French designer Vivien Muller has created an ecofriendly solar mobile phone charger and LED lamp, Electree Mini, that resembles a bonsai tree.

Enhanced performance is the result of ThinkLite’s proprietary driverless design. Until now, all LED tubes required an internal or external driver, which consisted of an array of over 150 electronic components. Generating significant heat, they limit the actual light output that could be achieved. ThinkLite engineers were able to replace the traditional LED driver with a single microchip to power the LEDs, thereby, performing the same functions with virtually no heat and much higher efficiency. ThinkLite has also enhanced the surface area of the heat sink enabling the chips to be driven at unprecedented levels. 

Larson Electronics has announced the release of a 60-watt low canopy LED light with a removable glare shield. The GAU-LB-600E low canopy light offers high light output from a compact form factor that is designed to provide a more durable and longer lived alternative to 500-watt quartz lights.

This week more info is shed on Chinese lighting market trends, as more LED manufacturers contend for larger market share in China, according to latest LEDinside report. China’s growing smart city projects are expected to bring smart lighting market to US $200 Billion by 2018. LED chip price upticks in May due to tight supply in China has been refuted by chip manufacturers, while Shanghai LED quality test lab SQI recommends the country make national lighting standards mandatory.

Earlier this week, a securities firm reported that several areas in China will begin raising LED chip prices in May due to recent adjustments to the LED chip market infrastructure in China. The report continued that the supply shortage is anticipated to intensify, which will cause a price hike in all LED chips. LEDinside reporters questioned several Chinese chip and package manufacturers to see if this is truly the case. 

Lately, several prominent Japanese and Korean manufacturers have dropped OLED TV projects. Japanese manufacturers Panasonic delayed OLED display mass production plans, Sony halted OLED TV R&D, while Korean manufacturer Samsung decided to stop investing in OLED displays in 2014. LG Electronics is the only North Asian manufacturer still active in OLED R&D, according to a recent report by Chinese-language ENorth Netnews.

Macroblock anticipates LED lighting demands to grow, especially in the residential replacement lighting sector, said Chairman LC Yang at the company’s latest investor conference held on May 14, 2014. The company reported revenue of NT $457 million (US $15.1 million) for the first quarter of fiscal 2014. 

The energy efficiency of The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) piezoelectric nanogenerator has increased by almost 40 times, one step closer toward the commercialization of flexible energy harvesters that can supply power infinitely to wearable, implantable electronic devices.

UK design firm, STUDIO BANANA THiNGS, has collaborated with The Innovation Quarter at Bangor University (UK) has created a flexible LED light for bag interior, Kangaroo Light.

Zhongshan Bridge, across the Keelung River, is to connect Taipei, Xinzhuang, and Sanchong District while the traffic rush hour traffic is heavy, and the bridge was renovated in 2007 after opening to traffic.

Acuity Brands, Inc. announces the launch of a next-generation OLED product portfolio, including the award-winning Revel™, Kindred​™, Trilia​™, and Canvis​™.  These OLED luminaires use the latest generation of OLED panels to unlock functional and design possibilities, while meeting performance benchmarks that rival current lighting technologies. Offered by Winona® Lighting, all four product families now feature OLED panels available with a variety of correlated color temperatures (CCT), including 3000K, 3500K and 4000K, a color rendering index (CRI) of 85-90, and an L70 rated life of 30,000 to 40,000 hours. 

Soraa announced that the company will launch and display a series of new full-visible-spectrum large LED lamps at LightFair International (June 3-5) in Las Vegas, NV. This new line of AR111, PAR30L (Long Neck), PAR30S (Short Neck), and PAR38 lamps complements the company’s award-winning MR16 lamp, creating a full line of products to perfectly and dramatically light restaurant, retail, hospitality, and residential applications.

 BenQ announced the offering of its new Eye-care Series monitors as a permanent addition to its monitor product line, stressing on its commitment to safeguard eye vision and to always act first on offering the most comfortable and enjoyable viewing experience to users around the world – because eye health matters. Developed based on the findings of extensive eye-care research and in-depth consumer focus groups, the Eye-care Series monitors feature BenQ’s exclusive Flicker-free technology and four Low Blue Light Modes for office, web-surfing, multimedia and reading use, meeting the day-to-day needs of heavy computer users who are concerned about eyestrain, as well as notebook users who are seeking to extend their flickering small-size notebook screen onto a bigger, Flicker-free screen.

UL introduced a streamlined process for manufacturers to obtain a UL listing for LED surface-mounted tube lamps. With significant growth projected in the LED market, manufacturers are looking for ways to incorporate LED technology into existing luminaire designs. After examining the needs of manufacturers, UL designed an approach that helps them move products to market quickly while preserving safety levels.

Jade Sky Technologies (“JST”), announces the recently completed demonstration of the technical and economic feasibility of meeting the flicker and dimming requirements set by the Voluntary California Quality LED Lamp Specification.

In an earlier report, Shanghai Institute of Quality Inspection and Technical Research (SQI) tests conducted on 27 LED luminaires showed most were safe to use and had low blue-light hazards. In the second part of the   LED lighting product’s blue-light hazard detection, blue-rich light analysis and recommendation report” by Yu Anqi, Vice Presidentreport of SQI offers recommendations to LED manufacturers in China.

The LED industry is facing supply shortage. From upstream chip manufacturers to downstream package manufacturers are unable to adequately meet demands. In general, the industry, however, estimates May revenue will be even better. As the LED lighting market advances, China market insiders estimate the country’s LED market annual demand growth will surpass 30 percent, according to DZH News. LED chip production will increase to 10 percent during the first half of 2014, while supply and demand will tighten during the second half. 

Elec-Tech Chariman Wang Donglei faced disgruntled investors during the company’s investor conference discussing the company’s 2013 annual financial results on May 12, 2014. Although ElecTech has made it into the LED supply chain, net profit growth has yet to be seen. Wang first discussed the benefits the company recived from their aquisition of NVC Lighitng. Wang next tackled questions by investors regarding wafer expansion. 

Malaysia’s lighting industry saw a substantial increase in exports into Germany last year. Exports grew 35.4 percent to US $139 million in 2013, a huge leap from a mere US $3.9 million in 2008, said Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade). 

A recent report by mainstream Chinese media CCTV revealing “LEDs without diffusers can cause blindness within 10 seconds” in a TV program generated much interest in China. However, studies cited in the report have been taken out of context, according to a Chinese LED test laboratory report.

Industry analyst firm NanoMarkets has just published its latest forecasts of the OLED lighting market predicting a $1.4 billion market opportunity in 2019. The report, " OLED Lighting Markets-2014 "  notes that while the sector has foundered for the past few years it now appears to be worthy of some renewed optimism based on both on both improvements in OLED lighting panel performance and recent expansion of manufacturing facilities.

LED street lights have not been welcomed with open arms by UK suburbanites. Yet another report by a UK based newspaper reports citizens protesting against LED street light installations in neighborhoods. 

Lighting manufacturer Precision-Paragon [P2] announced that in the past three years, the cost difference between LED and fluorescent lighting has shrunk dramatically, thanks to substantial reductions in the cost of LED technology. 

Hadaia Azad Ezzulddin, a 9th grade student at Nilufer Girls Secondary School in Erbil, Iraq has come up with a solution using LED to stop movie pirating, according to a Student Science report.

Texas Instruments (TI) introduced the automotive industry's first two-channel switching LED driver for front lights and the only linear LED driver with single short LED detection for rear lights. Unlike other LED drivers in the market, the TPS92630-Q1 and TPS92602-Q1 feature both high-side current sense dimming and pulse width modulation (PWM) dimming capabilities, as well as full diagnostic and thermal management, which helps designers create flexible lighting systems that meet many countries' differing traffic regulations. Applications include automotive LED front lamp, rear lamp and interior lighting. For more information or to order samples, visit www.ti.com/tps92630q1-pr and www.ti.com/tps92602q1-pr.

“I consider Elec-Tech as a child I have reared. To me, it is the best,” said Elec-Tech Chairman Wang Donglei on May 12, 2014 during an investor conference to discussing the company’s 2013 annual financial results. 

Cree intends to begin construction on a new production building for a project that remains unknown. The construction could begin as early as this summer, according to North Carolina newspaper The Herald Sun.

Recent reports by mainstream Chinese media CCTV that LEDs without diffusers causing blindness within 10 seconds has generated much talk in China, but a report by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) claim LEDs are not particularly harmful compared to other conventional light sources when it comes to nonvisual applications. 

China’s LED package industry market scale reached US $7.2 billion in 2013, up 20 percent from the year before, according to the recent “2014 China Package Industry Market Report” from LEDinside, a green energy research division of TrendForce. China has become the largest manufacturer of LED products. Rapidly increasing LED lighting penetration rate is driving up LED component demand volume, making China the most contended market among LED package manufacturers.

OLED on flexible substrates offer unique scopes for luminaire designs. Additionally, they can be quasi transparent when switched off. Next to their appearance another aspect is of importance: the substrate they are processed on - like e.g. very thin flexible glass-, metal- and plastic foils.