Luminus partners with ABS Lighting
LED lighting manufacturer Luminus Devices, Billerica, Mass., has formed a partnership with ABS Lighting, New Haven, Conn., to produce LED luminaires using Luminus' “PhlatLight” LEDs for use in roadway underpasses and highway tunnels. The fixture is expected to last 60,000 hours, reducing the need for road closings to change out lamps.
“Our partnership with ABS Lighting compliments the company's expansion in the wide area lighting space including the transportation industry and we look forward to working closely with ABS as our PhlatLight LEDs are ideally suited for roadway underpasses and tunnel applications,” said Keith Ward, president and CEO of Luminus Devices.
ABS Lighting's LED roadway fixture will be equipped with three Luminus ‘big chip’ CSM-360W PhlatLight LEDs that deliver 9,000-14,500 lumens, allowing customers to replace 250W high-pressure sodium fixtures with the three PhlatLight LEDs. The high-powered light source simplifies ABS's fixture design and allows for easy integration with specialized optics, said a Luminus release.
Enviable growth in India's electrical equipment market
The electrical equipment market in India is seeing growth that manufacturers and distributors in the flat North American market can only dream of. A story in the Economic Times (an India-based newspaper) reports that economic recovery in the country's manufacturing sector is being led by automation projects and electrical equipment manufacturing, which saw sales in some product categories grow 30 percent in the fourth quarter.
“This demand growth could likely see a two-fold increase in the next 2-3 years,” said Sunil More, director-general of the Indian Electrical and Electronics Manufacturers Association (IEEMA), adding that this was due to a pick-up in housing and construction, the Economic Times reported.
CFLs resume growth; HID “robust;” incandescents continue decline
NEMA's CFL Lamp Index showed a return to growth in sales of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) after a year of successive quarterly declines. CFL sales grew about three percent in the first quarter of 2010 while sales of incandescent lamps continued to fall. NEMA's incandescent lamp index fell to its second-lowest level on record, showing a year-over-year decline of 2.2 percent during the first quarter of 2010. This maintains a 3.5-year streak of deterioration for this market segment, NEMA said.
Medium screw-base CFLs regained market share against the incandescents they replace, increasing to 24.2 percent from 22 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, which NEMA attributed to the economic recovery. “Consumers appear to be more willing to absorb the higher up-front costs of CFLs versus incandescent lamps, due in part to the U.S. economy remaining on a path of recovery.”
NEMA's index for high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps, meanwhile, showed decent year-over-year growth. HID sodium lamps posted a 7.5 percent gain while mercury lamps gained 1.3 percent. Metal-halide lamps rebounded from a record low set in first quarter 2009, increasing by a robust 16.8 percent.
Cree to donate LED lighting to Habitat for Humanity
Cree Inc., Durham, N.C., has formed a partnership with Habitat for Humanity to put Cree downlights in the kitchens of all Habitat homes built in the U.S. over the next three years. The $1.5 million agreement gives more than 1,500 Habitat for Humanity affiliates across the U.S. access to the lighting package, which features Cree's newest CR6 LED downlight. The CR6 is designed to last 50,000 hours, which is more than 22 years if the lights are used six hours a day, the company said.
“By providing cost-saving, energy-efficient lighting, Cree is helping Habitat build sustainable, affordable homes in partnership with thousands of low-income families across the United States,” said Chuck Swoboda, Cree chairman and CEO. “Future Habitat homeowners can enjoy lower electricity costs and most likely won't have to change their light bulbs for the next two decades.”