Right as our lovely area of New England took a little breather from the summer humidity, we closed out the month of August and took a look at our monthly website analytics. Sultry summer heat reappeared just the last couple of days to remind us that the slower news pace is not quite on its way out yet.
Not too surprising is that readers are still finding their way to the ultraviolet (UV) disinfection or germicidal application and technology development stories. What is uplifting, though, is that they flocked to some really solid insight into the developmental roadmap and long-term potential of UV-C (100‒280 nm) LEDs, as viewed through the lens of consultant Mike Krames’ research and experience in the semiconductor and LED sector. Krames mapped out the manufacturing and architectural challenges that UV LEDs have faced, pointed to findings that demonstrate solutions to the performance dilemmas, and outlined the compelling potential of this technology market as engineering problems get resolved to bring down costs and drive penetration of UV-C LEDs into germicidal applications.
Alongside, our audience sought out the germicidal guidance from leading organizations in the lighting industry, which chief editor Maury Wright reported early in the month. A position paper on the proper use and cautions on safety regarding UV germicidal technology was released jointly by the American Lighting Association (ALA), the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), and Underwriters Laboratories (UL). The experts at the International Ultraviolet Association (IUVA) also publicized a paper on far UV-C, which also explains appropriate containment and management of devices that produce UV radiation. We continue to encourage the product developer, specifier, installer, and end-user base to take a conservative and informed approach to incorporating UV-based germicidal technology to ensure the highest level of safety and that such products perform to the proper expectations.
We also saw a good amount of traffic to our 40 Under 40 feature on the next generation of leaders in the LED and solid-state lighting (SSL) sectors. Although that feature technically published in late July, since we have a combined July/August issue of LEDs Magazine, we felt it was appropriate to include it in this list of top 5 articles. We continue to celebrate the achievements, positive influence, and drive that our 40 Under 40 Class represents, and we look forward to their future successes and impact on the industry.
One small surprise was the appearance of a non-UV-related topic in our top content – the presentation of narrowband phosphor research and application updates from GE at the Society for Information Display’s (SID’s) Display Week Business Conference. The company has seen positive results with regard to applying the phosphor technology to mini and micro LED display fabrication using an inkjet printing technique. The company said it is already working on reducing the line width of the approach beyond the 20-µm scale.
Finally, we return to UV just in time for back to school in many areas of the world, but specifically in a small corner of the state of Indiana. Purdue University and its affiliate, LED lighting manufacturer Energy Harness Corp., recently delivered on a UV-C air disinfection system called Active-Airflow, which draws room air in to disinfect up to 256 ft2 of space per unit with LEDs in a germicidal-effective range from 260–280 nm. The Active-Airflow systems were being deployed in the Beech Grove City Schools and Franklin Township Community Schools.
That wraps up the top content from August. We hope our US-based readers celebrate their Labor Day safely, and wish all our audience a good weekend.
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