Verbatim Americas, LLC, backed by Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation (MCHC) group, has announces the official ENERGY STAR(R) qualification of its new line of PAR-type retrofit LED lamps.

Verbatim's ENERGY STAR qualified LED retrofit lamp product line includes:
— PAR20 — 3000K, 500 lumen output and 9 watts
— PAR30 — 2700K, 740 lumen output and 14 watts
— PAR30 — 3000K, 800 lumen output and 14 watts
— PAR38 — 2700K, 920 lumen output and 17 watts
— PAR38 — 3000K , 1000 lumen output and 17 watts

ENERGY STAR qualified Verbatim PAR LED lamps provide high quality warm white light with uniform beam distributions, making them ideal formercial environments such as hotels, restaurants, retail shops, corporate buildings, hospitals and more.

When replacing traditional halogen PAR lamps, Verbatim ENERGY STAR LED lamps provide up to 80% reduction in energy consumption. Verbatim ENERGY STAR lamps are also fully dimmable andpatible with mostmercial dimming systems. Verbatim ENERGY STAR LED lamps qualify for utility rebates and are backed by a 5 year warranty.

Low-Price Strategy Caused Steep Drop in December Prices, Penetration Rate to Surge

According to the latest price survey of LEDinside, the LED research division of TrendForce, the ASP of 60W equivalent LED light bulbs dipped by 16% in December, with the lowest price plummeting to US$18.9. As for 40W equivalent LED light bulbs, the lowest price dropped to US$11.1.

60W Equivalent LED Bulb Prices Plunged

Source: LEDinside

LEDinside indicates that the prices of 60W equivalent LED light bulbs plunged even further in December – ASP slid by 13% to US$33.5, which marked another steep drop since the 11'Septmeber price drop in the United States. Notably, the price in South Korea also reached a low of US$18.9. According to LEDinside, the ASP dipped 17% in the United States and 15% in Japan.

40W Equivalent LED Bulb Prices Hit a Low of US$11.1

Source: LEDinside

In regard to 40W equivalent LED Bulbs, the downtrend persisted in December and the prices experienced the most evident drop in Japan, falling approximately 5%. According to LEDinside, South Korea still holds the mostpetitive price for 40W equivalent LED bulbs, with the lowest price at US$11.1.

Perspectives from LEDinside

LEDinside states that the prices of 60W LED equivalent LED bulbs have undertaken a more evident drop. Since 60W equivalent bulbs takes up the biggest light bulb market share and is closer to the mainstream lighting specifications, the global big names have been taking a more aggressive approach in this area and hope to gain a bigger market share with morepetitive prices.

However, LEDinside noticed that on account of the varying criteria among different countries for replacement bulbs, certain products may be able to meet the criteria of brightness, color temperature but fail to meet other less important ones. Hence, when manufacturers are striving to lower the prices in the hope of increasing market acceptance, they also need to emphasize more on the bulbs’ critical features such as beaming angle; in fact, these specifications will be one of the major focal point for the new products to be released in 2012.

Outside the exhibition center of Lighting Japan 2012

Lighting Japan 2012 4th LED/OLED Lighting Technology Expo, organized by the renowned Reed Exhibitions Japan,mences on January 18th, 2012. The expositionprises not onlypanies from Europe, United States, Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan showcasing the latest LED and OLED lighting technologies, but also attendees from all over the world in seek of the lighting market’s booming prospects.

Lobby of the exhibition center

The exhibitor search corner at Lighting Japan 2012 for attendees' search needs

Other expositions held at the exhibition center

Aside from the LED/OLED Lighting Technology Expo, REED simultaneously holds Automotive World 2012 (an exposition on the latest development of electric and hybrid vehicles) and 13th International Electronicponents Trade Show, which all take place at Tokyo Big Sight (Tokyo International Exhibition Center), Tokyo, Japan with several thousand visitors attending.

Korea/Seoul Pavilion at Lighting Japan 2012

Exhibition of Everlight’s Plant Grow Lights

OSRAM booth

Panasonic's ECOOL products

Taiwanese LED manufacturers, including big names Everlight and Delta, exhibit in Taiwan Pavilion.

The opening ceremony of Lighting Japan 2012 4th LED/OLED Lighting Technology Expo

Robert Yeh, President & CEO of Everlight

In addition, Toshiba, NEC, Endo Lighting, Panasonic, Philips Lighting, Osram AG, Samsung LED, Seoul Semiconductor, Everlight, Epistar, TSMC, Liteon, Lextar, Delta and Sunsun Lighting attended the opening ceremony this morning.

Attendees waiting to check in

LEDinside Booth Number WL 9-5, Speech on January 19th

LEDinside booth (number: WL 9-5)

As a LED research institute operating on a global basis, LEDinside exhibits at Lighting Japan 2012, providing international LED makers withprehensive industry and B2B consulting service and the English and Japanese version of “Chinese LED Lighting Market Report in 2011-2015.”

LEDinside’s booth is located at WL 9-5 (enter the West Hall through Entrance no.2 and then turn right at the second pavement.)

LEDinside booth

BeLight Magazine International Edition

Moreover, Dr. C.L. Liu, the former President at the National Tsing Hua University and currently the Chairman of LEDinside, TrendForce, will give a speech at the 4th LED/OLED Lighting Technology Expo on Jan. 19 (Thur, 13:30-16:00), addressing the subject “China Market Trend in LED lighting” (session Lighting-3). The speech, featuring the latest research findings and market forecast of LEDinside, will focus on the Asia and Chinese markets' development and dissect the new outlook and prospects facing the LED industry, giving participants in-depth insights into the market dynamics and pressing issues.

-Indoor/Outdoor Energy Efficient Flood Lights in Three Varieties-

GlacialLight, a sub-division of the experienced technology manufacturer GlacialTech Inc., is pleased to announce a new LED Flood Light Series using Philips Lumileds LED Chips – the GL-FL12, GL-FL30, and GL-FL120.

The GlacialLight Flood Light Series provides a direct indoor and outdoor replacement solution for outdated mercury lamps. With Philips Lumileds LED Chips efficiently converting electricity into light, GlacialLight's Flood Light Series produces natural-looking light for over 30,000 hours. When used for eight hours a day these LED floodlights last for over a decade, lowering maintenance cost.

Shining high quality cool white light while using less energy than traditional lighting, the GL-FL12 (13W), GL-FL30 (27W), and GL-FL120 (110W) are equivalent to 50W, 75W, and 300W mercury lamps, respectively. Not only does this GlacialLight series help to reduce energy consumption, but also with a color temperature of 6000K and a color rendering index of at least 70, people and objects will look more natural in the gentler LED light with no perceptible flickering.

With the environment in mind GlacialLight designed the Flood Light Series to contain no hazardous chemicals, such as mercury, or harmful radiation emissions such as UV or IR, making them more eco-friendly than traditional lighting. The Flood Light Series is also more economically friendly, consuming less power while providing more light, than traditional lighting products.

GL-FL Navi Series LED Flood Light Features:
•    Indoor & outdoor use
•    High power efficiency > 90%(GL-FL120); >80% (GL-FL12 & FL30)
•    LED chips by Philips Lumileds
•    Long life span: >30,000 hours
•    Ideal replacement for mercury lamps
•    Cool easy on the eyes light & no warm-up
•    Eco-friendly: No UV, no IR, & no mercury

Specifications

Excellent LED lighting products you can trust
Design of LED lighting products is based on three core technologies including electrical design (LED drivers), mechanical design (cooling devices), and optical design (lamp holders), respectively performed by GlacialPower, GlacialTech, and GlacialLight in the GlacialTech family. With the three core technologies in hand, GlacialTech has integrated all the resources required for exceptional designs and manufactures excellent LED lighting products you can trust.

Advantages and benefits of LED lightingpared to traditional lighting
•    Directional lighting: ideal for flashlights/torches and spotlights
•    No warm-up time in cold environments: LEDs don’t require warm-up time like conventional CFLs
•    No harmful radiation and no hazardous metals: LEDs don’t emit harmful radiation such as Ultraviolet or Infrared emitting halogen lamps and don’t contain hazardous metals such as mercury contained in mercury lamps
•    Extremely long lifetimes free users from frequent bulb replacement
•    Extremely small carbon footprints: an environmentally-friendly technology

City Capital Corporation has acquired Nevada-based Solar and LED lightingpany, Strategic Energy and Power (STEP).

With distribution and installation agreements already in place, thepany offers solar and LED installation for both residential andmercial applications around the country. Talks are uing with several Native American entities for systems to meet their needs, and plans are underway to bidpetitively for governmental contracts.

By Scott Patterson

The requirement and impact on the consumer side:

The phase out of incandescent light bulbs begins on the January of 2012, the new standards require all light bulbs to be at least 25 percent more efficient whether it is domestically manufactured or imported. On the package it should label clearly its brightness and explain it life expectancy, energy efficiency and annual operating cost. The efficiency standards will only begin to take its effect on 100 watt incandescent light bulbs on January 1 and will gradually make its effect onto 75 watt and 60 watt on January 13 and 14 respectively. Retailers are allowed to sell their remainder incandescent light bulbs as long as they are not manufactured or imported after the regulation being imposed.

The old incandescent light bulbs, the original Thomas Edison light bulbs, are inefficient and waste reportedly up to 95 percent of its energy as heat. This is also why it gets hot and can be hazardous on touch. The congress passed the Energy Independence and Security Act in 2007, which requires the new bulbs to be at least 25 percent more efficient in terms of electricity cost per lumen of light produced.

Sufficient light bulbs cost more, but can save your electricity bill in the long run. A typical 75 watt traditional incandescent light bulb priced at less than 1 dollar cost about $12.50 annually to use. A 75 watt equivalent LED light bulb (use only 17 watt) priced from $25 to $40 and cost about $3 annually to use and are typically warranted to have a lifespan longer than 20 years.

Information on the color temperature of these new light bulbs is specified on its packaging in temperature scale unit using kelvin. Lower number on the Kelvin scale meaning the light is warmer and yellowish while higher the number means the light is cooler and bluish, a traditional incandescent light bulb with a tint of yellow is measured on a Kelvin scale to approximately 2,700 to 3,000 k.

Lumen is also a specification that one should pay attention to when ites to choosing new bulbs. Different from the traditional specification of wattage required, lumen measure a bulb’s brightness. An old 100 watt incandescent light bulb produces about 1,600 lumens, and a 40 watt incandescent light bulb produce approximately 450 lumens, needless to say the higher the lumen the brighter the light produced.

The Energy Efficiency Act

The Energy Efficiency Act marks the end of incandescent light bulbs. Gradually incandescent light bulbs will disappear from our grocery, convenient stores. In fact, the more popular variety of light bulbs, the 40 and 60 watt light bulbs will have couple more years before being affected by the new efficiency standards. Law makers in the United States are trying to push its nation toward a more energy independent and secure country.

With the new Energy Efficiency Act in effect, however, most of specialty lights will not be affected, that being said to including twinkle lights and more. “What consumer needs to get out of this new implemented policy is to understand the viable light alternatives” said a LEDinsdie representative. These options are high-efficiency incandescent bulbs, CFL pact florescent) bulbs and LED (Light emitting-diodes) bulbs.

This is a change in customer behavior, for the first time customer need to think about how to purchase the right light bulb for their specific lighting purpose.

Energy efficient incandescent bulb, also known as halogen bulbs, these improved bulbs are about 28 percent more efficient than the traditional incandescent light bulbs, just efficient enough to pass the new regulation. However, they cost much less at purchase, a pack cost around $5 at your local stores. These improved new incandescent light bulbs also look almost identical to the traditional mushroom-like Thomas Edison Light bulbs. Some customers tend to be more accepting of this option.

CFL light bulbs, on the other hand, are about 75 percent more efficient than the traditional incandescent light bulbs, and can last up to 10 years on average. CFL light bulbs are inparison more expensive the traditional incandescent light bulbs, but their prices are dropping fast. According to a recent survey conducted by LEDinside, CFL sales mainly suffered from its light appearance and bulb shapes, delay in response when switch on.

CFL lighting manufactures are arguing that these issues are being improved with newer CFL light bulb models. One last concern that has been exaggerated by the media is the trace amount of mercury containing inside of each CFL light bulb. It is true that the amount of mercury contains in a CFL is less than that of an old-fashioned thermometer. “The amount of mercury containing inside a CFL light bulb is in fact less than the amount resides inside a deep sea Tuna fish” Said Ed Crawford, CEO of Philips Lighting.

Still the CFL light bulbs require special recycling, some retailer are trained and prepared to do the recycling for CFL light bulbs. Some cleaning up tip on how to handle a broken CFL light bulb can be find on the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) website: epa.gov/cfl/ cflcleanup.html. 

LED light bulbs can be 85 percent more efficient and last up to 25 years

LED light bulbs can be 85 percent more efficient and last up to 25 years. LED is also the most expensive alternative of these three options at purchase. An Energy Star qualified LED light bulb can cost ranged from $25 to $40 each. But this front cost can bepensated with the money saved on electricity bill in the future toe, not to say that the LED light bulb might even outlive the home where you installed these new lights. LED light bulbse in a variety of shape and sizes and are extremely sufficient for directional lighting.

According to LEDinside, LED light sources are by far the well-received light source. They have a dimmable feature, are mercury-free and energy-efficient, and have a life span of up-to 25 years. LED light bulbs are the light of future.

No matter what your new year’s resolutions may be, there’s one thing we should all make a priority in 2012: sustainable living. And thanks to its new hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle Blue2, Hyundai is making that a lot easier (if you’re in the market for a new car, that is). The Blue 2, which was unveiled at the Seoul Motor Show earlier this year, can achieve around 82 MPG thanks also to its low-rolling-resistance tires and uses beautiful aerodynamic form, which reduces drag and increases efficiency. And speaking of the car’s aesthetic, it’s pretty snazzy, no? The interior features LED light panels on both the front dash and in the rear, which display the car’s status. 2012 is sure to be a great year for all, and rolling down the street in a slick car like this one, complete with LED ribbon technology inside and out, would be a great way to start it off.

Image via Autoblog

Toshiba has launched E-CORE LED 6W candle shaped incandescent lamps.

The new lamp delivers a true 250 lumen, 25W incandescent lamp replacement withoutpromising on the quality of light.

The design of the virtual filament inside the E-CORE Candle LED gives the superb illusion of a traditional lamp and directs the light in a uniform and elegant manner perfect for chandeliers, table lamps and wall mounted decorative fixtures.

The range is available in clear and frosted, SES and BC,as well as Ball shape versions.