Lumileds offers EU Ecodesign tool, boosts 3030 LED performance

July 28, 2021
The looming European regulations on SSL performance and labeling will present a challenge to lamp and luminaire manufacturers, but Lumileds’ new web tool may help.

LED manufacturer Lumileds has announced the availability of the EU Ecodesign Tool on its website that can help manufacturers as they develop lamps and luminaires with an eye to the Ecodesign and Energy Labeling polices that take effect September 2021. Concurrently, Lumileds also made a packaged LED announcement focused on 3030 (30×30-mm) packaged LEDs with a round light-emitting surface (LES). Solid-state lighting (SSL) product developers will get a 2.5% performance increase that can either increase system performance at existing power levels or enable designs with fewer LEDs in a system, thereby reducing cost and power.

EU regulatory policy

The European Commission (EC) has presided over a fractured regulatory environment relative to the performance and efficacy of lighting products going back a decade, but in 2019 the commission published a policy called informally the Single Lighting Regulation (SLR) to cover the European Union (EU) going forward. As we covered in an online contributed feature article last year, EU No. 2019/2020 repealed prior policy and established a new framework of ecodesign requirements for energy-related products. Moreover, the companion EU No. 2019/2015 policy mandates more accurate labeling of product and efficacy performance. These policies go into effect in September, although existing products can be sold under the old policy for two additional years.

Unofficially, the new policy will bring about the end of the market in Europe for halogen, fluorescent, and other legacy sources. Officially, the regulations are energy policy not tied to any specific light-source technology. Moreover, the regulations apply to finished lamps and luminaires and not to packaged LEDs or OLEDs.

Still, Lumileds sought to help its customers navigate a path through the new EC policy. The company has gathered the pertinent data on all of its lighting-class LEDs that match up with the 16 mandatory metrics defined in the new policy. Furthermore, the tool provides a normalized spectral power distribution (SPD) graph. Developers can easily view the data online or download the data for instance, for input into documentation and design tools.

“Suppliers of light sources for the EU market must comply with Ecodesign and Energy Labeling regulations that include the declaration of various parameters that relate directly to the properties of the LED packages used in the light source,” said Wouter Soer, director of illumination product development at Lumileds. “Suppliers need this LED package information in order to determine the declared values for their light source. Though most of the relevant LED package information can be found in the respective product datasheets, Lumileds’ new Ecodesign tool provides additional information to give a full description of LED package properties relevant to the regulations.”

SSL product developers might use the tool in numerous ways. For instance, a developer might iterate potential optical system designs using the output of the Lumileds tool as an input. The process would allow luminaire makers to design for functional and power requirements and deliver on labeling regulations. That activity would rely upon Lumileds documenting responsibility for the performance characteristics at hand.

Meanwhile, the developer would have a baseline understanding of where those LED sources stand relative to the new policy. Anyone can experiment with the tool on the Lumileds website.

Round LES LED performance

Moving to the packaged LED space, Lumileds has announced yet another performance increase in its mid-power LED portfolio targeted at general illumination applications — in this case focused on the Luxeon 3030 2D. Just two weeks back, the company announced improved Luxeon 2835 performance.

The 6V Luxeon 3030 2D Round LED produces 180 lm/W of 4000K-CCT, 70-CRI white light at 120 mA. (Photo credit: Image courtesy of Lumileds.)While the 3030 2D is part of the Lumileds mid-power portfolio and uses a package typical of mid-power LEDs, it targets high-power applications such as outdoor area lighting. Lumileds has taken two steps enabling the LED to serve in such a demanding role. First, the package has been designed for the elements, and second, the discretely-packaged LEDs include dual LEDs and thus the 2D suffix in the model number. The dual die deliver the lumen output required for outdoor or industrial applications.

“High efficacy, high light output, and corrosion resistance that outperforms others are key to the preference for Luxeon 3030 in outdoor applications,” said Xue Tiger, product and marketing manager at Lumileds. “We’ve continued to invest in this LED platform and as a result our customers can further optimize their solutions and support sustainability while improving lighting.”

The Luxeon 3030 2D first emerged back in 2014. It was among the first mid-power LEDs to get an epoxy moulding compound (EMC) package for reliability in more harsh environments. And it was one of the first mid-power LEDs that Lumileds tested and binned at elevated temperatures. Today Lumileds tests the devices at 85°, enabling the company to offer what it calls “hot color targeting.” That process enables Lumileds to offer micro binning for tight uniformity.

LEDs Magazine chief editor MAURY WRIGHT is an electronics engineer turned technology journalist, who has focused specifically on the LED & Lighting industry for the past decade.

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