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Cree and LED lighting are starting a revolution

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City of Asheville: Successfully Driving the Adoption of Street Lights in North Carolina

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

Being a leader can be exhilarating. Take Cree, for example. We love leading the LED Lighting Revolution. You could even say we find it electrifying. So when we hear US cities, like Asheville, are implementing LED lighting, it pumps us up!

The City of Asheville has initiated North Carolina’s first large-scale deployment of LED street lights. This large-scale deployment, made possible through a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, allows Asheville to take the necessary steps to improve energy efficiency and reduce its overall carbon footprint.

Street Lights in Asheville, North Carolina

In the initial phase of the project, completed in June 2011, 730 street lights were replaced with 67-watt to 195-watt LEDway® luminaires. An additional 2,913 LEDway® street lights are currently being installed, and the City anticipates saving 50 percent of current energy use and maintenance costs due to the LED upgrade.

“Upgrading to LED street lights allows us to decrease energy consumption, increase energy efficiency and contribute to the sustainability of our community,” said Maggie Ullman, energy coordinator for the Asheville Office of Sustainability. “This exciting initiative helps affirm Asheville’s role as a leader in carbon footprint reduction.”

Street Lights in Asheville, North Carolina

Here are just some of the benefits of the Asheville installation project:

  • By upgrading all HPS and mercury vapor street lights to LEDway® luminaires, the City anticipates a savings of approximately $260,000 per year from the combined energy and maintenance savings.
  • Phase one of the LEDway® luminaires installation reduces the City’s carbon footprint by an estimated one percent and saves approximately $45,000 in energy cost per year.

In addition to saving energy, this installation demonstrates how municipalities and local utilities can work together. “As more municipalities commit to replacing outdated, inefficient lighting with the support of their local utilities, LED adoption and consumer awareness continue to increase,” said Christopher Ruud, President of Ruud Lighting, a Cree Company. “We applaud the City of Asheville and Progress Energy for working together for the benefit of its citizens demonstrating the growing trend of cities and municipalities working together to join the LED lighting revolution.”

Is your city taking the necessary steps to install LED lighting? Tell us about it.

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Posted in BetaLED, LED Cities | 7 Comments »

November LED lighting contest winner plans to transform family room

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

When Colleen Locchi began planning lighting for her kitchen, she thought she would go with CFLs. But the more investigating she did, the more she realized that mercury-containing CFLs likely weren’t the energy-efficient solution she wanted.

“Initially I was all about CFLs,” Colleen wrote me, “but the more research I did, the less enchanted I have become. LEDs seem to be the way to go. I did incorporate some into my new kitchen and find I now prefer them over my incandescent lamps.”

Once Colleen got a taste of LED lighting, she wanted more. So she entered (and won) our November LED lighting giveaway by submitting a picture of her large family room, which is lit almost entirely with lamps. Colleen won five Cree CR6 LED downlights, which she says she plans to use to accent her fire place and provide overhead task lighting without an assortment of lamps. Here’s the photo she submitted:

Collleen November 2011 winner

“We purchased the house in the mid-90s and the lighting in this room has been a thorn in my side ever since. The expense of the lighting always put it on the back burner so I am quite thrilled to be able to move forward with this project. I really think it will finish off the room,” Colleen wrote.

Not only will Colleen’s new Cree LED downlights deliver beautiful light quality (warm, 2700K color temperature), the lights will also save her energy. The CR6 LED downlight (pictured below) consumes only 10.5 watts, but delivers the same warm light you’d expect from a 65-watt halogen light.

cr6 small

And once Colleen installs her new recessed LED lighting, she won’t have to worry about changing them for years – possibly decades – to come. That’s because the CR6 LED downlight is designed to last 50,000 hours, which means Colleen could leave them lit eight hours a day, seven days a week and they could last more than 17 years. And, let’s be real, chances are Colleen’s family isn’t going to be using the lights that frequently, which means they’ll likely last even longer.

If you want to see how Cree LED lighting can solve your lighting challenges, submit a photo of the lighting you want to replace to our January contest. One lucky winner will receive five Cree CR6 LED downlights to transform their light-style.

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Posted in Contest Winners, Cree, LED Homes | No Comments »

October Cree LED Lighting Contest Winner Hopes to Makeover Restaurant Bathroom

Monday, November 21st, 2011

Like many friendly co-workers, Ingrid McMasters and her colleague Barb occasionally stop by a local restaurant to grab a bite to eat. But, since Ingrid and Barb are both lighting designers, they can’t go anywhere without scrutinizing the light – even the bathroom.

Ingrid is the October winner of Cree’s LED lighting photo contest. She sent in this photo of these dim downlights in the bathroom of a restaurant in the Madison, Wisconsin area:

oct 2011 contest winner

Here's the photo Ingrid submitted.

“We were absolutely appalled at this attempt at energy efficiency when we saw it,” Ingrid wrote in an email to me.

So were our judges. While we always applaud attempts to make lighting more efficient, we also believe that folks shouldn’t have to compromise on light quality to save energy. Ingrid won five Cree CR6 LED downlights for exposing this poorly lit bathroom.

“My goal is to deliver these five cans directly to the owner of the restaurant in hopes that they’ll fix it.  I entered the contest since they were so obviously in need of assistance.  Color quality and hospitality feel are so important in a restaurant restroom,” Ingrid wrote.

We hope the restaurant owner sees the light and takes just a few minutes to install our downlights in their bathroom. Then they’ll know it’s possible to save energy without making restaurant patrons look sickly under the lights.

cr6

Cree's CR6 LED downlight consumes only 10.5 watts.

Our CR6 LED downlights feature Cree TrueWhite™ Technology, which is our patented approach to delivering bright, incandescent-like light that is more energy efficient than fluorescents. So the ladies who step under our lights in the bathroom will actually get to see what they look like, instead of having their reflections cloaked in dim, ugly light.

Other cool features of Cree’s CR6 LED downlight include:

  • Low Energy Consumption: This LED light consumes only 10.5 watts, but delivers the same light quality you would expect from a 65 watt Halogen light.
  • Long Lifetime: Designed to last 50,000 hours, the CR6 downlight could last more than 17 years if you left it on eight hours a day, seven days a week. For a restaurant or other business that may have to pay someone to change light bulbs, this could lead to great maintenance savings.
  • They Can  Dim Beautifully: Dimming your lights is one of the easiest ways to change the mood and rack up energy savings. The CR6 LED downlight is dimmable to 5 percent, giving you a chance to customize your lighting while saving more energy since the lights consume even less energy the more they’re dimmed.

Don’t miss your chance to win Cree CR6 LED downlights in our November contest. Just submit a photo of the lights at your home or business, showing us why you think you should get new Cree LED lights. Each month, our judges award one lucky winner 5 Cree CR6 LED lights. Submit your photo here.

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Posted in Contest Winners, Cree | No Comments »

September Contest Winner Wants Cree LED Lighting to Improve His Kitchen

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

Jeff Jones has his shower to thank for his new Cree LED lighting. That’s because the recessed light over the shower in his bathroom only took up to a 40 watt incandescent bulb. And that just wasn’t enough light for him.

So Jeff began researching other options and found the Cree CR6 LED downlight, which is suitable for damp locations. So he installed it and found that the light output and color quality were outstanding.

“The CR6 was awesome. I have not found anything like it, so many LEDs on the market have a bluish tint to them, or are too pink,” Jeff wrote to me in an email.

So when it came time to replace the recessed lighting in his kitchen, Jeff decided to enter Cree’s monthly LED lighting giveaway. He hoped that his poorly lit kitchen would win the sympathy of our judges, and boy did it. Here’s the photo he submitted:

sept 2011 winner

“With the new CR6s in my kitchen I hope it will improve the light quality and brightness of the room.  Currently the 6” recessed cans I have take a PAR30 lamp, but the lamp is so recessed in the can that I only get a spot on the floor with no light in the room,” Jeff wrote.

We’re confident that Jeff’s new CR6 LED downlights will be a big improvement since they deliver warm, beautiful light. His new lights consume only 10.5 watts and use even less energy when dimmed (they’re dimmable to 5 percent).

And Jeff’s new CR6 LED downlights are designed to last 50,000 hours, which means he could leave them on eight hours a day, seven days a week and they could last more than 17 years!

We can’t wait to see an “after” photo once Jeff gets these installed. In the meantime, we want to see your photos. Submit a photo of the poor lighting in your life to our November photo contest. Someone will win 5 Cree CR6 LED downlights just like Jeff!

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Posted in Contest Winners | 3 Comments »

ENERGY STAR program helps spread word about energy-efficient lighting

Monday, November 7th, 2011

Today’s guest blog post is by Timothy Henning, Cree’s ENERGY STAR program manager.

If you go shopping for lighting or appliances, it’s hard to miss the blue ENERGY STAR® logo that’s displayed on many of the most efficient products. By now, many people have come to know it as the symbol of energy efficiency. But ENERGY STAR is more than just a sticker recognizing energy efficiency, and Cree is pleased to be an active participant in the lighting program.

What is ENERGY STAR? 

The ENERGY STAR program is a joint effort between the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) focused on providing consumers with energy-efficient products that save money and protect the environment at the same time.

By using ENERGY STAR approved products, ENERGY STAR reports that Americans have saved nearly $18 billion on utility bills and avoided greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 33 million cars in 2010 alone! 

ES_CTW_GraphicFINAL9L_rgb

Partners Help Promote Efficiency

It takes a lot of effort to educate the world about the importance of choosing products that reduce energy consumption, so ENERGY STAR works with partners to help spread the word about energy-efficient products. This week, several Cree employees will be traveling to Charlotte, NC, in support of the 2011 ENERGY STAR Products Partner Meeting.

ENERGY STAR regularly hosts meetings for partners to gather to discuss new program initiatives, product specifications or other outreach activities. These meetings offer ENERGY STAR partners the opportunity to network with others to develop relationships and collaborations to promote ENERGY STAR. 

Cree Passed the Tests

While the ENERGY STAR program applies to a wide variety of products across a number of industries, Cree is an active participant of the lighting program. In order for Cree’s lamps and luminaires to earn the ENERGY STAR certification, our products must meet very strict photometric, electrical performance and regulatory requirements. 

Additionally, there are on-going program requirements and random product audits by the EPA to ensure the continued quality and integrity of the program.  To date, Cree has qualified 35 unique model numbers with more approvals anticipated before the end of the year! At Cree, we believe it’s important to meet ENERGY STAR’s requirements because it’s a key step toward getting good quality LED lighting in the market.

Simple Steps to Get Involved

Seeking out ENERGY STAR-qualified products isn’t the only way to help conserve energy. There are simple steps we can all take at home, work and in our communities to save energy, money and protect the environment. Currently, there’s a national campaign encouraging all Americans to take protect the climate.

Participating in the “Change the World, Start with ENERGY STAR” campaign is simple. Just take a moment to take a pledge to conserve energy by following some of the many steps outlined on the site.

And the next time you go shopping for energy-efficient LED lighting, be sure to look for the ENERGY STAR label.

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Posted in Cree, Energy Efficiency | 4 Comments »

Energy Awareness Month 2011 Blog Series Wrap-Up

Monday, October 31st, 2011

Energy Awareness Month isn’t a Hallmark celebration (yet) but for us energy-efficiency gurus, it’s a great excuse to shout from the rooftops the importance of conserving energy. This year we decided to celebrate with a month-long blog series focusing on the ways Cree’s products and employees are working to help improve energy-efficiency.  

But sometimes life gets in the way of Energy Awareness Month, which means you may have *gasp* missed some of our posts. Well, don’t despair. We’ve rounded up all of our posts from this month and summarized them in a nice, neat little package just for you.

Cree Energy Awareness Month

WEEK ONE

In our first week we highlighted some of the utility companies that are offering rebates for Cree’s energy-efficient LED lighting products, as well as the EcoSmart LED Downlight we make for Home Depot. We broke down the types of rebates utilities offer, and we showed off some of the best including programs in Illinois, Long Island and New Jersey.

REBATE

Oct. 4 – Utility Companies Offer Rebates for Cree LED Lighting

Oct. 5 – ComEd Offers Illinois Customers Major Rebates on Cree LED Lighting

Oct. 6 – LIPA Brings LED Lighting Rebates to Lucky Long Island Residents

Oct. 7 – Fist Pump! Rebate Gives New Jersey Residents Opportunity to Buy EcoSmart LED Downlight for $24.97

WEEK TWO

Typically this blog focuses on LEDs and LED lighting, but we couldn’t pass up the chance to teach you a little about another side of Cree’s business: Our energy-saving power products! We were honored to have Cree Co-founder John Palmour explain how silicon carbide-based diodes can make power supplies and electric motors more efficient. And we offered a great intro to our Silicon Carbide MOSFETs.  We also slipped a power post into week three because we’re wild like that (see below).

power plant

Oct. 12 – The Power to Do More: Cree Silicon Carbide-Based Diodes Improve Efficiency of Power Systems

Oct. 13 – Cree’s Silicon Carbide MOSFETs Help Improve Efficiency of Electronics

WEEK THREE

In week three, we primarily focused on Cree LED lighting, showing you a couple examples of ways our LED lights are saving energy in places you might not think of such as Kentucky’s State Capitol rotunda and gas stations throughout the country. We reiterated the importance of knowing the difference between lumens and watts when shopping for LED lighting. And we had to a leftover post from our Power week about solar panels that we couldn’t let you miss, so we slipped it in.

petrol1

Oct. 17 – Get Il-lumen-ated with Lighting Facts: Knowing the Difference Between Lumens and Watts

Oct. 18 – Making Solar Panels More Efficient with Silicon Carbide Schottky Diodes

Oct. 19 – Kentucky State Capitol Rotunda Shines with Cree LED Lighting

Oct. 20 – Energy-Savings Surprises at Gas Stations

Oct. 21 – Spotlight on One of Cree’s R&D Engineers

WEEK FOUR

In week four, we focused on Cree LED components, showing you a variety of special places you can find them (from a solar-powered car to the University of Michigan’s Big House). We also told you about our investigative applications engineers and how Cree EasyWhite technology can make it easier for you to design with LEDs. And, our senior director of components marketing did an outstanding job explaining why Cree is completely rethinking lighting.

Photo by Andreas Peña Doll

Photo by Andreas Peña Doll

Oct. 28 – Why We Push for Revolution, Not Evolution

Oct. 27 – Solar Race Takes Cree LEDs “Down Under”

Oct. 26 – Get Your Game Face on with Cree LEDs

Oct. 25 – Cree Applications Engineers Investigate LEDs

Oct. 24 – Bye Bye Binning, Hello EasyWhite: How Cree’s EasyWhite Technology Simplifies Designing with LEDs

We hope you learned something about our commitment to making products that help conserve energy. Now don’t leave without checking out our LED-lit pumpkin carving contest.

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Posted in Cree, Energy Awareness Month, Energy Efficiency | No Comments »

Vote For Your Favorite Pumpkin Lit with Cree XLamp LEDs

Monday, October 31st, 2011

Cree’s Applications Engineers are always cooking up some kind of contest. To celebrate Halloween, they decided to have a pumpkin carving contest using Cree LEDs. Fellow Cree employees got to vote on the winner. You can see the pumpkins up close and learn what LEDs are inside on our Facebook page.

pumpkin contest

We’ll reveal who Cree employees selected as the winner later this afternoon. In the meantime, head over to our facebook page to get your vote in!

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Posted in Cree, Energy Awareness Month, For Fun | 1 Comment »

Guest Blog Post: Why We Push for Revolution, not Evolution

Friday, October 28th, 2011

All month long, Cree has celebrated Energy Awareness Month. Through a series of blog posts, Cree has brought to you information about ways our products and our customers and partners are helping save energy. Today’s final guest blog post is by Cree’s senior director of marketing, LED components, Mike Watson.

Revolution. It’s a popular word these days. Much of the current revolution discussion is politically or socially motivated (the Middle East, Occupy Wall Street, etc.). Here at Cree, we talk about the energy revolution and more specifically, the LED lighting revolution every day.

Many countries outside North America know that to meet future economic demands, they must fundamentally change the way they consume power and they must do it now.

Instead of talking about change, they are making it, via policy directives and government mandates to encourage innovation and implementation of energy-efficient products. Just look at China – it recently completed its largest highway lighting upgrade with more than 10,000 street lights and more than a million Cree LEDs!

Cree Energy Awareness Month

When we look back at the last 100 years of lighting, precious little has changed in terms of technology, performance or form factor.  Lighting technologies haven’t evolved as demand has increased.

This type of evolution isn’t going to work for LED lighting, nor will it happen fast enough for us to address ever-increasing energy consumption.   

The much lauded (and much maligned) CFL has been heralded for more than thirty years, but market penetration has stalled at just about 10 percent. Yes, stalled, despite massive promotions at big box hardware stores, continued rebates from power companies and technical and quality improvements over several decades. 

That’s scary, especially to those of us in the lighting biz. Could that same slow adoption curve curse LED lighting?

We can’t wait thirty years for the widespread adoption of a technology that is ready now—ready to change the way we light streets and parking lots, grocery stores and offices, homes and even our cars.

So I’m talking about a revolution. The kind of revolution where we throw out preconceived notions, we cast aside things that don’t work anymore and we step into the brave, new, well-lit world.

That’s why we’re completely rethinking lighting.

It’s not about watts, it’s about lumens. It’s not about bulbs and fixtures. And it’s not about cost per bulb.

It’s about cost over lifetime and getting better light, for longer, with bigger bang for your buck.

It’s time to demand better, more efficient lighting. Don’t you agree?

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Posted in Cree, Energy Awareness Month | 1 Comment »

Solar Race Takes Cree LEDs “Down Under”

Thursday, October 27th, 2011

Last week, students at Stanford University put their engineering skills to the test at the 2011 World Solar Challenge, a solar-powered car race which covered a remarkable 1,877 miles (!) through the Australian Outback, from Darwin to Adelaide.

The Stanford Solar Car Project (SSCP) brings students together to design, build, test and race solar-powered vehicles – pretty cool, huh?

Well the SSCP, a student-run, donation-funded organization, has been building and racing solar-powered vehicles since 1986. This year, their mission was to be the first American team to win the World Solar Car challenge since General Motors’ Sunraycer in 1987!

Cree Energy Awareness Month

This year’s car, named Xenith, was unveiled on Aug.11 and is a 23-percent efficient solar array featuring a three-wheel steering system, glass encapsulated solar panels and a high-efficiency electric motor. The Xenith can travel at 55-60 mph under sun power alone, and can reach higher speeds when using the reserve battery pack. Also on board are Cree’s components – XLamp MC-E LEDs are used for the Xenith’s headlights while XLamp XP-E Amber LEDs are used for sidemarker lights.

Photo by Andreas Peña Doll

Photo by Andreas Peña Doll

 

xenith21

Photo by: Andreas Peña Doll

The Xenith isn’t likely to appear at a dealership any time soon, however the Stanford Solar Car Project provides a real-world chance to test innovative cutting-edge ideas — which could eventually boost the efficiency of everyday autos.

Unfortunately for the Xenith team, while trekking across the Australian Outback, they ran into some gray skies and clouds, preventing them from finishing the solar race. But they weren’t the only ones – this year, only seven of the 37 competing teams were able to cross the finish line. Great job, team and best of luck next year!

To keep up with the SSCP team as they prepare for next year’s race, check out their blog: http://solarcar.stanford.edu/blog. You can also follow the team on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/susolarcar.

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Get Your Game Face on with Cree LEDs

Wednesday, October 26th, 2011

It’s that time of year in North America – the leaves are beginning to fall, it is almost sweater weather and Saturday’s are all about college football. Given the theme of this month’s blog, it’s also the time of year when we think about energy efficiency. So, how does energy-efficiency, particularly LED lighting, relate to college football?  Allow us to elaborate.

Say you’re at home on your comfy couch watching your favorite team play a friendly game of pigskin on your high-definition TV. Or say you’re at the stadium, checking out live in-game action, stats and most importantly, the score. Well guess what – that vivid game day action may be powered by energy-efficient LEDs. From your LED-backlit HDTV to the high-res screen in the stadium, LEDs are a fan’s best friend.

Cree Energy Awareness Month

In fact, in stadiums around the U.S. and the world,  high-brightness LEDs, particularly Cree’s Screen Master® high-brightness LEDs, can be driven at a lower power to save energy and extend the lifetime of indoor and outdoor video screen and billboards. With industry-leading water-resistant packaging, Cree’s versatile 3-in-1 LEDs feature superior color quality and contrast, as well as the high-intensity output and wide viewing angles needed for optimal fan viewing.

If you’re a University of Michigan Wolverine fan, you might have noticed the newly upgraded scoreboards in “The Big House.” The largest stadium in the United States, The Big House consistently boasts game day crowds of more than 100,000 fans.

IMG_2008

Well those new scoreboards are courtesy of Lighthouse Technologies and feature more than three million Cree Screen Master CLV6A LEDs in these state-of-the-art LED video displays and scoreboards. Positioned in each of the end zones, these massive high-resolution LED video boards are 40 percent larger than the previous system, providing in-game broadcast capability, instant replay, animation and dynamic promotional content in vivid color and ultra-sharp detail – all while saving energy.

IMG_1989

And the University of Michigan isn’t the only one getting in on this high-bright action. The American Airlines Center, the Dallas home to both the NBA’s Mavericks and NHL’s Stars, installed 25 Lighthouse LED video screens as part of a large-scale renovation project in 2010. It even included the first 1080×1920 high-definition video screen in any NBA or NHL facility.

So whether you’re enjoying game day updates at home or at the stadium, don’t forget that the high-resolution action is being brought to you thanks to high-quality, high-performing Cree LEDs.

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Posted in Cree, Energy Awareness Month, LED Components | 2 Comments »

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