
dian issues for people exposed the Oslon Pure LEDs in early 2018 with a target of high-end
to the blue at night, and that retail applications via directional lighting products used to
some still believe is dangerous highlight the goods a merchant has on display. The LEDs are
for the eye. Seoul recently released manufactured on a typical sapphire substrate,
the results from research at a Korean but the sapphire is removed during the
medical school that associated working lift-off process and the LED chip
under SunLike LEDs with improved sleep pat- is then flipped and affixed
terns and less eye strain (http://bit.ly/2MOh3Xg). to an opaque silicon sub-
Over the past year, Seoul has commercialized the SunLike strate. The architecture is a
technology across products from mid-power LEDs to chip- true CSP with the footprint of
on-board (COB) components (a 15W COB is depicted). the LED chip being the same as the
SunLike-family LEDs were used to improve the experience packaged device — although the pack-
for visitors viewing murals in historic Pompeii, Italy ruins age essentially consists of the silicon sub-
(http://bit.ly/2Mrci4W). Moreover, Seoul has begun to win strate and electrical contacts implemented in the backend of
customers in the lighting sector with products that neces- the manufacturing process (see more details in a LightFair
sarily carry a premium price. With the SunLike portfolio, International video interview — http://bit.ly/2MT1ei5). The
1810leds_23 23 9/21/18 10:39 AM

focus on | PACKAGED LEDS
primary advantage of the approach is that light emission only occurs meaning extreme density. At launch,
from what ends up being the top surface of the LED. The emission Cree said the components delivered
is very uniform in intensity and color-over-angle aspects. Moreover, lumen density of 284 lm/mm2. Other
there is no side emission, which hampers many CSP LEDs that are high-power LED architectures at
inherently five-sided emitters and Osram doesn’t have to use addi- the time reached levels around 140
tional manufacturing steps to deal with the side emission. In arrays for lm/mm2. Cree has said the architecture
directional lighting, the architecture allows LEDs to be more densely offers improved optical and thermal perfor-
packed with no concern for crosstalk between components. ◀ mance relative to most CSP LEDs. The design includes
MORE: http://bit.ly/2Nk8WRp features to reflect light emitted sideways to the top surface and also
to reflect light emitted downward back to the top. The thermal topic,
meanwhile, is a complex one. The ceramic substrate does provide a first
Samsung fillet-enhanced CSP level of thermal mitigation, but it also inherently adds thermal resis-
Samsung was an early mover in CSP technology, likely because that tance between the LED chip and a heatsink or metal-core printed cir-
packaging technique was deployed in applications such as TV back- cuit board (PCB). An optimal SSL system design could spread the heat
light units before being utilized in general illumination, and Samsung more easily using a true CSP architecture, but the thermal substrate
is a major player in TVs. At LightFair in 2016, the company said it had might be easier for many luminaire designers to reliably work with. ◀
begun a major push of CSP technology into general lighting (http://bit. MORE: http://bit.ly/2MQCXZF
Lumileds enhanced mid-power offering

Moving to the mid-power LED space, the most-discussed trend in the
last few years may have been price erosion that exceeded projections,
but the more important trend is a move to more robust designs, espe-
cially in terms of reliability and resistance to harsh environments.
Lumileds has long touted the improvements it has made to mid-
power packages going back to what the company called mid-power
March in 2016 (http://bit.ly/2NkauuH). More recently, the company
has announced mid-power LEDs that explicitly target applications
in which high-power architectures have dominated such as high-bay
ly/2MSqHbi). More recently, Samsung has announced what it calls FEC luminaires and outdoor street and area lighting. Just after the new
(fillet-enhanced CSP) LEDs. The architecture utilizes a reflective coat- year, Lumileds launched the Luxeon 5050 LED that, as the model num-
ing on the four sides of the structure to eliminate side emissions and
ensure that all light is extracted from the top surface. Five-side emis-
sion is perfectly acceptable in applications such as troffers with wide
beam distribution. But the FEC architecture is intended to support
directional SSL applications such as spotlights. At launch, Samsung
announced the FEC products in what it called a mid-power 1W com-
ponent and in a high-power 5W component. The designs deliver effi-
cacy in the 200-lm/W range at cool CCTs. ◀
MORE: http://bit.ly/2MT1k9r
ber implies, features a 5×5-mm footprint. The component looks like

Cree XLamp XD16 a mid-power LED with no primary optic and what appears to be a
Cree has questioned CSP technology repeatedly in the past, suggesting plastic package. But the LED can operate at 2W, and Lumileds is tar-
that LEDs on a ceramic substrate offer superior performance and that geting outdoor and industrial lighting applications and further said
the component manufacturing steps eliminated by a move to CSP tech- the performance would enable luminaires to meet premium-level
nology would not pay off. That concept was debated at a Strategies in DesignLights Consortium (DLC) specifications. A few months later,
Light panel back in 2015 (http://bit.ly/2MQXIof). Still, the idea of a pack- Lumileds rolled out the Luxeon 3030 2D LEDs with two emitters in
aged LED matching the footprint of the chip is attractive in applications the package and in models with a round or square light-emitting sur-
such as directional lighting where many LEDs are tightly arrayed. And face (LES). All the products utilize what Lumileds call “hot color tar-
in early 2017, Cree announced the NX architecture that would deliver a geting,” meaning that the LEDs are binned based on operating at a
footprint near that of the chip while still including a ceramic substrate typical lighting system temperature, and the approach means that
(http://bit.ly/2MTvGIU). Just prior to the end of 2017, Cree announced luminaires using the LEDs will not exhibit color shift once deployed. ◀
the XLamp XD16 LEDs based on the NX platform with the XD prefix MORE: http://bit.ly/2NjHQK9
1810leds_24 24 9/21/18 10:39 AM

Call us for your custom ﬁt lighting
components: 847-515-3057
hubbelllightingcomponents.com
Copyright © YEAR Brand, a division of Hubbell Lighting, Inc. All rights reserved.
1810leds_25 25 9/21/18 10:39 AM

Nichia Optisolis company also made several other recent LED announcements with
It’s not just reliability improvements that are coming to mid-power sparse details including LEDs for horticultural lighting, UV LEDs
LEDs but improvement in color rendering, white point, and other (http://bit.ly/2NqmFXf), and most recently, violet-rich LEDs for
factors. That light quality message was the focus of the Optisolis the continuous disinfection application (http://bit.ly/2MQYlOD). ◀
LED announced by Nichia in early 2018. The announcement pro- MORE: http://bit.ly/2NhJnAt
claimed that the LEDs deliver “Ultra-High CRI” across all models.
While CRI has been shown to be a poor metric for LED color qual-
ity, Nichia has chosen to promote the LED performance based on Cree mid-power and COB additions
the aggregate CRI Ra score and on the 16 individ- The year 2018 will forever be a turning point for Cree. New manage-
ual color sample scores (90 or better) because ment has the company tracking better financially, although the com-
of just how widely recognized the CRI met- pany may have a shifting focus toward power semiconductors with the
ric has been. Optisolis has been ini- Wolfspeed unit (http://bit.ly/2MNxsLo). Still, in LEDs, Cree con-
tially offered as part of Nichia’s tinues to be a technology leader as with the aforementioned
long-established 757 product XD16, but the company has also broadened its overall port-
family, but the technology will folio with commodity mid-power LEDs,
be spread across other types of and with COB products based
LEDs in the near future. Nichia on aluminum substrates. At
achieved the excellent color ren- LightFair, the results of the
dering by shifting the blue pump toward Cree partnership with San’an
the violet region with warm white products Optoelectronics of China was on
using a 440-nm pump and cool-white products a display. The J Series of mid-power
420-nm pump. The company stressed, however, that there is no LEDs come in industry-standard
UV energy in the SPD and that the LEDs would not degrade mate- square and rectangular footprints and
rials in museum lighting, which is one of the target applications provide Cree a way to do business with lighting
for Optisolis. ◀ manufacturers that are focused on commodity prod-
MORE: http://bit.ly/2NhRgpQ ucts. In the COB space, the company has been a leader in LEDs manu-
factured on ceramic substrates, but some luminaire developers prefer
aluminum substrates. Cree had added some aluminum-based prod-
LG Innotek Eye Pleasing LED ucts last year, and going into LightFair earlier this year added form
LG Innotek has also sought to deliver mid-power LEDs that are factors compatible with Citizen products as that company has been a
more pleasing for humans to work and live under. The company leader in COBs based on metal substrates. ◀
calls the products EP LEDs with the prefix meaning Eye Pleasing. MORE: http://bit.ly/2MNMEYQ
Unfortunately, LG has not been forthcoming about performance
details and, when asked, replied that the SPD characteristics and
the architecture of the LEDs such as phosphor formulation are Lumileds Luxeon CZ
Color LEDs remain a niche in terms of general lighting applications
but a very interesting specimen in terms of component architecture
and design, and in terms of applications that range from emergency
vehicle lighting to façade lighting to dynamic entertainment illu-
mination. We covered the LED technology and application angles
in a detailed feature article a few years back (http://bit.ly/2NojJtQ).
Lumileds has long been one of the primary players in
the color LED sector delivering both monochro-
matic and phosphor-converted com-
ponents across a broad color
range. Early this year, the
company launched the
Luxeon CZ family of LEDs
proprietary information. The company did share a slice of the SPD that are high-power prod-
data showing that the blue peak has been shifted toward longer ucts but that don’t feature the
wavelengths with reduced emission below 465 nm. LG said it’s the typical domed primary optic.
415–455-nm range that has been shown to potentially damage the Lumileds said the architecture
retina. Meanwhile, the LEDs have more energy in the 465–495- delivers more punch in the center
nm range, which LG said can improve physiological functions. The of the beam than would a component
1810leds_26 26 9/21/18 10:39 AM

with a primary optic such as the existing Luxeon C LEDs (http://bit. consistency simplifies SSL system design. The primary target appli-
ly/2MMOcCy). Lumileds further said the CZ architecture was bet- cation for the color LEDs is emergency vehicles followed by façade
ter suited for tightly packed arrays because of the minimal crosstalk and entertainment lighting. ◀
between adjacent devices. ◀
MORE: http://bit.ly/2NmckLC
Seoul Viosys UV WICOP
Seoul Semiconductor has been a leader in CSP LED technology call-
Nichia color Direct Mountable Chip ing its approach WICOP (wafer-level integrated chip on PCB). The
Of course, you would expect that as color LEDs company was first to deliver a truly broad
proliferate and more applications for dynamic line of CSP products for general illu-
color-tunable lighting emerge, technology such as mination with a portfolio that
CSP would come to the sector. Nichia has a first-mover could serve in what had been
advantage in color CSP LEDs as part of its DMC (Direct mid- or high-power applica-
Mountable Chip) product family. In April 2018, tions (http://bit.ly/2Nkbn6v).
the company added royal blue, green, amber, Meanwhile, the Seoul Viosys
and red LEDs to the previously- business unit has been among
available white DMC LEDs. the leaders in UV-LED tech-
Nichia relies on phos- nology targeting applications
phor conversion for all such as disinfection and purifi-
of the color and the white cation. And Seoul Viosys recently
LEDs. That means all have announced that it had begun to man-
similar operational characteris- ufacture a UV WICOP line. It doesn’t appear
tics such as forward voltage, lumen depreci- that the LEDs are commercially deployed as this article goes to
ation, and color shift. The company believes that the press. But the company has clearly tested products in actual
Tight-fitting LED Implementation

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• Available in Red, Green, Blue, Amber and White For more information or samples contact us directly.
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1810leds_27 27 9/21/18 10:39 AM

application scenarios. Seoul says the CSP approach has allowed it

to extend reliability and product life, increase radiometric power
output, and lower manufacturing costs. The nearby photo shows
one of the LEDs mounted in a waterproof module. Moreover, Seoul
announced it had received a patent based on the development. ◀
MORE: http://bit.ly/2Nhv7rA
Crystal IS Klaran WD
The prevailing wisdom has been that UV-C-band (generally 180–280
nm) LEDs still lacked the maturity for broad commercial deploy-
ment, although the potential for use in sterilization applications
is extremely exciting. But
LED manufacturers have
struggled to produce UV-C
LEDs with lifetimes longer for in-cabin usage emit at 940 nm. Among the most interesting of uses
than 10,000, or even 5000, would be a system that monitors the driver’s eye movements and face
hours. And power output to ensure alertness and avoid potentially dangerous conditions. ◀
and cost challenges remain. MORE: http://bit.ly/2BKCFyo
Still, early in 2018, Crystal
IS announced the Klaran
WD (Water Disinfection) Samsung horticultural LEDs and modules
LEDs that it said crossed Horticultural lighting remains among the hottest of specialty mar-
the $0.25/mW threshold of kets for LEDs with the application spanning supplemental lighting
cost-to-power-output ratio in greenhouses, top lighting in traditional indoor growing chambers,
that some have projected and indoor vertical farms featuring layers of LED lighting. Lumileds
as the point where com-
mercial water purification
products would move to LED technology. Crystal is unique in the
UV field in that it relies on a homogeneous approach to manufac-
turing — growing AlN (aluminum nitride) epitaxial layers on an
AlN substrate. The Klaran WD products can deliver up to 40 mW of
radiometric power output. Crystal also authored a contributed arti-
cle earlier this year that discussed usage scenarios for sterilization
products that make today’s UV LEDs far closer to volume deploy-
ment than some have thought (http://bit.ly/2MOg9d7). The instant
on-off capabilities of LED technology mean that SSL UV implemen-
tations do not have to run continuously in the manner of disinfec-
tion systems that use legacy lamps. ◀
MORE: http://bit.ly/2Ni1arh
and Osram Opto pioneered the space and had the market to them-
Osram Oslon Black IR selves for years. Cree actively entered the sector with far-red LEDs
At the other end of the non-visual range, we have the IR spectrum that a few years back followed by Seoul. And Nichia has quietly added a
also has a number of interesting applications including security, range horticultural bin in white LEDs intended for the application. Just
finding, biometrics, and more. Osram Opto has targeted many such before LightFair, Samsung announced a broad line of LEDs and mod-
applications with products that the company calls IREDs. Earlier this ules targeted at horticultural lighting. The company announced the
year, Osram announced a family of Oslon Black IREDs in high-power LH351B Red LED at 660 nm with a PPF (photosynthetic photon flux)
packages with a domed primary optic, which target automotive appli- value of 2.15 μmol/s when driven at 350 mA. That product is based
cations both in the cabin and on the exterior of a vehicle. The domed on a high-power architecture. The company also published horti-
lens delivers tight beam control, eliminating the need for a second- cultural specifications for two of its mid-power, broad-spectrum
ary optic and thus making the package more compact for low-profile white LED lines. And the company is targeting the market with the
application use. LEDs at 850 nm could be used externally to detect Q Series and H influx level 2 modules.
pedestrians, monitor lane departure, and more. The products aimed MORE: http://bit.ly/2MNMEYQ
1810leds_28 28 9/21/18 10:39 AM

20TH ANNIVERSARY
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The fifth annual Sapphire Awards will recognize the
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The Sapphire Awards will also recognize an
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1810leds_30 30 9/21/18 10:39 AM

horticultural ssl | SPECTRAL SENSORS
Spectral sensors enable horticultural SSL

to increase crop yields for indoor farming
Horticultural LED products require careful design to deliver on performance needs. MARKUS BUSZ
describes a closed-loop control architecture using spectral sensors to monitor and balance LED
shifts, automatically adjust light output, and deliver optimal light recipes for indoor farms.
L
EDs are already widely used in house- sor-driven closed-loop control architecture dian cycle, the optimization of the artificial
holds and commercial buildings and can address these limitations. lighting solution will be complete.
now the development of new types of Like tomatoes, other plants require their
LEDs is spurring penetration into other mar- The value of grow lamps own specific spectral light profile to grow
ket segments, including greenhouses and Many plants grow only in specific geographic and to trigger photosynthesis. This profile
vertical farms. These agricultural or hor- regions and at specific times of the year. This encompasses both the spectral wavelength
ticultural settings have traditionally used is linked in part to the plant’s temperature range and the circadian rhythm. The spec-
high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps as an and humidity require-
1.5 Spectrum at 350 mA 5°
artificial light source, but over time, LED ments. Another import- 25°
manufacturers have developed new gener- ant factor, however, is the 1.0 45°
ations with better and richer spectral char- source of light to which 70°
acteristics that are more efficient and more they are exposed, which 0.5
cost effective than earlier LEDs (see the fea- has a direct effect on pho-
0.0
ture on p. 23 for details on application-spe- tosynthesis and there- 380 430 480 530 580 630 680 730 780
cific packaged LEDs). fore on the plant’s capac- Wavelength (nm)
These new LEDs offer low power consump- ity to generate the energy Image credit: All images, ams.
tion, radiate little heat and operate over a needed for growth. FIG. 1. Dependence of wavelength and brightness relative
long lifetime, making them superior to tradi- S om e r e s e a r c he r s to the temperature of an RGB LED.
tional HPS lamps. Moreover, these improved have found, for exam-
characteristics open new possibilities in the ple, that the intensity of irradiation with trum of light used for horticulture is mostly
horticultural market. For example, farm- light at a wavelength of 680 nm is critical in the visible light spectrum: wavelengths
ers can now bring the luminaires closer to to the growth rate of tomato plants during from 400–700 nm. The peaks are in the red
the plants, and also control their intensity the germination phase but has little effect and the blue range. Nevertheless, each plant
and their spectral emissivity to optimize after germination (http://bit.ly/2NNbSmA). needs the full spectrum for optimal growth.
the plants’ growth. This has two benefits: it During the vegetative phase, irradiation The circadian rhythm depends on lighting
allows growers to increase the plant density with 650-nm light optimizes growth and conditions in the region from which each
in greenhouses through tight vertical stack- the concentration of chlorophyll-a pigment. plant originates.
ing of plants (also called vertical farming), Their research concludes that each phase of Because of variations even between plants
and growers can optimize the growth cycle the growth period — germination, vegeta- of the same type, the quality of light can have
and therefore the greenhouse occupation tive, and fruition phase — requires irradi- a large impact on the productivity, growth,
time. It’s benefits like these that are helping ation with different wavelengths. and development of specific plants (http://
LEDs become the preferred source of illumi- The cultivation of tomatoes year-round bit.ly/2CjKOdq). Monitoring the intensity,
nation in horticultural lighting equipment. in the northern hemisphere calls for green- spectrum, and circadian rhythm of the light
Nevertheless, LEDs exhibit some limita- houses, which shelter the plants from harsh source helps ensure the provision of the opti-
tions which need to be carefully handled winter weather, equipped with lighting mal grow light conditions.
to achieve stable illumination and opti- systems which compensate for the lack of
mal plant growth. The use of a spectral sen- natural light during the winter and which Temperature dependence of
produce the optimum spectral characteris- LED spectral emissivity
MARKUS BUSZ is marketing manager for ams’ tics for growth. If the lighting system can Fig. 1 shows how the spectral emissivity of
Color & Spectral Sensors (CSS) business line also mirror the daily variation of the sun’s a light source using a mix of red, green, and
(https://ams.com/spectral-sensing). spectrum, to align with the plants’ circa- blue (RGB) LEDs changes over temperature.
1810leds_31 31 9/21/18 10:39 AM

0.60 0.60 the phosphorus material in the LED. They

Mixed LEDs Planckian locus Mixed LEDs Planckian locus
also require tight binning of the LEDs used
0.55 0.55 in the production of the luminaires.
A better technique is the closed-loop reg-
v' 0.50 v' 0.50 ulation method described next. As Fig. 4
shows, this solution differs from the unreg-
0.45 0.45 ulated control solutions in that it uses a
spectral sensor, which measures the actual
0.40 0.40
0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.30 0.35 spectral profile of the light in real time and
u' u' directly controls the LED driver or control-
20°C 80°C ler to adjust the output until it matches the
specified target values for chromaticity
FIG. 2. Measured color drifts of mixed LEDs. and intensity.
Fig. 4 demonstrates a mixed LED system.
The horizontal axis shows the wavelength uation is greater for the blue LEDs than for The principle works for any LED light source,
and the vertical axis the brightness. the green and the red LEDs.1 such as RGB + white, RGB white + amber,
The curves clearly show the emissivity The drop in brightness over time will or spectral grow light systems with four or
of a red LED is affected by temperature require the periodic replacement of LEDs more spectral LED channels.1
changes much more than that of a blue in a lighting system — a dif-
LED. The brightness decreases by almost ficult and expensive mainte- Delta lv avg. (%)
40% over the temperature range from 5°C nance task that increases the 5
(41°F) to 70°C (158°F). cost of ownership. 0
This changes the color of the light out- -5 Red
put from luminaires — a worrying effect Optical feedback systems -10
for manufacturers of horticultural lighting The proper operation of horti- -15 Green
systems, which are required to emit light at cultural lighting systems thus -10
precisely specified wavelengths. An exam- requires adjustment of the out- -25 Blue
ple is shown in Fig. 2: While the luminaire’s put over time and temperature -30
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
characteristic may be very close to the ideal to maintain the specified chro- Readout (hr)
black body curve or Planckian locus at ambi- maticity and intensity.
ent temperature, its emissivity diverges con- One technique for achiev- FIG. 3. The ageing of LEDs over lifetime.
siderably from the target when the ambient ing this is to stabilize the
temperature increases to 80°C.1 current and voltage of the LEDs. Another The collection of light for the sensor can
As previously mentioned, optimizing the is to measure the temperature of the LEDs be achieved in various ways. One is to design
growth of plants is less about the color of and report these values to the LED driver a light guide into the luminaire that collects
light as perceived by the human eye that is to implement a temperature control loop. light from multiple LEDs and directs the
important, but rather the actual spectral These solutions perform indirect regula- mixed light to the sensor. Another is to design
profile of the output. Therefore, controlling tion and rely on predictive ageing models of a spectral sensing unit that may be placed out-
the spectral emissivity of a luminaire over
temperature calls for knowledge of the spec-
Power supply
tral profile of the emitted light. Power
Spectral values
PWM
Driver
LED ageing effects
The lifetime of an LED is usually defined as Driver
DMX µC
the time it takes for its brightness to drop to Driver
DALI
70% of its brightness when new. Target
Fig. 3 illustrates the change in the bright- color L u'v' Driver
ness characteristics of a high-power RGB value
Light
LED in its first 10,000 hrs of operation. Actual color value
These characteristics vary from one man- of the mixed LED light
ufacturer to another. Brightness loss within
the first 5000 hrs typically varies between True Color Sensor XYZ values
5% and 15%. Interestingly, Fig. 3 also shows Optical feedback system
that the variation of brightness is not the
same for all LEDs and the brightness atten- FIG. 4. Closed-loop optical feedback system.
1810leds_32 32 9/21/18 12:09 PM

Horticultural technology
plants seeds of opportunity
The fall season is upon us, bringing with it LEDs Magazine’s
third annual Horticultural Lighting Conference (http://
horticulturelightingconference.com/usa/), this time landing
in Portland, OR on Oct. 9 at the Hilton Portland Downtown.
As evidenced in this issue, strategies for designing
solid-state lighting (SSL) systems that can handle the
diverse needs of various plant cultivars in relatively harsh
indoor conditions continue to advance. As explained
here by Markus Busz, the programmability of spectral
sensors enables the
development of smarter
indoor farming systems,
which can learn and
adapt to the conditions
needed to maximize
operations for vertical
farms and other controlled
environment agriculture
(CEA) installations. At
Meet the UV
the conference, keynoter
Dr. Erik Runkle, who light challenge!
leads Michigan State
University’s vertical farming
research facility known UV-LED measurement solutions from
as CELL (Controlled-Environment Lighting Laboratory), Instrument Systems
will provide an overview of how LED lighting can be used
in photoperiodic, supplemental, and sole-source roles y High-end array spectroradiometer with
for specialty crops (http://bit.ly/2oGJ8Bm). On p. 36,
excellent stray light suppressing design
get a closer look at how to design robust SSL systems
that operate under these tricky conditions, where water, y Advanced numerical stray light correction
soil, humidity, power delivery, and more can influence the y PTFE integrating spheres for
performance of a poorly-executed product. Littelfuse’s Todd
UV measurement
Phillips covers several factors that influence the electronic
circuit design and provides engineering tips on how to meet y High accuracy for all new applications of
safety standards and achieve consistent performance with UV-LEDs e.g., disinfection, curing or
optimized SSL designs. printing
During the full-day conference, industry leaders will
y PTB traceable calibration for absolute
also tie the technology potential to business and market
growth opportunities that can help next-generation measurement
agriculture and the SSL industry to thrive (http://bit. Visit us at LuxLive 2018
ly/2oELj8k). We’re sure that both LED component and SSL Nov 14-15, London
Konica Minolta Booth
product manufacturers are keen to find out what the latest
horticultural lighting forecast holds. Strategies Unlimited
research director Philip Smallwood (shown) has said before
that revenue from horticultural SSL products will approach
$3B by 2022. We’re looking forward to Smallwood’s
presentation on this still-emerging market; you can also
find in-depth analysis in the 2018 horticultural lighting
market research report available from Strategies Unlimited
(http://bit.ly/2CLCnIa).
We’ll provide more coverage on the conference in an
upcoming issue of LEDs Magazine. — Carrie Meadows ◀ We bring quality to light.
LEDsmagazine.com Instrument Systems GmbH • Phone +49 89 45 49 43-58 • instrumentsystems.com
1810leds_33 33 9/21/18 10:39 AM

side the luminaire, directly at the level of the manages the interface to the Normalized responsivity 410 nm
AS72651 + AS72652 + AS72653 435 nm
plants, and to build a communications inter- host microprocessor via I 2C 0.14 460 nm
face to the driver. In this case, the sensing unit or UART interfaces. 485 nm
0.12 510 nm
may also detect and react to daylight. The AS7265x’s 18 channels 0.10 535 nm
span wavelengths in the vis- 0.08 560 nm
585 nm
AS7265x sensor chipset ible and near infrared (NIR) 610 nm
0.06
The closed-loop control architecture spectrum at 20-nm spacing, 645 nm
0.04 680 nm
requires a small sensor device that is capa- with wavelength center-points 705 nm
0.02
ble of measuring in high resolution the spec- at 410, 435, 460, 485, 510, 535, 730 nm
0.00 760 nm
tral profile of the light emitted from a lumi- 560, 585, 610, 645, 680, 705, 730, 810 nm
-0.02
naire’s multiple LEDs. 760, 810, 860, 900, and 940 nm. 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 860 nm
900 nm
A product introduced by ams provides This AS7265x filter character- Wavelength (λ, nm) 940 nm
the required capabilities: The AS7265x is istic covers exactly the wave-
FIG. 6. AS7265x filter characteristics.
a chipset consisting of three highly-inte- length range needed for opti-
grated, six-channel spectral sensor devices, mal grow-light illumination, a spectral profile opment. Combined with the high filter sta-
each only 4.5×4.4×2.5 mm, in LGA packages known as the McCree curve. bility over time and temperature, this allows
with integrated apertures, which control the The AS7265x’s interference filters offer a “calibrated-for-life” design, which lowers
light entering the sensor array. The device extremely precise and reproducible charac- both components and manufacturing costs,
family integrates Gaussian filters into stan- teristics that are stable over both time and and enables new application spaces such as
dard CMOS silicon via nano-optic deposited temperature. They enable ams to produce horticultural lighting (Fig. 5).
interference filter technology. spectral sensor ICs that are much smaller The small size of the AS7265x chipset,
Thanks to a master-slave-slave architec- and more cost effective than the typical combined with its low power consumption,
ture, the three sensor ICs are seen by the component solutions needed for high-chan- enables lighting manufacturers to develop
host as a single logical device, simplifying nel-count spectral analysis instruments. new horticultural lighting systems that take
system integration and decreasing devel- The AS72651/652/653 chipset is calibrated advantage of these unique attributes.
opment time. Intelligence integrated in the at the factory, delivering a normalized 35 The system is able to monitor the spectral
AS7265x converts the raw light measure- counts/µW/cm 2 across the entire sensed emission profile and brightness of plant illu-
ments into a calibrated digital output and spectrum and simplifying algorithm devel- mination systems in the luminaire or directly
at the plants. Thanks to their
VDD1 VDD2 spectral filter characteris-
AS72651 tic, the AS7265x sensors can
Commu- LED drivers monitor parameters such as
Spectral_ID
nication sensor VDD
LED_IND PAR (photosynthetically active
VDD Current
I2C_ENB control LED_DRV radiation) between ~400 and
Micro UART R S T
RX/SCL_S 2 ~700 nm, which is the range
controller or I C U V W
unit (MCU) TX/SDA_S slave of light frequencies at which
INT Firmware interface
°C
VDD VDD
plants perform photosynthesis
SDA_M 2
IC MISO (Fig. 6). Furthermore, the spec-
SCL_M Serial
master SPI MOSI
OSC master
flash tral data of the sensors can be
ADDR SCK memory
RESN
16MHz CSN_SD used for monitoring wall-plug
efficiency, the ratio of electri-
GND
cal power input and optical
VDD1 VDD2 VDD1 VDD2 power output of LEDs.
AS72652 AS72653 Initial in-house tests by
ams confirm that the accu-
Commu- Spectral_ID LED Commu- Spectral_ID LED
nication sensor drivers nication sensor drivers racy of the AS7265x can be
VDD VDD VDD VDD close to that of laborato-
LED_IND LED_IND
SCL_S 2
IC G H I Current SCL_S 2
IC G H I Current ry-grade spectrometers with
SDA_S slave J K L control LED_DRV SDA_S slave J K L control LED_DRV
suitable calibration of the
°C °C lighting system.
OSC REQ OSC REQ Fig. 7 shows the difference
RESN 16MHz RESN 16MHz
REQ REQ between the measured values
GND GND provided by a spectrometer
(red) and the AS7265x sensor
FIG. 5. Block diagram of AS7265x. (blue). In this case, ams mea-
1810leds_34 34 9/21/18 10:39 AM

Spectral responsivity the AS7265x sensors enable the detection of of ownership of LED light sources, which
daylight influences. This information may offer better power efficiency, lower radiated
be used to dim the intensity of those wave- heat, and longer lifetime. These new LED-
0.10
lengths emitted by spectral LEDs that are based lighting systems will be smarter,
already present in daylight. This provides connected, and sensor-rich, and will bring
0.05 for additional energy and cost savings, while better control and automation capabili-
maintaining optimal illumination of plants. ties to greenhouses. Spectral sensors will
Overall, the closed-loop control method monitor both the lights and the photo-
0.00 enabled by the spectral 18-channel AS7265x synthetic activities of the plants. These
400 450 500 550 600 650 700 750 sensor chipset enables horticultural lighting values will be used to optimize the grow
Wavelength (nm) manufacturers to develop fully automated light automatically.
FIG. 7. Spectral comparison of lighting systems with features such as: Using spectral sensors such as the AS7265x
spectrometer values versus sensor values • Automatic compensation for the influ- devices, horticultural lighting systems can
after calibration (red – spectrometer, ence of daylight be more efficient and more stable over the
blue – sensor). • Automatic adjustment to circa- long term. The sensors open new capabili-
dian rhythms ties such as automatic light profile balanc-
sured absolute values to enable a benchmark • Automatic balancing of LED drifts over ing and growth monitoring. This reduces the
of the AS7265x sensors versus a spectrometer. lifetime and temperature effort required to grow crops, saves energy,
If the closed-loop control scheme measures and helps optimize crop yield and quality.
only drifts from a standard profile, factory Conclusion
calibration is good enough for measurement In the future, LEDs will be the light source Reference
of relative values. for most horticultural lighting systems, 1. wp12362e light color regulation V1_0 –
In addition to monitoring ageing effects replacing traditional HPS luminaires. The Dr. Fred Grunert, Dr. Wilfried Mahler,
and temperature drifts in spectral LEDs, reason for this migration is the lower cost MAZeT GmbH.
1810leds_35 35 9/21/18 10:39 AM

developer forum | HORTICULTURAL CIRCUIT PROTECTION
Indoor farming poses circuit protection

challenges for LED lighting systems
Horticultural SSL fixtures face a daunting environmental challenge. TODD PHILLIPS explains the basics
of circuit protection for such product developments and regulatory testing requirements.
I
ndoor farming is quickly becoming a SSL advantages and challenges Lighting control electronics (for tim-
growth industry, especially with the There are other advantages to LED lighting. ing and power) are typically located inside
advent of LED-based horticultural light- It’s easy to control both in terms of on-off a wall-mounted enclosure. The entire con-
ing. One factor driving this growth is likely cycles and dimming, and in spectrum. What’s trol circuit must be protected from tran-
the rapid decrease in the amount of arable more, LED lamps feature long operating lifes- sients — from the LED to the passive and
land available for traditional agriculture. pans (more than 50,000 hours) that speed up active components upstream. Providing pro-
According to the United Nations’ Food and payback and reduce maintenance costs. tection from transients for both the LEDs
Agriculture Organization, the amount of Still, lighting system developers seeking and all the active and passive components
arable land per person around the world to take advantage of the growing demand upstream from them in the circuit is one of
is shrinking at an alarming rate, decreas- for products suitable for indoor agriculture the most significant challenges associated
ing from 0.38 hectare in 1970 to 0.23 hect- must be aware that LEDs aren’t as robust with indoor LED luminaires.
are in 2000, with a projected decline to in terms of withstanding electrical distur- Any electrical component directly con-
just 0.15 hectare per person by 2050. As a bances as HPS lamps. Hazardous conditions nected to an AC power source can be dam-
result, more fruit, vegetable, and flower that affect horticultural lighting can be the aged by short-circuit and overload condi-
growers are turning to indoor horticul- result of environmental factors such as heat tions caused by component and/or circuit
ture for reasons ranging from a desire to and humidity, in addition to the typical dis- failures inside the luminaire. In addition,
bring the field closer to the table, to farm turbances that can negatively impact any lightning surges or load-switching tran-
more sustainably on less real estate using electrical system, namely power faults and sients (originating outside the luminaire)
fewer resources, to allow for a year-round switching load surges. can create voltage spikes or ring waves that
growing season, or simply to raise crops Unlike many general lighting applica- can stress and ultimately damage compo-
that otherwise couldn’t flourish in a par- tions, LED lighting systems designed for nents inside the luminaire.
ticular climate. But developers working plant growth are usually intended to oper-
on LED-based horticultural fixtures must ate continuously to maximize annual crop LED luminaire circuit blocks
take steps to ensure reliable operation in a yields. In addition, the operating environ- To understand the circuit protection prob-
potentially harsh environment. ment is often very humid, and electronics lem, let’s consider a typical driver circuit. Fig.
Indeed, keeping crops growing indoors may be subject to chemical, biological, or 1 details a driver circuit for LED-based lights,
year-round demands reliable lighting sys- other types of corrosion. breaking the functionality into the basic cir-
tems. In the past, such lighting typically cuit blocks shown in the figure with AC power
involved high-pressure sodium (HPS) Horticultural applications entering on the left and ultimately powering
lamps. Although originally used for light- Indoor farming can involve a wide variety of the LEDs located on the right. Working from
ing streets, parking lots, and security areas, growing systems and facility types, including right to left in the figure, we have:
HPS lamps have often been used in indoor everything from purpose-built indoor vertical • Multiple, single-chip LEDs configured
farms because they deliver high light inten- farms to recycled shipping containers (http:// in series electrically, known as an LED
sities in the 565–700-nm wavelength range, bit.ly/2KdbbR9), as well as growing systems string. Open LED protector devices
which supports photosynthesis. For horti- ranging from hydroponics to cultivating plants (PLEDs) are often used to prevent the
cultural applications today, evolving sol- traditionally in soil in standardized contain- entire string of LEDs from turning off
id-state lighting (SSL) offers many advan- ers. LED lighting for horticulture takes a vari- in the event that one LED fails open.
tages over HPS lamps — starting with ety of form factors, depending on the type of Multiple strings are often connected
energy efficiency (http://bit.ly/2M2WcL9). plants grown and the structure of the growing in parallel and driven by a common
environment. These form factors include LED power source.
TODD PHILLIPS is global marketing manager strings, LED arrays, flowering lamps, or linear • An LED string driver circuit, with corre-
at Littlefuse (http://www.littelfuse.com/). LED lamps (also known as TLEDs). sponding controller circuitry for LED
1810leds_36 36 9/21/18 10:38 AM

string protection, including a series pos- testing as described by standards such as the I(t)/Vp
itive temperature coefficient (PTC) resis- Energy Star ring-wave tests or according to 1.0 Rise time = 0.5 µs
tor for overcurrent protection (OCP) and IEEE C.62.41. The nominal melting I2t rating,
10 µs
a parallel transient voltage suppression which is expressed in ampere squared sec- 0.5
(TVS) diode for overvoltage protec- onds (A 2sec), specifies the amount of energy
tion (OVP). required to melt the fusing element. 0.0
• A DC-DC converter circuit, which would Often, selecting a fuse based on the nom-
include a parallel TVS diode on the inal melting I2t is meant for applications in -0.5
input as secondary OVP for the down- which the fuse must endure multiple large -1.0
stream components. current pulses of short duration. Different 0 10 20 30
• A line rectifier circuit, which would fuse constructions may not react the same Time (µs)
include a series high-voltage DC fuse on way to a surge, even if their nominal melt-
FIG. 2. Energy Star defines a transient
the output for secondary OCP of down- ing I2t rating exceeds that of the waveform
voltage immunity test waveform: 0.5-
stream components. energy. For example, electrical surge pulses
μs rise time × 10-μs duration (100-kHz)
• Electromagnetic interference (EMI) fil- produce thermal cycling that can fatigue the
ring wave.
ter components. fuse mechanically and shorten its life.
• An AC input circuit, which is made up of luminaire will be used. Depending on
a line series AC fuse and a line-to-neu- Selecting a fuse whether the luminaire is intended for
tral parallel metal oxide varistor (MOV). Designers of LED-based lighting systems for use in the United States, elsewhere in
horticulture must consider a variety of import- North America, Europe, Asia, or some-
Circuit operation ant issues in order to select an appropriate AC where else, different standards will gov-
The primary overcurrent protection device input circuit fuse, including the following: ern design and testing requirements.
for an LED luminaire is located at the AC • The first step is finding the answers to For tips on understanding the agency
input. When properly sized and selected, a number of technical questions about approvals and certifications required
an AC fuse in series with the AC line will the application. These questions include based on geography, see the section fur-
adequately defend all downstream compo- the luminaire’s normal operating cur- ther along in this article that addresses
nents from induced transients, overloads, rent; application voltage; ambient tem- testing standards.
and short circuits by safely disconnecting perature; overload current level and • LED-based luminaires have tight space
all circuitry from the AC line input. length of time within which the fuse constraints. Determine the size limita-
A fuse is designed to be the intentional must open; maximum allowable fault tions that might affect the fuse that can
weak link in an electrical circuit, providing current; and the pulses, surge currents, be used. Fuses can be packaged using a
protection by reliably and predictably melting inrush currents, start-up currents, and variety of methods, but surface-mount
during short circuits and other current over- circuit transients, etc. designs are the most common form factor
load conditions. An AC fuse with an adequate • It’s vital to understand early in the for LED lighting applications. Fortunately
I2t rating is necessary to pass applicable surge design process the region in which the for circuit designers, smaller-footprint
AC line fuse MOV TVS diode PTC PLED

A fuse with adequate I2t An MOV can help protect the A TVS diode on the DC A PTC resistor can help Open circuit
rating is necessary to pass LED luminaire from overvoltage side can be used to protect LEDs from LED protection
Energy Star ring-wave surges and ring-wave effects by protect against transients overcurrent and device.
tests according to IEEE clamping short-duration voltage High-voltage before entry into the overtemperature.
C.62.41. impulses. DC fuse converter circuit.
LEDs
SPD AC input EMI filter Line DC-DC converter
reflector
L Iso/ Constant-
Ocs. step current LED
N down string driver
G TVS diode
Transient protection
for energy let
MOV through to the
Surge protection device with high LED circuit
Controller/
surge withstand MOVs (e.g.,
25–34-mm dia. sizes) optocouplers
FIG. 1. The typical LED luminaire driver circuit depicted includes transient- and surge-energy protection devices.
1810leds_37 37 9/21/18 10:38 AM

fuses are now available to protect the AC V(t)/Vp I(t)/Ip

input, some just half the size of the small-
1.0 1.0
est fuses previously available.
0.8 Front time = 1.2 µs 0.8 Front time = 8 µs
• Consider the ambient temperature where
the fuse will operate. For ambient tem- 0.6 0.6
peratures around 25°C, it’s generally
recommended that fuses be operated 0.4 Duration = 50 µs 0.4
Duration =
at no more than 75% of their nomi- 0.2 0.2 20 µs
nal current rating for UL-rated fuses,
0.0 0.0
and 100% of their nominal current rat- 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 10 20 30 40 50
ing for IEC-rated fuses. Fuses are essen-
Time (µs) Time (µs)
tially temperature-sensitive devices, so
even small variations in temperature FIG. 3. The IEC 61000-4-5 standard defines surge immunity test waveforms: 1.2×50-
can greatly affect the predicted life of μs open circuit voltage and 8×20-μs short circuit current.
a fuse when it is loaded to its nominal
value, usually expressed as 100% of the voltage rating, peak pulse current, energy rat- DC fuse (as shown in the center of Fig. 1)
rating. A derating of the fuse current rating, disc size, and lead configuration. can be used for DC link overcurrent pro-
ing may be necessary for fuses operated Select an MOV based on the following tection for the LED driver.
in elevated ambient temperature envi- important parameters:
ronments. Fuse manufacturers provide • Reverse standoff voltage (VR) — This is Additional types of protection
temperature derating curves for this arguably the most important parameter. To ensure the reliability and robustness
exact purpose. The VR of the TVS diode must be equal to of LED strings, adding polymeric positive
• Determine the application’s required or greater than the peak operating voltage temperature coefficient (PPTC) resetta-
electrical breaking capacity. Often this of the circuit (or the specific part of the ble devices in series with the LED is a good
is referred to as the interrupting rat- circuit) that the TVS diode is supposed to strategy to use to prevent thermal runaway.
ing or short-circuit rating. It is defined protect. This is needed to avoid having the In addition, a PLED will protect the reliabil-
as the maximum current that the fuse TVS diode clip the circuit drive voltage. ity of an LED string. If an LED in a string fails
can safely interrupt at the rated volt- • Peak pulse current (IPP) — The IPP is the because of a surge, then all the LEDs down-
age. During a fault or short circuit con- maximum current that the TVS diode stream will go dark. Many designers add
dition, a fuse may experience instan- can withstand without suffering dam- a PLED in parallel with each LED, so in the
taneous overload current that is many age. Typically, it is stated in the specs event that a single LED fails (LEDs typically
times greater than its normal operating with reference to an exponential wave- fail open), the PLED shunts the current around
current. Safe operation requires that the form (e.g., 10×1000 μs). Divide the peak it, keeping the rest of the string illuminated.
fuse remain intact (no explosion or body transient voltage by the source imped-
rupture) and clear the circuit. ance to determine the required IPP. Can your design live up to the standards?
• Be sure to allow sufficient time for thor- • Maximum clamping voltage (VC) — The As mentioned earlier, development teams
ough environmental testing, application VC is the peak voltage that will appear must make sure their designs can meet stan-
testing, and verification prior to produc- across the TVS device when it is sub- dards in various geographies in addition to
tion. This will ensure the safe operation jected to the IPP, based on the referenced developing a robust circuit. Various regula-
of the LED power system design in an exponential waveform. tory organizations around the world have
actual growing environment. • In indoor farming applications, tran- established a number of test standards that
sients might be the result of lightning-in- provide clear guidelines for manufacturers
Transient protection strategies duced surges on the AC input, switch- to follow when designing, manufacturing,
For an LED-based light, the primary overvolt- ing surges, power faults, ESD events, or and testing indoor LED bulbs, fixtures, and
age protection device is an MOV located on the moisture intrusion due to high humid- luminaires. Here are a few notes on some of
AC input circuit. It will clamp short-duration ity or irrigation. There will be instances the most important ones.
voltage pulses, and when properly selected for when a specific LED luminaire’s opera- UL 8750 (Standard for Safety of LED
all the design parameters, help protect down- tional circuitry is just not able to survive Equipment for use in Lighting Products)
stream components from electrical overstress the required transient event levels, even requires the design to use a protective device
(EOS) damage caused by ring-wave effects and with surge protection used at the AC that will interrupt or limit the flow of cur-
induced transients. MOVs offer a cost-effective input. In these cases, adding a secondary rent in the event of an overload, in order to
way to minimize transient energy that could TVS diode for overvoltage protection is a minimize the risk of fire and shock. For this
otherwise make its way into downstream com- proven solution that further clamps the type of application, a fuse is the most reli-
ponents. Proper MOV selection is based on a “let through” energy from the MOV. For able and commonly used technology to pro-
number of electrical parameters, including the the most extreme cases, a high-voltage tect against short circuit or overload events.
1810leds_38 38 9/21/18 10:38 AM

In the United States, bulb manufactur- indoors] operation) and the ability to with- Apply 500V line-to-line with 2Ω source
ers must comply with Energy Star transient stand seven strikes in common mode and impedance and 1 kV line-to-ground with
voltage surge specifications for LED replace- seven in differential mode, with one minute 12Ω impedance.
ment bulb assemblies used in residential and between each strike. • For luminaires higher than 25W,
In countries other than the United States, 1000V/500A: Apply 1 kV line-to-line with
LED lighting systems the IEC/EN 61347 LED driver (power sup- 2Ω source impedance and 2 kV line-to-
ply) specification and IEC/EN 62031 for LED ground with 12Ω impedance.
designed for plant arrays/modules contain safety requirements • Ten strikes, 5+ and 5- at phase angles
for these power supplies. 90°/270°, with one minute between
growth usually operate IEC 61000-4-5 is used throughout many each strike.
countries. It is a surge standard often used
continuously to for LED lighting assemblies. In addition, Conclusion
maximize crop yields. part of IEC 61547, “Equipment for General The ongoing expansion of the indoor farm-
Lighting Purposes” requires EMC immu- ing market means that lighting design engi-
certain commercial applications. For exam- nity testing. Fig. 3 shows two waveforms that neers need to educate themselves about how
ple, Version 1.4 of the Energy Star program define the rise time and duration of the test to protect the LEDs that will be an essen-
requirements defines a 0.5-µs, 100-kHz ring voltage and current. tial part of this industry. Circuit protec-
wave transient test (as illustrated in Fig. 2) Additional test requirements include tion device manufacturers are an excellent
for integral LED lamps. Other test require- the following: source of guidance on the various fuse, MOV,
ments include a test level of 2.5 kV/83 A, line- • For self-ballasted lamps and lumi- and TVS diode options available and how to
to-line (ANSI/IEEEC.62.41-1991, Class A [i.e., naires lower than 25W, 500V/250A: apply them.
PRODUCT SHOWCASE
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1810leds_39 39 9/21/18 10:38 AM

last word
Halogen lighting heads into the

sunset while LEDs are on the rise
European energy-efficiency regulations are now in effect that will phase out many
existing halogen lamp products, and the time is right to educate buyers and end
users about the advances in LED lighting, says Sylvania’s SIMON REED.
F
rom Sept. 1 this year, almost all hal- cial purpose (incandescent rough service, compared to incandescent (1000 hr), halogen
ogen lighting will be phased out in high/low temperature, and clear glass dec- (2000 hr), and compact fluorescent lamps
Europe to make way for more efficient orative filament). The use of halogen direc- (15,000 hr). So while many have bemoaned
and cost-effective solutions. This is the last tional mains‐voltage and low‐voltage lamps the cost of LEDs, given their lower energy
of a number of European Union (EU) Eco- (GU10, PAR, R-type) was then outlawed in consumption and longer lifetime, there is
Design measures, which were first put into 2016 (http://bit.ly/2NOeX5Z). no debating that these lamps represent a
place in 2009 to bring the industry closer The final deadline designed to bring the smart investment.
to meeting targets set out under the energy industry closer to meeting the energy strat- LEDs have been criticized for limited
strategy for 2020. egy came into play on Sept. 1. This will see diversity of color temperatures. Past LED
The incandescent light bulb has existed mains-voltage non-directional halogen lamps produced cold, white light that failed
for over 130 years; however, about 90% of the lamps banned, marking the phasing out of to mimic the warmth and ambience of halo-
energy it produces is in the form of heat as almost all halogen lighting. Refrigerator gen and incandescent alternatives.
opposed to light, making it hugely inefficient. and oven lamps, halogen capsules, Now, the latest leading LED
That translates into 75% more energy used linear R7s bulbs, and low-voltage solutions are capable of replicat-
than LED alternatives. Therefore, the switch halogen lamps such as MR16 will ing the charm and aesthetic of tra-
from incandescent to LED is a vital business remain available. ditional halogen lamps by offering
decision, and in light of the impending hal- According to the European a range of warm color tempera-
ogen phase-out across the EU, it demands Commission, in 2018 the switch to tures to create soft, relaxed, and
immediate attention (http://bit.ly/2NNbkgL). energy-efficient lamps will result elegant atmospheres in residential
The European Union has long been com- in total annual energy savings that or hospitality applications.
mitted to fighting climate change and in match the annual electricity con- SIMON REED Newer-generation LED lamps
2009 it announced bold plans to reduce sumption of the whole of Portu- also come with high-performance
energy use by 20% by 2020. With 39% of a gal (48.0 TWh of electricity; http://bit.ly/2N- glare-control optics, improving the delivery of
commercial property’s electricity consumed Q1xGO). This means a savings of 15.2 million light and helping to increase productivity and
by lighting, according to the US Department metric tonnes of CO2 emissions by 2025. wellness in offices. And leading ranges come
of Energy, and 50% of lighting deemed highly Replacing halogen with LED is not a new with enhanced flexibility — a key consider-
inefficient, it’s easy to understand why this development. Many users have already ben- ation particularly for retail settings. Many
energy source has such an important role efited from upgrading their lighting. How- lamps feature adjustable beam angles to pro-
to play (http://bit.ly/2NNvfMy). What’s ever, LEDs still only make up 10% of light- vide high-quality light that draws attention
more, the Committee of Climate Change ing systems globally due to the legacy of to specific areas in stores to boost sales. They
has reported that energy companies are incandescent and halogen, leaving room for also allow for accommodating future changes
predicted to drive up bills by 30% by 2030 change. With that said, LED is predicted to to store layout and design trends.
in response to the European Commission’s become the predominant source of lighting The drive toward more energy-efficient
drive for energy-efficient operations. over the next decade. lighting has been met with apprehension by
Between 2009 and 2012, EU Eco-Design In addition to being significantly more some. But the latest LED developments prom-
measures saw the gradual removal of clear energy efficient, LED lamps offer a consider- ise to ensure that end users can still achieve
incandescent lamps from the market, as well ably longer service life. The average lifespan the look and feel of halogen while realizing
as those lamps previously defined as spe- of LED is said to be approximately 50,000 hr the long-term value that LED has to offer.
1810leds_40 40 9/21/18 10:38 AM

LOW EMI
LED DRIVER
25000:1
T393-
UK  RVR
   
DIMMING VN
Silent≥Switcher®≥
     Low≥EMI≥Technology
     PWM≥Plus≥ T393- 

Analog≥Control
   
for≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥
    Dimming 
PW

≥≥8≥≥≥Internal≥
PWM≥Generator
T T
/T393
1810leds_C3 3 9/21/18 10:26 AM

1810leds_C4 4 9/21/18 10:26 AM

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OCTOBER 2018

Closing the loop

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• Improves the light experience for human health benefits

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electronica Hall B6 Booth 404

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Signify still sells lights! Unveils Fluence publishes cannabis

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Fagerhult sets start date for new CEO, as

Zumtobel cites ‘gross negligence’

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Inventronics Europe Inventronics India Inventronics Brazil

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THE GOOD DAY&NIGHT® DOWNLIGHT

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To find out more, visit lumileds.com/StylistSeries or contact

LUMILEDS ILLUMINATION LEDs

©2018 Lumileds Holding B.V. All Rights Reserved.

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The next wave in outdoor lighting

LEDsmagazine.com OCTOBER 2018 15

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lacked accuracy. Furthermore, occupancy didn’t matter even though

We need to inspire customers to

One Part, Dual Cure Light and public safety

UV22DC80 of messages, from an advertisement on the sidewalk to an acci-

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Create the Right Environment

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Signify pushes into new data

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