In San Antonio, Texas, CPS Energy has selected Toshiba TGT LED Luminaires to replace 20,000 HPS street lamps following extensive experimentation with multiple LED luminaires.
Toshiba International Corporation (TIC) has announced that its TGT LED Luminaires will replace over 20,000 high-pressure sodium (HPS) street lamps in San Antonio, Texas. CPS Energy selected Toshiba’s roadway lighting after extensive investigation and experimentation with multiple LED luminaire options. The luminaire was selected for its product performance including the communications-enabled feature that allows connection to the Smart Grid.
The Toshiba TGT LED Luminaire uses 70% less energy than the HPS street lamps and has a rated life of 100,000 hours L85. The photocells have a rated life of 15 years, which means the TGT luminaire lasts up to 5X longer with a lower lumen depreciation than metal halide and 2X as long as HPS products.
San Antonio’s existing 250W HPS luminaires consume 310 system watts and are being replaced by Toshiba’s 100W 42-chip TGT LED luminaires. The luminaire features a very low life cycle cost based on its durability and low energy use.
“We were incredibly pleased with the quality of light from the Toshiba product. The change-outs implemented to date have resulted in a marked improvement on light distribution and color rendering,” said Richard Lujan, manager for Standards and Specification at CPS Energy.
In addition to the energy and maintenance savings, Toshiba TGT LED luminaires provide high color rendering, uniformity and small target visibility, all of which enhance public safety.
“We are committed to the value this product brings to the marketplace – not only as an incredibly energy-efficient, low-maintenance product, but as a superior light source that enhances visibility and contributes to a community’s improved quality of life,” said Peter DellaPezze, vice president of marketing and product development, TIC LED Lighting Systems Division. “We also value the relationship we have with CPS Energy as we work together to develop lighting solutions that take advantage of all the capabilities LED technology can offer progressive communities such as San Antonio.”
The Oslon Black Flat LED for automotive headlights is designed to provide virtually constant light output even at elevated temperatures.
The new Oslon Black Flat LED from Osram Opto Semiconductors for automotive front lighting has been designed to provide high light output at high drive current, uniform light distribution, and high contrast for visibility. The LED component combines advanced chip and packaging technology including ceramic converters to deliver higher brightness and greater temperature stability. The LED was originally introduced as a prototype in September 2011 and is now commercially available.
The Oslon Black Flat LED has been designed to meet all front-lighting requirements. The LED can be used to illuminate the road in all weather conditions while functioning in different capacities as high-beam headlights, daytime running lights, cornering lights, or fog lights.
The LED uses the company’s new UX:3 chip technology to deliver 200 lm (at 25°C) at 700 mA drive currents and 2.3W, or up to 270 lm at 1.2A. It can handle application temperature up to 100°C.
Thermal management has been improved by reducing the component’s thermal resistance to 4 K/W. The QFN (quad flat no leads) package material matches the coefficient of thermal expansion of the metal-core board. The Oslon Black Flat is AECQ101 automotive qualified, with a rated life of 100,000 hours at 700 mA and a case temperature of 60°C or 10,000 hours at 1.2 A and 120°C.
The LED has been designed with a low profile and no lens to maximize optical incoupling by placing the chip very close to the light guide or lens in the headlight. This design enables a luminance of 70-100 Mcd/m2, 2-5X higher than comparable LEDs. “This is particularly important in automotive front lighting solutions based on projection systems,” said Michael Martens, product marketing manager for automotive LEDs at Osram Opto Semiconductors. “The greater the luminance of the LED, the smaller the external lens and the smaller the space needed. Headlights can therefore be made much more compact, giving designers much more freedom.”
Nexxus Lighting has unveiled a $6 million investment from Aston Capital, and chief executive Robert LaPenta will become the new chairman of Nexxus.
Nexxus Lighting (NEXS), a maker of LED replacement lamps based in Charlotte, NC, has announced that it will be receiving a $6 million investment from a private equity firm Aston Capital LLC. When the deal is finalized, the firm will own 73% of Nexxus’ common stock. Robert LaPenta, chief executive officer (CEO) of Aston, will become Nexxus's new chairman.
The closing of Aston's investment is scheduled to be finalized by September 24, at which time Nexxus' current board members will resign.
Aston has agreed to purchase 600,000 shares of convertible preferred stock at $10 per share. The preferred stock will be convertible into shares of the company's common stock at a conversion price of $0.13 per share.
"We view the market for LED lighting to be in the early phase of adoption and we see Nexxus Lighting, with their product lines and intellectual property, as a platform on which to build and grow in the market," LaPenta said.
The proceeds of the investment will be used to pay off about $2.5 million of short-term debt and fund the upcoming settlement of a lawsuit with Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV and Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions over LED lighting patents. Upon settlement, Nexxus Lighting will receive a license to use certain Philip's patents for LED lighting and will pay Philips a royalty with respect to certain company products. Additional proceeds will be used for working capital.
Upon conversion of the stock, Aston is expected to own about 73% of Nexxus' outstanding common stock. Aston will also initially have the right to appoint four members to its board, with the board not to exceed seven members.
"The last several quarters have been very challenging and the need to find a strong partner became a requirement for the company," said Nexxus president and CEO Mike Bauer.
Last year, Nexxus began marketing its replacement lamps directly to commercial customers via its web portal, www.arrayled.com. The move was designed to bring factory-direct pricing to customers of Array-brand LED replacement lamps, including ESCOs, lighting maintenance contractors, facility and property managers.
Several years ago, Nexxus Lighting, known as Super Vision at the time, was involved in a five-year legal battle with Color Kinetics, which settled in favor of Color Kinetics.
The Luxeon Z is a very small, unencapsulated LED package that can be used to build multi-chip arrays, while the Luxeon H50-2 is an improved version of Lumileds’ high-voltage package.
Philips Lumileds has recently introduced several new ranges of LEDs, including the Luxeon Z, described as “the industry’s smallest high-power LED package,” and a new version of its high-voltage Luxeon H.
Luxeon Z
With a package size of 1.7 x 1.3 mm, or 2.2 mm2, the Luxeon Z has the “industry’s highest commercially-available lumen density,” claims Lumileds. The highest-rated bin for 4000K white (CRI=70) measured at 25°C and 500 mA has a typical flux and efficacy of 148 lm and 102 lm/W respectively. At 700 mA, the figures are 194 lm and 94 lm/W.
The Luxeon Z is available in white as well as in a range of colors from 440 to 670 nm, using either AlGaInP or InGaN chips. It is unencapsulated, allowing the use of custom optics.
Lumileds says that the small form-factor of Luxeon Z will allow it be used to create specialized mono-color or multi-color arrays for existing and new luminaires. Up to 250 Luxeon Z LEDs can be mounted in one square inch, says the company.
“Luxeon Z fundamentally takes the building-block approach and puts design flexibility back in the hands of engineers and specifiers,” says Rahul Bammi, VP product management at Lumileds.
High-voltage Luxeon H LEDs
Lumileds as also introduced a new version of its high-voltage Luxeon H, the H50-2, which is intended for space-constrained retrofit lamps such as the common A19, as well as candelabra and GU10 lamps. With a typical efficacy of more than 80 lm/W, the H50-2 improves on the existing 50V Luxeon H by 27%.
The high-voltage LED approach enables the use of simpler, more cost-efficient drivers, compared with conventional LEDs that are driven in the region of around 3V. “This new LED package works with simple, highly-efficient drivers, enabling lighting designers to create unique form factors at lower costs,” said Viji Krishnamurthy, product manager at Lumileds.
Luxeon K arrays and mid-power 3535 LEDs
Lumileds has also recently publicized its Luxeon K arrays, available with 4, 8, 12, 16 and 24 emitters. Outputs range from 400 to 4000 lm, with CCTs of 2700K, 3000K and 4000K.
Finally, the Luxeon Mid-Power 3535 is designed for non-directional light sources, such as LED troffers and tube lights, which are used in commercial and residential applications.
