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Cree and LED lighting are starting a revolution

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April LED Lighting contest winner will light up his Hawaiian-themed coffee shop

Thursday, May 27th, 2010

Charlie Trinh was surfing the Internet looking for “green products” when he found CreeLEDRevolution.com. The Houston, Texas resident says he saw our monthly photo contest and decided to give it a try.

“I needed brighter lights for my business,” Charlie said in an e-mail to me. He owns a coffee shop with a Hawaiian theme. “I want to convert over to LED lights but I would like to sample it out first before buying.”

Well, lucky for Charlie, he was the winner for our April LED lighting giveaway. He submitted this very dark photo of the counter at his coffee shop. This dark photo won Charlie five Cree LRP-38™ LED lights. His new 11 Watt LED lights are designed to last 50,000 hours, which means he could leave them on for eight hours a day, 365 days a year and they could last 17 years! And did I mention that would be an 85% percent energy savings if he replaced electricity-sucking incandescent?

April contest LED lighting winner

“That was my coffee shop with all the lights on, and it was still dark,” Charlie wrote.

We’re excited to bring LED lights into Charlie’s life and business. Prior to winning these lights he said his only experience with LED lights was with his LED flashlight. (You may recall that was also the case for Fargo, ND homeowner Dave Hultin).

Are you jealous of Charlie’s new energy-efficient Cree LED lights? Don’t be. Just enter our monthly photo contest for your chance to win five of your own. All you have to do is take a photo of bad lighting in your home, office, business, etc. and submit it here.

Seriously, I bet you can do that in five minutes. And spending five minutes to snap and upload a picture seems like a good use of time if it means you have a chance to win five Cree LED lights. Ready, Set, Go!

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Posted in For Fun, Revolution | 1 Comment »

Happy 25th Birthday, CFL. Your days are numbered.

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Did you know the CFL is celebrating its 25th birthday this year? We just found out from the folks at Sylvania, who plan to commemorate the occasion tomorrow at Light + Building, the big lighting tradeshow happening this week in Frankfurt, Germany.

To its credit, the CFL has come a long way since it was born in 1985. Its average life span doubled, its size shrunk considerably, it got cheaper and there’s less mercury inside. But it still has mercury inside, which means if it ever breaks, you can’t just sweep up the glass and be on your way. You’re supposed to follow these steps, which include airing out the room, washing or even throwing out materials that come in contact with the broken bulb and more.

CFL BIRTHDAY

But we’re realists. We realize the CFL – for all its toxic faults – still consumes less energy than the 130+ year old incandescent bulb. So we’re not going to crash the CFL’s birthday party because, frankly, this may be the last year folks show up to celebrate.

The CFLs days are numbered. The LED Lighting Revolution is gaining traction because most LED lights consume even less energy than CFLs and they do so without containing toxic mercury. LED lights are designed to last significantly longer than CFLs. And LED lights reach full brightness immediately.

And I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking: “It’s not really fair of you to rain on the CFL parade when I can’t even buy a 60 Watt equivalent LED bulb at the store.” To that I say touché, and then I’ll duly note that there are plenty of other LED lighting products made by Cree and other companies that can successfully replace incandescent and fluorescent lights. And innovations are happening all the time.

So happy birthday, CFL. Sorry we can’t make it to your party, but we’re busy Lighting the LED Revolution.

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Posted in Energy Efficiency, For Fun | 4 Comments »

Creative LED lighting design contest winners show us what’s possible

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

We’re so focused on lighting businesses, offices and homes with energy-efficient LED lights, that we don’t often take time to show off other cool applications for LEDs. But that doesn’t mean we don’t support using LEDs in other ways.

Take a look at some of these creative ways that university students in China came up with to use LEDs in our first creative LED lighting contest:

LED light Samples 1

Nearly 1,000 students representing about 100 universities in China submitted hundreds of design entries. Fifty designs were chosen for the final round of judging and the winner received US $3,000, with runners up snagging $1,500 for their creative designs. 

The entries were judged based on creativity, practicality, marketability, LED performance, artistic quality and energy efficiency. The first place prize went to a project called “Lighting to Share,” which used a magnetic effect to form different lighting modes, emphasizing lighting effects and LED lighting features. It was submitted by Huang Jiongzhang, Du Weizheng and Ni Yujun from Taiwan’s National Cheng Kung University. Here’s a pic of the winning entry:

LED Winner

Sure, these unique LED lighting projects might never light your house, but we’re hoping that contests like this will help  show what can be done with LEDs and will inspire even more LED lights in the future.

Posted in For Fun | 1 Comment »

Chocolate bunny melts under incandescent light, survives LED light

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

I was one of the most popular people at work this week after word spread that I was melting chocolate bunnies with light bulbs. People kept stopping by my desk to ask if the scuttlebutt was true. And when they found out it was true, several co-workers declared that I have the best job ever.

But I wasn’t melting the bunnies for fun, or even for a snack. This experiment was for the sake of the LED lighting revolution.

I can preach the benefits of energy-efficient LED lighting until my voice goes hoarse (which I’ve done) or type out blog posts, tweets and e-mails until my fingers callous. But, let’s face it, seeing is believing.

So I turned an empty office into a studio for my experiment. I placed chocolate Easter bunnies under a 12 Watt Cree LRP-38 and a 65 Watt incandescent floodlight. Both lights are designed to be hung from tracks. And, despite their Wattage differences, they’re a relatively fair comparison — a 12 Watt LRP-38 can replace Halogen bulbs up to 90 Watts (the folks at Furniture Row in Denver, Colorado replaced one thousand 90 W Halogens with LRP-38s).

Here's the setup.

Here's the setup.

The results were exactly what I expected. The bunny under the incandescent light melted into a pool of chocolate that spilled over the plate and onto the desk. The LED bunny kept his shape, with just the tip of his head becoming soft when I touched it with my fingertip. Watch the time lapse video to see the incandescent bunny’s downfall:

 

Once the incandescent bunny collapses, you can see my hand reach over and reposition the plate. That’s because that sucker fell backwards and out of the video shot, so I had to reposition him so we could all watch him melt.

I hope the video conveys how much more energy-efficient LED lights are. Since LED lights consume significantly less energy than incandescent bulbs (and even compact fluorescents), they don’t emit as much heat. In fact, LEDs are sensitive to heat, that’s why good thermal design is important for a long-lasting LED light, and that’s what the heat sink helps accomplish (the metal fins or slots that surround LED lights).

Hmmm. Perhaps I’ll have to start melting chocolate with light bulbs around every holiday. If you’ve got suggestions of what I should melt next, post them in the comments!

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Posted in For Fun, Videos | 19 Comments »

High Definition screens at American Airlines Center put HD in every seat

Friday, March 26th, 2010

I’ve been known to jump up and down or wave my scarf at hockey games in hopes of being projected on the big screen in between plays. But if I ever attend a Dallas Stars game, I’d probably check my hair and makeup before I attempted to attract the cameras.

That’s because the American Airlines Center now features high definition screens, which means Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks fans can now experience HD in every seat. And let’s face it, few people would enjoy being projected in HD in front of a stadium full of people with Alfalfa hair! But how awesome would it be to follow game highlights in HD (especially if your seats are in the nosebleed section).

I know we focus closely on the LED lighting revolution – helping the world ditch its addiction to incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. But our LEDs are also used in some other neat applications, and when I hear about uses such as these massive HD screens, I have to share them!

Here are some pictures:

American2

AmericanLED

So how many Cree LEDs are used to light the 25 individual screens at the American Airlines Center? 13 million. Pretty incredible, huh?

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Posted in For Fun, Places Rocking LED Lights | 1 Comment »

Cree goes to SXSW Interactive: Find us for chance to win LED lights!

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

I have two geek sides. One is my LED side, where I get excited geeking out over color temperatures, efficacy and CRI. The other is my social media side, where I geek out over Twitter, blogging and APIs.

Later this week, I’ll get to focus on my social media geek side as I join some 11,000 fellow passionate Internet users in Austin, Texas, at South by Southwest Interactive, the largest web, interactive and social media conference of the year.

lrp38

Here's a look at the LED lights you could win! We're giving away 3 LRP-38s!

I have a lot of goals for the conference, one of them being to spread the good word about the LED Lighting Revolution to anyone who will listen (feel sorry for the person stuck next to me on the plane).

If you plan to attend SXSWi, find me! I’ll be tweeting my location periodically (you are following @Cree on Twitter, aren’t you?). And I’ll be at the Cree Sustainable Media Happy Hour, presented by our friends over at TriplePundit and EcoPopTV on Monday, March 15.

If you’ll be in Austin on Monday and you want to socialize with other non-profits, social entrepreneurs, issues bloggers, clean techies, environmental filmmakers and North Carolina peeps, let us know you’re coming.

And at any point during SXSWi, if you find me, give me your business card. Once SXSWi is over, we’ll draw one winner to receive three Cree LRP-38® LED lights. These are the same LED lights that are being installed in the produce sections of 650 Wal-Marts and they provide gorgeous, warm energy-efficient light!

It shouldn’t be too hard to find me throughout the week. I plan on tweeting my location and using the location-based app Gowalla. Here’s a picture of me from last night’s News & Observer Tweetup in Downtown Raleigh. Find me for your chance to win!

GinnyNandoTweetup
Looking forward to Lighting the LED Revolution in Austin!

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Posted in For Fun, Revolution, Trade Shows | No Comments »

Do you hate fluorescent lighting as much as I do?

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

I hate fluorescent lighting. I always have. I once worked at a company that had a horrible conference room lit with ugly fluorescent lighting, and every time I was summoned to a meeting in there, I would turn off the lights. Better to work by the light of our computer screens, I reasoned, then to drown in a greenish fluorescent bath. No one ever asked me to leave the lights on, so I guess my colleagues hated the lights too.

My disdain for mercury-laden fluorescent lighting has grown even stronger since I started working for a company that makes LED lighting. That’s because I now sit in an office lit by beautiful, dimmable LED lights and it’s pretty nice. I’ve never felt the need to switch off the lights here. I’ve also learned a lot about the downsides of fluorescent lighting: the headaches, migraines, eye strain and discomfort those icky lights can trigger in some people thanks to their notorious, sometimes subtle, sometimes painfully obvious flicker.

I must admit that even though I’m not a fan of fluorescent lights, they are more efficient than energy-sucking incandescent lights. But they also contain toxic mercury. Sadly, a lot of people don’t realize you’re not supposed to toss CFLs in garbage. There are special ways you’re supposed to dispose of CFLs (and all fluorescent lights) so you don’t muck up landfills with mercury.

Of course I crave the day when everyone will get to live, work and shop under energy-efficient LED lights. But until then, it’s comforting to know I’m not alone in hating fluorescents. A quick Twitter search of “fluorescent lights” shows a slew of disparaging comments about the lights. Some from the past week are so amusing I have to share them:

flurochain1

If you’re sick of fluorescent lighting too, then become a fan of “Banishing Ugly Fluorescent Lighting” on facebook. I’m not sure it will make a difference, but it always feels good to complain in the comfort of other like-minded people.

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Posted in For Fun | 5 Comments »

Dispatches from the front lines of an LED Lighting Rally

Thursday, February 4th, 2010

I marched (OK, technically, I walked) in a circle on a street corner in downtown Raleigh yesterday with a group of passionate LED supporters and chanted:

“Hey, Hey, Hey, Hey, LEDs are here to stay!

One, Two, Three, Four, Kick Fluorescents out the door!”

That’s not all. We had signs. A lot of signs. Hand-painted signs. Signs that declared our love for energy-efficient LED lights.

Rally

You’re probably wondering if we lost our minds. But I can assure you, we had a plan. You see, at approximately 5:45 p.m., just as our toes started to go numb in the chilly temperatures, a group of 100+ people rounded the corner.

But this wasn’t just a random mob, they were folks who knew a lot about LEDs. The group was on an LED Lighting Walking Tour of downtown Raleigh as part of the Department of Energy Solid State Lighting Research and Design Conference (or DOE SSL R&D for short).

Seeing their shocked faces was all it took for us to spring to action. We hoisted our signs in the air and started our chant.

Within seconds, digital cameras, cell phone and video cameras were fixed on us as we continued to walk in our circle. I tried not to make eye contact with anyone because it’s hard to stay composed when you’re hollering a chant. But I couldn’t miss the smiles, the curious looks, the camera flashes—and even a smattering of applause.

So what the heck were we doing? We were showing industry professionals that we’re serious about the LED Lighting Revolution. We truly believe LED lighting is better than incandescent, fluorescent and other lighting technologies. We truly believe the energy savings that can be achieved by switching to LED lights is worthwhile.

And we wanted those conference goers — the very people who have the potential to help change the way we light the world – to know that we’re out there paving the way for LED lighting by raising awareness.

LEDs Rock! If you were at the conference and saw the rally, please let me know in the comments section. I would love to see your photos and video.

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Posted in For Fun, LED Cities, Revolution, Trade Shows | 10 Comments »

Skate under LED lights at the #RaleighLED Ice Skating Tweetup

Friday, January 15th, 2010

It’s been more than three years since city officials in Raleigh, NC, first installed energy-efficient LED lighting. Since then, the city has embraced the energy-saving technology by installing LED lights at more than two dozen locations around the city!

At Cree, we’re excited to honor the city of Raleigh as the world’s first LED City® with the #RaleighLED Ice Skating Tweetup!

Triangle-area Twitter users and other LED lighting fans are invited to ice skate under LED lights at downtown Raleigh’s outdoor ice rink from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31.

You can secure your free ice skate rental by registering for #RaleighLED Ice Skating Tweetup here.

IceRinkPic

The Raleigh Winterfest Ice Rink is one of more than two dozen locations in Raleigh that features LED lighting. It’s an awesome chance to sip on some hot chocolate, mingle with Tweeps, see LED lights and get your outdoor skate on.

LED lighting will play a big role in Raleigh during the week of Feb. 1, when the Department of Energy hosts its Solid-State Lighting Research and Design Workshop at the Raleigh Convention Center. I bet you didn’t even know that the fancy industry term for LED lighting is “Solid-State Lighting,” did you? Hundreds of LED aficionados and experts from all over the country will be coming to Raleigh for the workshop and to see the light(s)!tweettweet2

We hope you can make it to the #RaleighLED Ice Skating Tweetup to see some LED lighting in action and learn more about this technology in advance of the Department of Energy’s conference in Raleigh! Don’t forget to register!!

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Posted in For Fun | 4 Comments »

How an engineer’s 21-minute YouTube video on LED Lighting and Thermal Design wiped a sour look off my face

Monday, January 11th, 2010

If you told me a week ago that I would be thoroughly entertained by a 21-minute YouTube video featuring an engineer talking about thermal design, I would’ve shot you one of these looks:

ginnyfunnylook

But that was before I was introduced to David L. Jones’ vlog. The title caught my attention right away: “Solid-State LED Lighting, and How Thermal Design Sucks.” Please note, he doesn’t say Solid State LED Lighting sucks. :o

Dave is an engineer who lives in Sydney, Australia. Armed with a video camera and a heck of a lot of enthusiasm, Dave decided to attach some Cree LEDs to a piece of aluminum to light up his new outdoor deck. For the record, Cree didn’t know he was doing this. I say this because even though he doesn’t like the act of calculating the junction temperature of each LED (hence his blog title … “How Thermal Design Sucks”), he ended up loving the results he achieved with our LEDs. And because he’s so enthusiastic and sincere, I actually sat through the entire 21-minute video and watched him fill up his whiteboard with calculations that are way over my head.

If you don’t have 21 minutes to spare, here are some highlights:

Watch the first four minutes for context. Tune in again at the 17:15 mark to hear his declarations about why his calculations are a waste of time. Then skip to 19:20 to hear him describe the difference between efficacy and efficiency (don’t be fooled by their similar spellings, there is a difference) and then stay tuned for the rest of the video to see what all his hard work went toward.

Dave tells video viewers not to bother writing in and telling him that his model was wrong. So I won’t go into whether his calculations make sense, but stay tuned to the 21 minute mark and you can see that regardless of whether his model was right or wrong, his homemade LED lighting system sure looks sharp.

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Posted in For Fun, Videos | 2 Comments »

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