The Alliance for Solid-State Illumination Systems and Technologies (ASSIST) is celebrating ten years of activity working with lighting manufacturers, academia, industry organizations, and government to push the adoption of LED-based lighting. The LRC (Lighting Research Center) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) manages the ASSIST program and plans to continue a proactive solid-state lighting (SSL) mission via research and testing of what is still an emerging technology in terms of LED lighting.
"Going forward, ASSIST intends to maintain its collaborative approach to overcoming market transformation barriers," said Nadarajah Narendran, RPI professor, LRC director of research, and the director of the ASSIST program. "This will include knowledge creation and dissemination, demonstrating the value of solid-state lighting systems that create better lighting and more convenience, and new metrics to quantify this value. ASSIST will also continue to support test procedure harmonization around the world, and outreach education and support."
The ASSIST program has relied on a collaborative approach to SSL that combines industry participation and research conducted within the LRC. That will also be the model going forward.
Looking back, the ASSIST program has contributed to the SSL industry in many ways including demonstrations of LED lighting in applications and reports of that work. The organization has developed definitions and test methods that have been key to industry standards. And the mission has been centered on education for participants in the maturing SSL industry segment.
There are many examples of the work of the LRC and the Assist program including:
- A report on LED street light application efficacy
- The Gamut Area Index (GAI) color-quality metric
- The impact of outdoor lighting on circadian cycles
- A study on SSL flicker issues
Some of the LRCs earliest work was on a modular approach to SSL where lighting tiles snap into grids, integrating lighting with building materials. That work served as the basis for the case study that we featured in the July issue of LEDs Magazine on an novel LED-lighting installation in a Paramount Pictures conference room.
ASSIST has been funded by a long roster of industry leaders in the lighting space. Organization members include Acuity Brands Lighting, Amerlux Global Lighting Solutions, Bridgelux, Cirrus Logic, Cooper Industries, Cree, Dow Corning, the Federal Aviation Administration, GE Lighting Solutions, the Industrial Technology Research Institute, Intematix, LG Electronics, LG Innotek, Lighting Science Group, Lite‐On, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, Osram Sylvania/Osram Opto Semiconductors, Philips Lighting, Posco LED, Sharp Laboratories of America, Seoul Semiconductor, Toshiba, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, WAC Lighting, and WattStopper.
