Welcome to the LEDs Magazine News & Insights newsletter for Jan. 27, 2021. With February fast approaching, I feel like I should go back and say Happy New Year. Maybe 2021 is starting to look up.
You might associate the statement above with any number of things happening around the globe. The US passed through a tumultuous political period. The world seems to have gotten through the most recent COVID-19 surge and is working through vaccine issues. But also we are seeing increased business and technology activity in the LED and solid-state lighting (SSL) sectors that typically would have started the first full week of the year.
It was a slow January. I have heard rumblings that supply chain issues are hampering the lighting industry more so than demand. Hopefully our sectors work through those problems and get business headed back towards normal concurrent with society edging back towards normal.
Getting to some recent activity in the space, Nichia made announcements on consecutive days. First the company announced what it called a “dual function” LED that we first covered Monday in our health and wellbeing newsletter. Then the company released some research on germicidal efficacy relative to ultraviolet (UV)-C-band wavelength. The research makes the case that the company’s LEDs that radiate at 280 nm, the very top of the 100–280-nm UV-C range, match the germicidal efficacy of shorter-wavelength sources.
We will have more packaged LED news breaking this week as well. Stay tuned.
We’ve seen Tridonic launch a new smart-city building-block portfolio called Siderea. The offering starts with intelligent drivers based on the DALI Alliance D4i technology and includes elements up through a central management system. A product development team working within a lighting manufacturer can greatly accelerate time to market for connected outdoor lighting product portfolios based on standards and offering scalability.
I have publicly worried about the future of the commercial lighting sector as we move toward recovery from the pandemic. Many companies will have learned to operate and even thrive with a remote workforce. I fear office space demand will decline. Our Carrie Meadows offered a different look at the situation in a recent column. She explores the case that a more enthusiastic interest in lighting for health and wellbeing will somewhat supersede the impact of a more remote workforce. It’s an interesting thought.
We also have a story covering a recent SSL project at the Mandalay Convention Center in Las Vegas, NV. The project offers a reminder of the advantages of replacement lamps in some cases. Filamento supplied HID-replacement lamps that could be installed in existing downlights and greatly improve the quality of light while also adding individual lamp-level wireless controls.
You will find many more stories of interest in the body of today’s newsletter. And always feel free to contact me to discuss content we post or to pitch a contributed article.
- Maury Wright, (858) 748-6785, [email protected]