Lighting in the News -September 2015
The world of illumination waits for no one. In only a few short weeks we’ve seen a new LED light bulb from Cree, the Dallas Cowboys jumping on the LED bandwagon and another city incorporating LED street lights. LEDs have certainly been on the rise. Here’s a glimpse at the latest news going on in the lighting industry.
Cree Brings Forth New Light
Cree has done it again. Earlier this week, the Durham, North Carolina light bulb company introduced a better LED bulb. Chief marketing officer for Cree, Inc. Betty Noonan said, “We believe that better light changes everything, and the newest Cree LED bulb reflects our commitment to never compromise on performance.” The new Cree LED comes equipped with strong light output, dimming and outstanding color quality. The bulb also has a high CRI of 83. If its energy efficiency you’re seeking, you are in luck. The lifetime of this LED is 30,000 hours which rounds out at a whopping 27 years. Made with a shatterproof housing, the LED delivers 815 lumens for the 60-watt replacement and 460 lumens for the 40-watt replacement. If you’re ready to leave your light bulb changing ladder in the garage for the next 30 years the good news is you won’t have to wait much longer. The new Cree LED bulb will be available for purchase later this month.
Cowboys and LEDs
Football season has officially begun, and the Dallas Cowboys are getting into the full swing of things. AT&T Stadium, one of the biggest NFL venues in the United States has paired with Musco Lighting for a new cutting edge LED lighting system. The Musco’s SportsCluster Green ™ will help to decrease energy consumption by nearly 80 percent, and increase light levels 42 percent in the stadium for broadcasts, athletes and fans. The lighting changes were incorporated to Sunday’s first kick off game. Cowboy fans, are you ready to enjoy the boys in full illumination this season?
Street Lights of Saginaw
LED Street lights are becoming increasingly popular around the country. Saginaw, MI has officially joined other states like NYC to replace their street lights with more energy efficient LED lighting. The city is set to replace all 6,000 of their street lights with LED fixtures that will cost almost $2 million to retrofit. A purchase contract was given to Standard Electric which means they will provide the lights, while Helm Electric Inc. will install the LEDs. Saginaw will begin retrofitting their street lights by November with completion expected by mid-year of 2016.
Optical Silicones and LEDs
Those attending the LED Professional Symposium in Bregenz, Austria are in for a treat. During the upcoming three day event Dow Corning, headquartered in Midland Michigan, will promote two groundbreaking silicone technologies to use with LED lighting. Dow Corning is a worldwide innovator in silicon-based technology, producing the largest amount of silicone globally. During this year’s symposium, senior lighting application engineer for Dow Corning’s Lighting Solutions, Francois De Buyl, plans on presenting a paper entitled, Why Moldable Silicone is Driving Innovation in Engineering of LED Optics for Professional Lighting. To help showcase their new silicone lighting solutions, they will display Dow Corning® EI-1184 Optical Encapsulant and Dow Corning® CI-2001 White Reflecting Coating. The encapsulant is meant to enhance the protection of LED electronics against ultraviolet light, extreme temperatures and thermal cycling. The coating however is geared towards LED lighting fixtures. The bright white covering will also help keep LED fixtures from environmental aging. Who knew silicone could be so effective?
Well that should do it for this round of Lighting in the News. Be sure to come back for more exciting lighting adventures and articles. For questions or comments feel free to leave them in the section below. As always, you can reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or Pinterest!
