Ameresco, a leading energy efficiency and renewable energy company, and the Newport News Public Schools (NNPS) announced today they are partnering on a comprehensive $14.8 million Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) to improve buildings and increase operational efficiency. The infrastructure upgrades are expected to deliver greater energy efficiency and operational cost savings, enhance comfort for building occupants, reduce greenhouse gasses and emissions, and demonstrate the Schools’ ongoing commitment to environmental stewardship.

The LED backlight industry might still experience an exceptionally cool season in 2016, but breakthroughs are expected in the tube light replacement market, said Epistar Chairman B.J.Lee at the 2015 Pan Wen Yuan Prize Award Ceremony at the Shangri-La's Far Eastern Plaza Hotel in Taipei, Taiwan earlier today.

World leaders gathered in Paris last week for the 21st UN climate conference, known as COP21. At the meeting, U.S. Energy Secretary Dr. Ernest Moniz highlighted several solutions to reduce carbon emissions, including launching a Climate Energy Ministerial initiative to encourage the adoption of LED bulbs worldwide.

At COP21 heads of some of the planet's biggest brands - Unilever, Google, IKEA, Philips and Marks & Spencer - along with policymakers from around the world, shared their core commitments to decarbonizing. Collectively they send a clear message that  business is expecting a long-term goal from the global climate talks in Paris next week, in order to make longer-term low carbon investment decisions.

A small startup company Off Grid Electric is aiming to transform the solar market in Africa, where three out of four households are living without electricity, and make energy affordable in the power hungry continent.

LEDinside projections of the LED market outlook in 2016 are published below for UVC LED market, and other niche market applications.India LED bulb prices might be marked down INR 20 further. A couple of business deals to follow recently, Tridonic sells its signage business to AgiLight, while Philips adds Ledra to its lineup of LED bulb patent licensees.

Through production expansion projects, and headhunting Taiwanese competitors best talents, Chinese panel makers are putting leading Taiwanese display makers Innolux and AUO under immense pressure, reported Chinese-media TechNews.

Nathalie Jardin, the 31-year- old lighting designer who has been working at Bataclan for almost four years, was one of the 89 people killed in the terrorist attacks at Bataclan in Paris on Friday night, Nov. 13, 2015, reported Live Design.

HC Semitek subsidiary in Suzhou’s, high power epiwafer LED chip and commercialization project received RMB 6 million (US $940,000) subsidy out of a total grant of RMB 10 million.

Indonesian capital Jakarta is spending Rp 1.2 trillion (US $86,736) on LED streetlight upgrades, reported Coconuts Jakarta.

LED streetlights will become mandatory in New Delhi in the near future, as the city plans to replace existing traditional light sources with LEDs to reduce energy consumption, The India Times cited Power Minister Satyender Jain saying.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has published an Apple patent application for integrating displays into woven fabrics, reported 9to5Mac.

Philips, the global leader in lighting and India’s leading lighting company, has won  two major separate LED solar street lighting contracts for UPNEDA (Uttar Pradesh New and Renewable Energy Development Agency) and MANIREDA (Manipur Renewable Energy Development Agency). The tender process involved meeting the exacting requirements of both UPNEDA and MANIREDA with a strong focus on energy conversion based on new and renewable energy sources.

Remtec, the leading manufacturer of ceramic substrates, packages and submounts using PCTF (Plated Copper on Thick Film) metallization, has been acquired by LTI (www.legacytechnologies.com), a major player in the field of precision glass-to-metal seals and glass-to-metal hermetic packages.

Noesis, the tech-enabled lending marketplace for financing energy-saving commercial building improvements, worked together with Enviro-Lite Solutions, a leading Texas-based LED lighting company, to get approval on a significant municipality project. The two companies partnered to help Donna, TX migrate its outdated lighting infrastructure to more energy-efficient LEDs, which is expected to generate US $140,000 in savings in the first year.  

GT Advanced Technology’s exit bankruptcy details were filed in court this week, according to an Apple Insider report based on summary made by The Wall Street Journal earlier this week.

Kingsun Optotronics asked Guangdong Intermediate People’s Court to transfer its investor false statement lawsuit case to Dongyuan’s Third People Court, a Chinese-language financial media "Investor Flash News" (投資者快報) cited Liu Guohua, head of the Guangzhou-based Benben Law Firm.

A photo taken by American astronaut Scott Kelly from International Space Station (ISS) shows the influence of Canadian city Calgary’s LED streetlights conversion, according to a report from Huffington Post.

The Indian government is halting subsidies to CFL-based solar lights to encourage the adoption of LED solar lights, reportedLive Mint.

Effective November 30, 2015, Tridonic GmbH & Co KG, a leading manufacturer of LED lighting components and systems and part of the Austrian lighting company Zumtobel Group, has sold its LED signage business to U.S.A.-based AgiLight.. With the acquisition of Tridonic’s signage activities, AgiLight, a subsidiary of General LED headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, becomes one of the largest LED system suppliers to the global signage market. AgiLight’s core markets in the U.S., Latin America and the Middle East are complemented with Tridonic’s strong position in Europe, Asia and Australia. 

MaxLite announced that it filed suit against ATG Electronics, a California-based LED lighting company, and James Steedly, Sophia Galleher and Matthew Kim, three former employees of MaxLite. The suit, filed on February 12, 2015, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

Royal Philips announced Ledra Brands Inc. as its 600th member to its EnabLED Licensing program, continuing the growth trend which has added 100 new members in the last 9 months. The large number of members that have joined during the rapid rise of the program confirms the attractiveness of the program offering and recognizes Philips’ innovative leadership in LED lighting.

The  ‘dimming and trimming’ (reduced lighting ‘level’ and ‘period’) pilot is being introduced as part of our LEDs (light emitting diodes) street light rollout and will involve reducing lighting levels and periods in some areas. The existing lighting is already reduced by 25 per cent between 11pm and 6am.

Chinese LED light manufacturer Advanced Optronic Devices and Indian company Syska LED Lights will jointly invest INR 5 billion (US $75.21 million) in a LED manufacturing plant in the state of Telangana in India, according to a report from Live Mint.

An Estonian start-up Velmenni in Tallinn is planning to launch a Li-Fi LED bulbs within three to four years, reported BBC.

NEMA's Electroindustry Business Conditions Index (EBCI) for current conditions in North America measured 58.3 in November as a larger share of panelists reported conditions improved (33%) than reported they deteriorated (17%). The November EBCI reading was a substantial increase from the 44.7 recorded in October. In contrast, the EBCI for future North American conditions fell to 55.6 in November, down from 68.4 in October.

LED bulb prices in India are nearing CFL prices, but might be priced down a further INR 20 (US $0.30) following the government’s 50 million LED bulb purchase tender to be issued in the next ten days, reported The India Times.

An emerging class of atomically thin materials known as monolayer semiconductors has generated a great deal of buzz in the world of materials science. Monolayers hold promise in the development of transparent LED displays, ultra-high efficiency solar cells, photo detectors and nanoscale transistors. Their downside? The films are notoriously riddled with defects, killing their performance.

GE Lighting has signed partnership agreement with UAE lighting solutions company AW Rostamini Lumina, a business division of AW Rostamani Group of companies in Dubai earlier this month, according to a report from Gulf News.

OSRAM was announced as the Official Lighting Partner of the 2016 Eurovision Song Contest.