LEDs Magazine - February 2017

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PACKAGED LEDS

Kyocera debuts violet-based white
and color packaged LEDs, lights
Japanese façade

Kyocera has announced a major building-façade lighting project in Kyoto, Japan, and at the same time revealed the first major commercial use of its vio-let-emitter-based LED technology that had previously only been discussed in research and development (R&D) terms. The Wacoal Holdings building façade can be bathed in white or dynamic RGB light — hues that Kyocera said are suggestive of Kyoto. The packaged LEDs, meanwhile, use a violet emitter with RGB phosphor mixes, with the exact mix determining whether white or color light is realized.

In terms of producing a high-power white LED, the Kyocera technology appears to parallel the violet pump and phos-

AUTOMOTIVE LIGHTING

Osram announces LED
and laser products for
automotive applications

Osram Opto Semiconductors used the fall Electronica trade fair as a venue to launch some new automo-tive-targeted LED and laser-based components. The surface-mount device (SMD), four-channel laser demonstrated at the show is a prototype product intended for LIDAR (light detection and ranging) applications and such systems will be critical in the evolution of autonomous or self-driving autos. Meanwhile, the company continues to evolve its LED headlamp product portfolio, announcing the commercial availability of the three-to five-emitter Oslon Black Flat S SMD LEDs with each LED in the package being individually controllable.

LIDAR technology is being used in many different applications, as we described in a feature article focused on LED-based LIDAR systems

MONUMENT LIGHTING

Landmark Niagara Falls get dynamic RGBW LED lighting upgrade

The Niagara Falls Illumination Board has unveiled a new LED-based dynamic lighting system using red, green, blue, and white (RGBW) luminaires or projectors that makes the famed falls even more spectacular at night. The twin cities of Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada and Niagara Falls, N Y collaborated on the $4 million solid-state lighting (SSL) project that was undertaken by a consortium of lighting specialist and contracting firms including Ecco Electric Ltd, Salex Inc, Mulvey & Banani Lighting Inc, Sceneworks, and Stanley Electric.

The Niagara Falls were previously lit by xenon sources with the light projected from the Illumination Tower located in Queen Victoria Park on the Canadian side of the river. There were also a few fixtures in a bunker in the river gorge used to illuminate one side of the American Falls. That system had been in place for some 20 years.

The Illumination Board issued an RFP back in 2014 globally, seeking suppliers that could replace the 21 fixtures in the existing system on a one-for-one basis and increase the white-light level on the falls from 5 fc to 2–3 times that level. At least 30 companies/teams responded initially and seven moved to a finalist stage before the winners were selected.

Salex president Nick Puopolo led the process of retrofitting the system with LED lighting, bringing a proposal to the Niagara Falls Illumination Board along with Ecco Electric and ultimately participating in bringing the idea to fruition. Salex is a lighting and controls sales agency and Ecco is an electrical contractor.