China and Taiwan urged in LED Cooperation
LED makers are being urged to cooperate in areas such as standardization, patents, certification and investment.
LED manufacturers from Taiwan and China were urged to work together to develop better technologies and create a “win-win situation,” according to an article in the China
Times.
The remarks were made by industry representatives during a cross-strait LED forum held at the Grand Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan on June 9-10 (see news announcement).
Huang Chung-chiu, Taiwan deputy minister of economic affairs, said that Taiwan has formed a seamless LED supply chain network, with manufacturers having developed expertise in
such products as LED-based back-light panels for notebook PCs and LCD TVs. Taiwan’s ultra-bright LED chip production accounts for 40 percent of the global total.
“China can learn much from Taiwan,” said Feng Jichun, an official with China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, adding that the People’s Republic has achieved breakthroughs
in mid- to upstream LED applications.
“Taiwan has the expertise, scale and human resources,” Feng said. “Both sides of the strait can complement each other.”
Feng mentioned five areas in which Taiwan and China can work together, including investment, and the formation of an industry alliance to conduct joint research and development.
The two countries should also work on common approaches to patents and standardization, as well as developing a common certification and testing platform, he added.
Wu Ling, secretary general of the China Solid State Lighting Alliance, said governments on both sides have already built a bridge allowing greater exchanges in the future in the
areas of patenting, technology and standardization. “Both sides should work together on R&D, investment, capital expansion, international markets enlargement, and the formation
of international brands,” she said.
LED street lights in China
A pair of related articles on CIO.com and Forbes.com say that Taiwan companies will help to install LED street lights in a number of Chinese cities.
LED lighting market in Taiwan
An article on the Taiwan Economic News website discusses the reasons why lighting makers and advocates have not been able to sizably increase the market shares of LED lighting.
Green Energy Of LED light
A new law passed by in Ontario will grow help to grow the province’s economy in a greener and more sustainable direction.
Smitherman and Riesebosch
On May 14, 2009, Bill 150 was given Royal Assent in the Province of Ontario, Canada, signing into law the new Green Energy Act, 2009. This Act is intended to build a green
economy in Ontario, under the leadership of Ontario Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, George Smitherman.
Currently, Ontario is in need of jobs and economic development opportunities. The traditional manufacturing economy is in a downturn and the Province needs to generate
significant and meaningful jobs. “Green-collar” jobs will grow Ontario’s economy in a greener and more sustainable direction. The Green Energy and Economy Act is set to
fulfill this need.
On June 2, Smitherman hosted a celebration of this momentous event at Toronto’s flagship Hard Rock Cafe in the heart of downtown Toronto, where over 400 guests attended to
celebrate Minister Smitherman’s “shining” moment.
Not only shining in the light of the new Act, Minister Smitherman was shining in the light coming from a room full of LED lighting supplied and installed by Canadian company CRS
Electronics of Welland, Ontario.
Hard Rock Toronto
CRS had replaced over 100 halogen MR-16s with their new LED MR-16. Prior to the event, Hard Rock management and their lighting and sound technician commented on how impressed
they were with the technology, the brightness and the resemblance to the quality of lighting offered by the incumbent technology. They explained that Hard Rock is very
environmentally conscious and has undertaken a number of initiatives throughout the restaurant chain.
One of only a few SSL products actually manufactured in Canada and more relevant to this occasion, in the Province of Ontario, this is truly representative of the development of
a green economy in Ontario.
Minister Smitherman acknowledged Scott Riesebosch, President of CRS, for his efforts, commenting, “These new MR16 LED lights will save of 80% of the energy used by current
Halogen lights.” The picture shows the two men together.
Ken Elsey, President and CEO of the Canadian Energy Efficiency Alliance (CEEA), a keen interested observer of the path of solid-state lighting, applauded Minister Smitherman for
this renewed green activity in Ontario.
This strong leadership in Ontario and other Canadian provinces will definitely set the pace for Canada as a whole and the Canadian Federal Government.
Energy Star Participants Meeting
Attendees at the Energy Star Participants Meeting and National Lighting Summit in Canada shared valuable thoughts on the US programs and SSL lighting development.
DOE’s Jim Brodrick
Ottawa, Canada hosted two days of lighting meetings on May 25 and 26, commencing with the Canadian ENERGY STAR Participants Meeting and followed by the National Lighting Summit.
During the proceedings of the first day of the Participants Meeting, attendees heard from Marc Hoffman of the Consortium for Energy Efficiency (CEE), who presented its “Save
More with ENERGY STAR”-tiered ENERGY STAR “plus” program, and Keith Stewart of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), who presented its Topten program. All great intentions and
thoughts, but I will share with you one thought of mine: “Save the environment, confuse the consumer!”
The National Lighting Summit
On the second day, at the National Lighting Summit, Pierrette LeBlanc of Natural Resources Canada’s (NRCan) Office of Energy Efficiency (OEE) outlined Canadian SSL activities,
in past including traffic signals, exit signs and decorative lights strings or Christmas lights and current activities including Nova Scotia’s LED Streetlighting Conversion
Project. The project will demonstrate and monitor the energy efficiency, light efficacy and maintenance of LED Roadway Lighting Ltd’s newly designed LED street and roadway light
fixtures.
Current activities also include Toronto’s LightSavers, a market transforming consortium that will develop a living laboratory for pilot testing and multiple pathways for
commercializing outdoor lighting applications utilizing LED technologies and intelligent control systems. LightSavers takes it roots from the founding groundwork completed by
Toronto’s greenTbiz at Exhibition Place and other locations throughout Toronto.
Other projects include the Centre for Energy Advancement through Technological Innovation (CEATI) Outdoor Lighting Working Group’s efforts to identify and support projects
deemed important to the adoption of energy savings products used with outdoor lighting in parking and streetlight applications and the National Research Council (NRC) Canada
project to develop a new concept for the office of the future using SSL.
LeBlanc also commented on possible future activities, such as an SSL procurement guide, which is already underway and being readied for a fall release by my organization,
greenTbiz, for municipal indoor and outdoor, as well as private sector general lighting specifiers.
Lighting labeling
The findings of a recent public focus group and opinion research into the confusing issues of lighting labeling were presented. However, without any evident conclusions, the
research presentation was more confusing than the issues. The redeeming part was that another presentation regarding labeling, given by Hampton Newsome, a lawyer with the US
Federal Trade Commission (FTC), soon followed. Newsome’s concise presentation was compelling and strong. Humorously but concluding with a serious purpose, he commented that,
when they (the FTC) are not busy suing people, a great amount of thought is placed on the presentation of information that will educate and satisfy the needs of the consumer
while presenting and preserving truth in advertising. In Canada, consumers are protected by Industry Canada regulations, but it is well known that the FTC has much larger and
sharper teeth that cut deep into those disseminating misleading advertising.
This will be ever so important with respect to SSL. Currently programs such as Lighting Facts offer the buyer a true representation of an SSL product’s performance and the
ability to compare product to product with concise and easily identifiable graphic representation. Approved by the FTC, the entire lighting industry may be required to comply
with a similar approach to labeling in future with the Lighting Facts label paving the way.
It is highly evident that one of the main concerns and issues is the relating of the “quantity” of light, currently expressed and perceived as watts when in fact watts is a
measure of input power and lumens are the appropriate measure of light output. It seems to be a case of what to tell, but most definitely “watt” not to tell.
Attendees participated in a labeling exercise, where they were asked to discuss and rationalize elements and graphic representations that could be included in the label. I had
the pleasure of having both Terry McGowan of the American Lighting Association (ALA) and Hampton Newsome of the FTC in our group. Commons concern were the consideration of SSL
in labeling plans and regulations and the quantity of information to be related on small packaging or as it is termed ‘real estate’ to the manufacturers and their package
designers, especially in the Canadian market, where there must be a provision for both English and French official languages.
DOE’s Brodrick stresses CALiPER
Jim Brodrick from the US Department of Energy (DOE) gave an exceptional presentation, highlighting and reviewing the many SSL support programs administered and delivered by the
DOE, such as ENERGY STAR for SSL, CALiPER, GATEWAY and Lighting Facts. Brodrick took the time to recognize Canadian partners in the programs who were in attendance, including
manufacturers such as CRS Electronics and GO Lighting, both ENERGY STAR and Lighting Facts Partners, and energy efficiency program, greenTbiz, which is not only an ENERGY STAR
and Lighting Facts energy efficiency organization partner, but Canada’s only L Prize Partner. In closing, Brodrick invited Canadian participation in DOE activities and extended
an invitation to the upcoming Manufacturing Workshop in Vancouver, WA, in June and the Market Introduction Workshop in Chicago, IL, in July.
When speaking with Brodrick directly, he reminded me of the importance of the CALiPER program, stating, “To date, still less than three out of 10 manufacturer claims are
accurate, making CALiPER an excellent resource tool for the prospective buyer to vet product claims.”
Throughout the day, many attendees surrounded Brodrick, engaging in discussion and posing questions, with many attendees being avid followers of his Postings series of emails.
greenTbiz maintained a tabletop display with the DOE program literature and products from Canadian companies CRS Electronics and GO Lighting as examples of products associated
with the CALiPER, ENERGY STAR and the Next Generation Lighting Design Competition (NGLDC) programs. Many attendees visited the display and picked up program literature.
As a Canadian myself and after Natural Resources Canada inviting the SSL program development masters to share their wealth of knowledge, it is time for the Federal Office of
Energy Efficiency, Provincial energy ministries, utilities and energy efficiency organizations to step up and support these SSL initiatives in Canada.
Guy Newsham of NRC Canada gave an a rather enlightening view into the office of the future employing SSL technologies such as LED and OLED, where instead of lighting the space,
the space or even office furniture will become the light and you will light the task rather than the entire space.
An SSL pathway for Canada
A concluding group discussion breakout/session dealt with the development of an SSL pathway for Canada. Attendees were asked to review and refine the following Vision statement:
“Solid State Lighting fills a steadily increasing proportion of lighting needs in Canada. Industry produces ever-more attractive and functional products, featuring better and
better efficacy and covering more and more applications. Market barriers are overcome so that these products are able to capture an increasing market share that reflects their
energy savings and their suitability for each application.”
In a perfect world, this statement does say it all — and if I click my heels together three times, I might be in Kansas.
At LEDs 2008, Terry McGowan from the ALA commented in his presentation as to what was required for the acceptance of SSL product as follows, “Stylish, marketable, functional and
available at a price that end-users (consumers) will pay.” McGowan summed it up perfectly by indicating desired features at an affordable price.
Attendees were asked to assess the barriers to greater deployment of SSL and strategies to overcome the barriers to market for SSL. Although the normal barriers are availability
of technology, product on the shelves, codes, standards, cost, awareness, understanding, identifying performance and quality, light degradation and failure, and overall
expectations and perceptions, the key issues at this point are compromise and sacrifice, two things that shouldn’t even be considered, as SSL cannot be expected to be purchased
on price. Al Ruud of BetaLED has said many times in presentations that compromise and sacrifice is unnecessary.
Affordable costs is a big barrier
One of the greatest barriers to overcome at this point is first costs, either through advancements in manufacturing and technology, supply and demand, payback and lifecycle cost
analysis or through government and utility incentives and rebates, but without compromise or sacrifice when it comes to performance and quality, despite the perceived “wishes”
of presidential environmental initiatives organizations that promote price over performance.
Technology will take its course and price will come down, but in the interim we need government and utilities to step up at the commercial level first to incent products into
the commercial marketplace that will increase demand and production, decrease the price and ready the technology for mass consumer markets where incentives and rebates will
still be required, but likely much less.
You can create all of the wonderful awareness and education programs, but they must go hand in hand with available, acceptable and affordable product. Awareness and education
will hopefully prevent the end user from acquiring the ‘bad stuff’. Great US DOE programs such as CALiPER, ENERGY STAR for SSL and Lighting Facts are now doing exactly this.
Retail merchandiser buyers are also being educated as to ‘what and what not’ to put on the shelves.
Keping this in mind, attendees shared some valuable thoughts, keying in that incentives and rebates are a high priority.
EPA still involved?
The eventful two days were completed with new ideas being shared and great networking opportunities with US agency representatives, with the only question left unaddressed to
answer, being whether Canada supports the DOE ENERGY STAR for SSL or the EPA’s diluted version.
(Note: At just about the same time last year at 2008’s ENERGY STAR Participants Meeting, I received notice of the issuance of the EPA’s ENERGY STAR for RLF 4.2 [Residential
Light Fixtures Eligibility Criteria: fixtures using LED light engines can now qualify as Energy Star, however recessed cans are not eligible in the EPA version], at which point
the program began to run afoul. This year, there was no mention of the RLF 4.2; maybe the EPA has run aground even here in Canada.)
Lumileds and Epistar disagree
The US lighting design community seems to have averted a ban on unlicensed lighting designers in Texas, while Lumileds and Epistar have both claimed success in a patent dispute.
Texas outlaws lighting designers
The lighting design community in the United States was understandably agitated to hear that Texas had approved legislation to effectively prevent lighting designers from
practising their art. The Texas State Legislature passed a Bill on May 27, 2009, which included the statement, “A person may not perform or offer to perform lighting design
services unless that person is: licensed as an engineer under this chapter; registered as an architect, landscape architect, or interior designer….”
This language was, apparently, included in the Bill because an influential client with links to government staff had had a bad experience with a lighting designer.
The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) issued a statement and, along with the International Association of Lighting Designers (IALD), mobilized its members
to lobby the Texas Senator concerned. This was successful within days, and instead the Bill requested a study to look at the feasibility of licensing in the industry (see IALD
news).
“The IALD is extremely pleased that the combined grassroots efforts organized by the architectural and theatrical lighting design communities have paid off,” IALD President Jeff
Miller stated.
Lumileds and Epistar both win patent case
US-based Philips Lumileds and Epistar, a rival LED maker based in Taiwan, have both claimed success in a dispute between the two companies relating to AlGaInP LEDs. A decision
by the International Trade Commission (ITC) was appealed by Epistar, and a ruling was issued on May 22.
The press releases issued by Philips Lumileds and Epistar both put different interpretations on the outcome.
The appeals court cancelled a Limited Exclusion Order preventing certain Epistar products from being imported to the US, and remanded the case to the ITC for reconsideration.
Epistar believes it can prove that certain of its products do not infringe Philips’ US patent no. 5,008,718, which will expire on December 18, 2009. Lumileds disagrees, and both
companies say they are still confident of success.
Here’s how the Green Patent Blog discussed the ongoing disagreement between the companies.
Luminit expands production facilities
This expansion includes a 50% increase in floor space, and a multi-million dollar investment in facilities and equipment.
Luminit LLC has completed the expansion of its production facilities in Torrance, CA. It has also integrated a major new roll-to-roll system for producing its line of light-shaping diffusers.
This expansion includes a 50% increase in floor space, and a multi-million dollar investment in facilities and equipment.
Luminit is a privately held company specializing in custom and standard holographic diffusers based on multiple technology patents.
Luminit’s commercial experience covers applications including LED lighting, architectural lighting, bio-medical, semiconductor metrology, aerospace, automotive and display
applications.
The new custom designed roll-to-roll system is enclosed in its own clean room to prevent particulate contamination and can operate at high speeds, imprinting holographically
mastered structures on polycarbonate or polyester film at up to 200 feet per minute.
In addition to this system, the new facility can operate the previously existing production equipment in a cleaner, more productive environment.