Fri, 11 Nov 2011
Fifty Bucks For A Lightbulb? Say Hello To LED
Fast Company recently posted an interesting article on the components of what makes an LED work.
Thu, 22 Sep 2011
We have recently updated our eStatus system to provide the following features:
- We've added a Product Availablity Search feature, allowing you to keyword a product and a quantity and see if it is currently available in any of our three warehouses.
- In addition to searching for orders, you can also search for any quotes placed with Candela.
- If there is an available spec sheet for products quoted/ordered, you can download the accompanying PDF spec sheet.
- We've added a number of qualified online agents to our Web Chat feature. Give it a try! (You will need to have an eStatus account for this to work.)
- chris
Tue, 30 Aug 2011
As of July 2011, all non-Chinese lighting manufacturers are experiencing a shortage in supply of Rare Earth Metals used in the manufacture of fluorescent lighting products. Candela has put together a series of PDFs created by GE, Philips and Osram Sylvania to help inform you of the details behind the shortage.
GE - Rare Earths: The Why & How
Philips - Phosphor: A Critical Component in Fluorescent Lamps
OSI - Rare Earth Phosphor Crisis
Additionally, here are some articles about the issue from a handful of media outlets:
Red Lodge Clearinghouse - Weighing the Costs of Unobtainium
Rare Element Resource Ltd.
Seeking Alpha - China Keeps Rare Earth Supplies Tight Despite WTO Warning
National Geographic - Rare Earth Elements
The Wall Street Journal - China Moves to Strengthen Grip Over Supply of Rare-Earth Metals
Hot Air - Great news: China hoarding rare-earth metals needed for "green" energy
We recently sent an email to all of our customers regarding the chaotic situation with Rare Earth Metals. In a nutshell, as our vendors increase prices or run out of product, your Candela CSRs will keep you up to date. The important thing to consider is quote expiration dates, which we must shorten on certain products. We know it's tough on you to offer a price to a customer that may not stick and we apologize for our need to respond to what's happening in this volatile time.
Tue, 16 Aug 2011
TED - Harald Haas: Wireless data from every lightbulb
What if every LED light bulb installed today could also transmit data in addition to light? Might we have an entire new industry develop around light-based networking?
Can The U.S. Break China's Stranglehold On Rare Earth Metals?
Fast Company reports on the US mining industries attempt to play catch up with China in rare earth element extraction.
Mon, 15 Aug 2011
Bringing Solar Light Bulbs To The World
CNN reports about an inventor who has create a lightbulb that charges up during the day and lights up at night when the sun sets.
Sun, 14 Aug 2011
The following video demonstrates a new LED lighting technology developed by Cree. Boasting 152 lumens per watt, this 1331 lumen LED lamp surpasses preliminary guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Energy's L Prize 21st Century Lamp competition.
Philips Wins Department of Energy's L Prize in 60-watt replacement bulb category
Washington, USA - The U.S. Department of Energy today announced that Philips has won the 60-watt replacement bulb category
Submitted in 2009, the Philips LED bulb successfully completed 18 months of demanding field, lab, and product testing to meet the rigorous requirements of the L Prize competition - ensuring that performance, quality, lifetime, cost, and availability meet expectations for widespread adoption and mass manufacturing.
"The L Prize challenges the best and brightest minds in the U.S. lighting industry to make the technological leaps forward that can greatly reduce the money we spend to light our homes and businesses each year," said Energy Secretary Steven Chu. "Not only does the L Prize challenge innovative companies like Philips to make LED technology even more energy efficient, it also spurs the lighting industry to make LEDs affordable for American families."
"We looked at the L Prize challenge as an opportunity to innovate and develop an energy efficient alternative to a product that has remained largely unchanged for over a century," said Zia Eftekhar, CEO of Philips Lighting North America. "The fact that we are the first and only company capable of submitting a product and completing 18 months of rigorous testing not only underscores our commitment to innovation and quality, it highlights our ability to bring meaningful leading technologies into the mainstream."
Launched in 2008, the Energy Department's L Prize competition targets the 60-watt bulb because it is one of the most widely used types of light bulbs by consumers, representing roughly half of the domestic incandescent light bulb market. Innovations in residential and commercial lighting products such as those encouraged by the L Prize expand the lighting choices available to consumers and support the Department's efforts to reduce our Nation's energy use, create manufacturing jobs for U.S. workers, and save money for American families and business owners.
The winning Philips product excelled through rigorous short-term and long-term performance testing carried out by independent laboratories and field assessments conducted with utilities and other partners. The product also performed well through a series of stress tests, in which the product was subjected to extreme conditions such as high and low temperatures, humidity, vibration, high and low voltage, and various electrical waveform distortions. The Philips L Prize winning product was also required to have a useful lifetime of more than 25,000 hours, compared with 1,000 to 3,000 hours for the products these highly efficient bulbs are intended to replace. The product uses solid-state lighting technology, which utilizes light-emitting diodes (LEDs) instead of electrical filaments, plasma, or gas, and has the potential to use far less energy than other lighting technologies. As the winner, Philips will receive a $10 million cash prize as well as L Prize partner promotions and incentives. To date, 31 utilities and energy efficiency program partners stand ready to promote and develop markets for the winning product. The L Prize-winning 60-watt equivalent LED bulb from Phillips could arrive in stores as soon as early 2012.
Video and photos assets available for download at: http://www.forummedia.us/philipslprize.
Thu, 14 Jul 2011
China's latest rare earth move disappoints EU, US
Reuters reports that China has increased their export quota of rare earth elements used in the manufacture of energy efficient fluorescent lighting products, but the EU and US are not satisfied that this latest move will bring any noticeable change.
China slashed rare earth export quotas by 35 percent for the first half of 2011, choking off global supplies and causing prices to soar.
