ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE
Accelerating the adoption of LEDs
LED technology manufacturer Cree is setting out to change perceptions of lighting
with its cutting-edge products
C
ree has a clear mission: to accelerate the
adoption of LEDs. The company is helping to
revolutionise the lighting sector through the
adoption of mercury-free and energy-saving LED
technology. Cree products are driving improvements in
applications such as general illumination, electronic signs
and signals, power supplies and solar inverters.
As a market-leading manufacturer of innovative lighting
products, Cree’s activities include the development of
LED components, semiconductor products for power and
radio-frequency applications, and indoor and outdoor LED
lighting systems that cover the entire product cycle.
Cree’s innovative Aeroblades luminaire was
designed together with Speirs + Major
Significant growth
Cree has grown significantly in the lighting sector this year
thanks to the integration of the Ruud Lighting business,
completed after last year’s acquisition. Cree Lighting now
has a wide range of lighting products for the indoor and
outdoor markets. The company has a large installation base
in the European market in a variety of applications. Cree’s
indoor projects include offices, shops, production plants,
sport facilities and warehouses. As for outdoor projects,
Aeroblades: a new perspective on LED lighting
At this year’s Light+Building show in Frankfurt, Cree introduced Aeroblades, the
next-generation outdoor LED lighting solution, which has been shortlisted for the Lux
Award for Exterior Luminaire of the Year (see page 4).
Cree and Speirs + Major designed an attractive urban streetlight tailored to the
advantages of LED technology, including a unique way of using Cree LEDs with
NanoOptics lighting control, making installations more flexible and modular. To
achieve and maintain peak performance, LEDs must be kept cool. But rather than
hiding the cooling technology, Aeroblades celebrates this technical requirement to
create an elegant, fluid form. By combining the cooling requirements with the LED
housing, the amount of material used is significantly reduced and allows for much
simplified material recycling in the long term.
The profile view of the blade retains the accepted proportion of standard urban
street luminaires, and the front displays the unique character of the product. The
blade module makes the luminaire – two, four or six blade assemblies – suitable
for any urban setting.
Discover Aeroblades at www.cree-europe.com
Cree has worked on motorways, tunnels, roads, parking
areas, petrol stations, parks and city centres.
Changing perceptions
Cree is a solid company that is focused on the development
of vanguard technologies and products thanks to its
commitment to LED research – from the study of more
efficient light sources to the realisation of solutions with
excellent performance.
Cree aims to change the perception and the perspective
of lighting. Here at LuxLive, Cree is sponsoring the Live
Forum, where you’ll hear from expert panels in a series of
debates and discussions on hot-button topics and witness a
programme of live product demos.
The Aeroblades luminaire was
designed around the benefits of LEDs
VISIT
US AT
Find Cree on
stand J27
6-7 November 2012 | Earls Court London
22 | www.luxlive.co.uk | LuxLive 2012 Show Daily
@Lux_Live
HIGHLIGHTS
Six things you’ll see that contain LEDs...
Cree unveils LED office luminaire
Image © 2012 Courtesy Cree Europe
Lite Ltd’s LED festoon lighting
The industry is abuzz with LED office lighting launches, as the T5 fitting faces its
toughest competition yet. One of the most striking is Cree’s CR22 fitting, which got a
five-star review in the November issue of Lux, and it’s on show here at LuxLive. This 600
x 600 replacement is radically different to the rest, with its LEDs mounted in a single row
on an extruded aluminium heatsink that sits outside the fitting. They shine upwards and
reflect from the back surface to send light downwards. See it for yourself on stand J27.
Luxonic’s LEDs for retail
Lite Ltd’s UltraBright MaxiLED
festoon lighting can cut energy
use by a massive 95 per cent, the
company says, and the long lamp life
significantly reduces maintenance.
With six colours, the system can
create spectacular visual effects,
and a range of drivers is available
for indoor or outdoor use. Come
and see for yourself at stand J09.
Specially designed optical ribbing
and superior insect ingress resistance
makes it the perfect choice for ships,
architectural, bridge lighting and
general decorative delineation.
Small but powerful
Luxonic is showing off its
latest luminaire designs for
office and retail lighting on
stand C29. With live demos
on the stand, you’ll be able
to see how the latest LED
technology can satisfy all the
demands of retail lighting,
with high colour-rendering
and low energy consumption.
Luxonic will debut LED
luminaires designed to replace
20 to 70W ceramic metal
halide fittings in the retail
market – and which have
already been specified for a
major rollout at Next over the
next 12 months.
Probably the smallest thing you’ll see at LuxLive, Philips Lumileds’ new Luxeon Z LED
(pictured here next to a penny) promises to let designers push back the boundaries
of luminaire design. The Luxeon Z
is less than 2mm across – 80 per
cent smaller than a traditional
power LED. Philips says it provides
the highest commercially available
lumen density, with high output
across a full spectrum of colours. As
many as 250 Luxeon Z LEDs can be
mounted in a square inch, and the
non-encapsulated package is readily
adaptable to custom optics. Come and
have a look at stand B17.
Weatherproof linear lighting
50W halogen replacement
Toshiba will be displaying its latest
halogen replacement LED GU10
fitting on stand E29. The dimmable
lamp delivers 355 lm from just 7.1W
– equivalent to 50 lm/W – and with
a true-fit form factor of 55mm, this
lamp can be used in many applications.
It is rated to last 40,000 hours at
L70 and comes with either 25 or
40-degree beam angles and colour
temperatures of 2700, 3000
and 4000K. Toshiba is also
introducing two MR16 LED
lamps to replace 20 and 35W
halogens.
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Radiant Architectural Lighting will be showing its latest products, including a
rainproof version of its 3D Flex 40 linear system. The IP-rated product makes
it possible to evenly and discreetly light curved and profiled exterior surfaces.
Providing up to 3,000 lumens per metre in colour temperatures from 2700 to
6000K, the system can be fitted with TIR lenses in a number of beam angles
and can also be used without lenses for a wide flood distribution. Versions of this
product have already been specified for projects in India and the UK. Come and
see it in action at stand D04.
@Lux_Live
LIGHTING TRENDS
17
Streetlighting is getting dimmed and turned off
Lighting
specialists are
joining the design
team
18
Mis-selling has grown
The booming LED business is what
economists call an ‘asymmetric market’:
one where the sellers know much more
about the products than the buyers.
So the former emphasise ‘hero numbers’
– the best characteristics of their kit –
and ignore the downsides.
20
Product cycles
are collapsing
The reason the global lighting
exhibitions take place every two years
is that traditionally, that’s how long it
took to innovate new kit. Now a new
model of an LED product might be
ready before the previous generation
has shipped.
19
21
Once no-one thought of controlling streetlighting – it
was either turned on or off. Now cash-strapped local
authorities are turning streetlights off during the night to
save money. The future will be smart controls that dim.
There’s a shortage of good people
Lighting professionals, especially salespeople,
are at a premium because new entrants want
hires who understand lighting and have good relationships
with customers. Until a new generation is trained up, there’s
not enough to go around.
More form factors are emerging
23
Prices are falling
... and how. Massive
overcapacity in LED
manufacturing in China – encouraged
by the government with tax breaks and
incentives such as free land for factories –
means prices are set to tumble over
the next few years. Think what that will
mean for the – already rapid – transition
to solid-state lighting.
The supply chain is getting circumvented
22
With traditional technology, the number
of form factors for luminaires was limited.
Not so with LEDs. Increasingly, we’ll start
to see innovative new shapes and forms,
such as Cree’s dramatic Aeroblades
outdoor luminaire, designed with
Speirs + Major.
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24
Product diversity is
shrinking
Traditionally, there has been a
wide variety of technologies for
light sources including mercury,
induction, fluorescent, plasma,
halogen and sodium, all with
their own specific quirks and
applications. Soon there’ll be
just one.
25
Newer LED
luminaire
makers and
importers are increasingly
ignoring the traditional
lighting supply chain
of specifier, wholesaler
and installer, and going
straight to the client with
their wares. And why not?
@Lux_Live
Photo: Scott Akerman
The lighting design profession
has arrived, and practitioners are
routinely accepted as another
member of the design team.
Their influence is growing too,
and they’re getting involved
earlier and earlier in the process.