Lighting and LED manufacturers discuss the state of technology

While it's clear that the lighting industry is rapidly transitioning to LED sources for most mainstream product types, little else remains clear as what has been a staid industry rides the semiconductor rollercoaster for the first time. With The led street light with solar panel vendors preparing their wares for exhibit, we asked a number of industry executives to share their views on the state of lighting technology. The following roundtable includes insight into areas such as dimming and controls while also covering market developments and the evolving LED light sources .
Because we hoped to discuss both the light source technology and developments in lamps and luminaires, we specifically looked for participants with knowledge of both the enabling component and SSL sectors The participants included Chris Bohler, director of innovation in Eaton's Cooper Lighting Business;. Uwe Thomas , vice president of product management at LED Engin; Brian Terao, director of solid-state lighting for Osram Opto Semiconductors; David Bay, corporate engineer at Osram Sylvania; and Gary Trott, vice president of product strategy at Cree.
Illumination in Focus: What are the most important market and technology trends that you see in mid-2014 in regard to LED-based lamp or luminaire design We'd like to hear about topics ranging from product design strategies to features of the end product? to the enabling components and technologies embedded in SSL products.
Gary Trott:. It really feels like - for a lot of the big applications such as residential and commercial lamps, street lights, area lights, downlights, and troffers - that LEDs are a no-brainer now The adoption is happening at such a rapid . rate both for us and the entire industry There are so many companies heavily engaged I was on a long drive today and saw a somewhat rundown convenience store;.. and I look up and see one of our CPY250 LED canopy fixtures When I see that , I know LED lighting is mainstream. It's no longer a question of "Should we do it?" but "Which LED product should I use?"
Chris Bohler: Historically, SSL penetration has primarily been driven by lumens, lumens per watt (lm / W), and lumens per dollar (lm / $), as long as a minimum threshold on reliability and overall product quality could be met More. recently, color quality has reached center stage as flux and price points have overcome the minimum threshold of acceptability in the general lighting markets. Although continuing improvements related to LED and led street lighting Manufacturer flux and efficacy will be necessary, other lighting metrics like color rendering index (CRI) greater than or equal to 90, R9 greater than or equal to 50, and correlated color temperature (CCT) variance, and variance over life, will continue to come into play. To a large extent, these needs are being driven by organizations at the state and federal levels through standards activities such as California Title 24 and related quality standards.
Additional technology trends are being seen in lighting controls that go well beyond simple dimming functions; networked communications in which the lighting fixture is an inherent part of the communication chain; and integrated structures that truly allow for both the optimization and minimization, from a real estate and complexity of design standpoint, of product solutions based on SSL and digitization technologies.