euroLED conference report
General illumination takes
centre stage at euroLED An internationally diverse,well-attended exhibition at euroLED showcased the tremendous growth of LED lighting products for general illumination. Although these solid-state sources account for only a tiny fraction of total lighting sales,many conference speakers argued that far greater market penetration will follow once these products are far cheaper and deliver better colour quality. Richard Stevenson reports.
I
f you want to quickly assess the health of an industry, one option is to take a brief look at the progression of its conferences. In the case of the euroLED conference series and the sector of the III-V industry that it supports, this approach provides an excellent overview of current trends. The inaugural euroLED meeting held in the UK back in the early noughties was a very small affair, but over the years the conference has moved to larger premises, first to the National Motor Museum in Birmingham and more recently to the Ricoh Arena, part of a complex that is also home to Coventry City Football Club.
The migration to larger conference premises is reflected in the attendance figures for euroLED, which was held this year on 8-9 June. Although the size of the audience listening to the talks at euroLED 2011 was comparable to that of a few years ago, many more delegates were mingling in the exhibition hall. In this cavernous arena, companies from all around the world were displaying a vast array of solid- state lighting products, plus ancillaries for driving and testing them. The exhibition included an incredibly strong showing from China, with many, many firms showcasing their portfolios of LED lamps in various guises.
In recent times,euroLED has been held at the Ricoh Arena,a stadium complex containing a 32,600-seater football stadium for Coventry City,plus a 6,000 square-metre exhibition hall,a hotel,a leisure club and a casino
The topic of LEDs for general illumination was also the focus of the opening remarks given by Bob Pollock, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales at LED chipmaker Cree. Pollock did not spend time justifying why the LED lighting revolution is a certainty, rather than just a possibility, because he knew that he would have been preaching to the converted. So instead he showed the audience how they can play their part in driving this sea- change in the lighting business, by giving them a crash-course in how to make the best possible case for LED lighting.
Pollock did this by showing delegates a great resource for promoting the strengths of LED lighting – a two-and-a- half minute video by General Electric. This video clearly sets out the major benefits of LEDs for general illumination: greater efficiency than incumbent sources, lower maintenance that stems from longer lifetimes, and a product that is better for the environment. According to the film clip, in terms of efficiency, the LED is 68 percent more efficient than a high-pressure sodium lamp for area lighting and 80 percent more efficient than neon lights used in signage lighting. What’s more, its lifetime of
July 2011
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