Welcome to the LEDs Magazine News & Insights newsletter for Sept. 22, 2021. It has often seemed this year as if I wrote for a magazine dedicated to ultraviolet (UV) technology and specifically UV-C-band germicidal applications. Strangely, I have had a bit of a break from that topic save a couple of recent contributed articles in magazine issues — one linked down below. Still, disinfection remains important and hopefully will remain top of mind even if COVID-19 ever fades for good.
So to get started in the column this week, I will suggest you plan on spending time with us tomorrow to learn more about the UV-C topic. At 2:00 PM Eastern, Chris Eichelberger of ams Osram will present on UV-C in disinfection applications. The presentation will uniquely cover both UV sources including LEDs but also the importance of integrating UV-C sensing into products and applications. See you tomorrow afternoon.
Also in the UV-C area, we had news break from Nichia just yesterday. The company has pushed radiant flux from a 3.5×3.5-mm device to 63 mW. The new LED represents a huge gain in flux density — both at the LED level and in the fact that the compact devices can be closely packed in a system. And Nichia said the component will enable water, air, and surface disinfection products.
We also had a very interesting outdoor lighting story break this week. Long-time readers might remember that back in 2015 we had a cover story in the magazine on the DOLL Living Lab project in Denmark where a business park is being used to test connected outdoor lighting schemes and smart-city applications. Those tests continue and this week we learned about a new Tridonic-led project to pilot tunable outdoor luminaires. The tunability is meant more for the human visual system than for the non-visual receptors. Also, there is a very interesting angle on smart outdoor luminaire development and the applications such luminaires enable.
Of course, our industry also has to worry about the negative ramifications of outdoor light at night ranging from circadian impact to sky glow. The Tridonic tunable concept could come into play there, lessening any negative impacts on humans or critters. Still, we need industry-wide movement and the DesignLights Consortium (DLC) continues to work on that problem. The market-transformation organization has released the second draft of its LUNA Technical Requirements for comment.
I’m also going to repeat here a plea I made last week and in our connected lighting newsletter this past Monday. We have jointly embarked with the LEDucation Conference and Tradeshow on some research regarding network connected lighting and controls. And I promise we will share what we learn with you, so it’s important for anyone involved with the technology to cooperate. Simply go directly to the survey link and create an entry. And again I dangle the carrot — two entrants selected at random will get a very-cool RTIC cooler.
Finally for more about us, I have been telling you about HortiCann Light + Tech for months. The event is next week. You can either be thankful you don’t have to read my pitches about attendance any longer, or even better attend and learn about what may be the hottest application in the LED world. Moreover, there is even more exciting technology involved in addition to solid-state lighting (SSL).
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) 208-9442, [email protected]