Showa Denko announces that its proprietary LED lighting equipment and high-speed plant growth technology (Shigyo MethodTM) have been adopted by Gushiken Co., Ltd., a major bread maker in Okinawa.  The company, led by President Hisao Gushiken, is headquartered in Uruma City, Okinawa Prefecture.

Earlier this year, the Gerdau facility located in Knoxville, Tennessee began searching for a lighting solution that could replace their current metal halide fixtures and withstand the heat of its facilities, while maintaining enough lumens to create visibility in its dimly lit locations. Gerdau is a leading producer of long steel in the Americas and one of the largest suppliers of special steel in the world.

8 Northumberland Avenue's history is as colorful as the LED fixtures that now illuminate it. Built in 1887, the building operated as a 500-room first-class hotel until 1940, when it was requisitioned by the War Office. The building remained occupied by the Crown and inaccessible to the public until 2007, when it underwent a year-long, full-fledged restoration. It finally reopened its doors for general use in 2010, armed with brand new Philips Color Kinetics color-changing LED fixtures in the Old Billiard Room and Ballroom.

Students at Northeastern can display their feelings though a three-dimensional LED matrix set up on the side of Ryder Hall through a voting system. Students can select red for anxious, purple for exhausted, or blue for relieved.

Lee Farm announced that installation of Xeleum LED lighting in its public spaces and hallways has been completed at its corporate park location in Danbury Connecticut. Overall management of the project, which included installation of 107 Xeleum Cobalt 2 x 2 LED 24 Watt fixtures, was performed by USALED.

This week Philips gets even more aggressive with LED bulb pricing strategies, as its new Slimstyle LED bulb prices are slashed by more than half under Energy Star rebates to less than US$ 5 in the U.S. market. Major Japanese LED players also shift towards B2B models in search of better profits. Also in the Asia market San’an Opto’s patent and production expansion strategies will hurt Taiwanese manufacturers international business strategies. Finally, in the face of Taiwan’s nuclear energy crisis, a simple transition to LED could help cut considerable energy consumption, according to TrendForce report.

As Taiwan becomes embroiled in nuclear energy debates, pro-nuclear and anti-nuclear activists are becoming focused on alternative energy solutions and energy saving benefits. Taiwan could cut 45% of energy consumption by simply overhauling current luminaires with LEDs, resulting in lower power consumption and redistribute energy resources, according to a joint study by TrendForce research divisions LEDinside and EnergyTrend.  Considerable energy can be conserved from the lighting sector’s transformation alone, based on the research organization’s analysis of LED lights energy efficiency benefits, international market experience, and related statistics in Taiwan.

Unity Opto is optimistic about long term market development for LED lighting. The Taiwanese LED package manufacturer announced its plans to acquire a factory in the Wugu Industrial Park in Taiwan on April 24, 2014. The company will invest NT $1.23 billion (US $196.7 million) in acquiring the factory to expand its lighting production line. After expanding production capacity, it is estimated that monthly production will increase from 1 million units to 3 million units. 

MK350S was on market at end of year 2013, the adding new functions of CRI, COMPARE, LOG, LUX.G, BIN, CHCEKER, BROWSER and more than 30 lighting measurement units are try to fulfill all kinds of users. The lighting applications all over the human life are extending MK350S market to LED manufacture, cinema, lighting design, glasses design and plant factory industry.

Storm clouds are clearing for Taiwanese sapphire manufactures as sapphire substrate industry supply and demand returns to norm after years of financial loss. The rebounding industry has brought back investor confidence, which has spurred a wave of Taiwanese manufacturers to finance market strategies to acquire technological, capital, production capacity, and market share advantages.

Leyard announced first quarter 2014 financial results on April 23, 2014. Operating revenue grew 28.43 percent YoY to NT$ 142 million (US$4.7 million). Net income attributed to shareholders was NT$10 million, up 29 percent YoY. EPS increased 16.67 percent YoY to NT$ 0.07. 

HC SemiTek’s production capacity for patterned sapphire substrate (PSS) has reached 10,000 pieces per month with a self-supply rate of more than 50 percent, said Secretary of the Board Yeh Aimin on April 24 2014. 

Philips SlimStyle flat light bulb is the second Philips 60-W EQ LED to break the US$ 5 price point, accelerating adoption of quality LEDs for the home. Energy Star rebates have brought bulb prices down to US$ 1.97 in certain areas in U.S.

U.S. city Portland has installed blue LED lights next to red traffic lights at a six-way intersection to notify cyclists their bicycles have been detected, and traffic light will be changing soon to allow them pass through, according to a Oregon Live report. 

Awarding efforts focused on everything from composting and energy conservation to lighting retrofits and weed management, UC Santa Barbara’s The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) Grant Making Committee has selected its grant recipients for the 2013–2014 funding cycle.

Sunny weather all year round is now achievable with the installation of nanoparticle LED panels developed by designer Paolo di Trapani and Italy’s University of Insubri, according to a Gizmodo report.

PhoneSoap has unveiled its new Luma SmartLamp.  A campaign to fund the roll-out of initial production has been launched on the social media funding platform Kickstarter.

 Royal Philips announced the signing of its 400th licensee - Dotlux GmbH - to its LED Luminaires and Retrofit Bulbs Licensing Program, a growth of 100 licensees since May last year. Philips is committed to fostering LED industry growth and creating a level playing field by giving companies access to its wide portfolio of patented LED system technologies and solutions. By making available more than 210 inventions (comprising over 1200 granted patents), Philips aims to open up new business opportunities and possibilities for companies globally.

MultiLEDs can deliver bright light in all colors, as they contain red, green and blue chips. Therefore they give lighting designers a free hand when selecting colors, for example for automotive interior lighting. Now Peter Nowotny, an artist based in Regensburg, Germany, is using the tiny RGB light sources in several of his artworks and achieving impressive effects.

EVERLIGHT ELECTRONICS CO., LTD. introduces the ultra-thin 940nm top-view infrared LED IR92-01C/L491/2R in a miniature MIDLED package. This small SMD device has been developed for applications where high power output, narrow beam angle or available space is of concern. 

Innovations in Optics, Inc. introduces LumiBright™ UV Boards for high power UV LED applications such as UV curing, 3D printing, maskless lithography, photodynamic therapy, and fluorescence excitation in life science or machine vision. LumiBright UV Boards offer maximized heat and current spreading to deliver high UV optical power with superior thermal management and open platform flexibility that provides for totally unique and compact UV LED design solutions.

LED plant factories have seen substantial development in Taiwan recently, according to Apple Daily. Taking advantage of the flourishing industry, Tatung on April 23, 2014, announced their intention on entering the LED growth light market with their hydroponic vegetable business “In Fresh.” Tatung anticipates “In Fresh” to act as a new growth driver for the company. 

Zhejiang Jingsheng Mechanical & Electrical Co. (Jingsheng) has put its sapphire project into high gear as sapphire ingot prices rise. Its subsidiary factory in Inner Mongolia has already begun installing sapphire growth furnaces. 

San’an Optoelectronics (San’an Opto) has big plans to become a force to be reckoned with both domestically and internationally. The company is expanding production capacity, releasing announcements one after another, according to a Money DJ report.

The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released an Application Summary Report that focuses on the bare-lamp performance of 31 linear LED lamps intended as an alternative to T8 fluorescent lamps. 

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced awards of $4.3 million for 17 projects dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of transportation in New York State. These projects are in line with the governor’s energy vision to increase support for new and innovative clean energy technologies that help reduce dependence on fossil fuels, reduce pollution and promote a cleaner and healthier environment while supporting the growth of the economy.

Displays made of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are very attractive. One of their advantages is that they can be less expensively manufactured using inkjet technology. Companies are aiming to make this process suitable for mass production — for example at AUO in Taiwan, one of the world’s leading display suppliers. 

Intermolecular, Inc. announced that Epistar Corp. and Intermolecular have signed a multi-year extension of their existing collaborative development program (CDP) and royalty-bearing IP licensing agreement to increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of Epistar's light emitting diode (LED) devices.

Japanese cinematographer Takao Inoue has transformed common dandelions into luminescent flowers using OLED technology, according to a Tamago and Spoon Report.

The following Blog post was written by Dietmar Thomas, Manager Brand & Integrated Communications OLED, for Philips Lumiblade. On April 18th, Philips Lumiblade OLEDs did boldly go where no other OLED has gone before. Space. What sounds like the famous beginning of the original Star Trek television series was indeed a big step for the most modern light source on earth.