Blog
|
"NEW ENERGY ECONOMY: THE PATH
FORWARD- A LOCAL FOCUS"
Conference
Registration and Exhibit Opportunities Now Available
|
|
DENVER-
The second annual "New Energy Economy: The Path Forward - A Local
Focus" conference will focus on local issues and be held on October 14,
2008. The conference is sponsored the Governor's Energy Office (GEO),
Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC), the Division of Local Affairs
(DOLA), and the Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC). The state agencies
are partnering with Colorado Counties Incorporated (CCI), the Colorado
Municipal League (CML) and Energy Outreach Colorado (EOC) for the event, which
will take place at the Colorado Convention Center.
The conference will give communities a chance to share local sustainable
initiatives that are taking place across Colorado. Examples of best
practice models that power communities to take part in an efficient and
renewable energy future will be showcased, and participants will have a wide
range of networking opportunities.
"Communities are looking for resources and assistance to build and
sustain vibrant economies. Leveraging energy efficiency and renewable energy
technologies is one way to ensure that local communities remain good places
to live and work," said Tom Plant, the director of the Governor's Energy
Office. "This conference will focus on these issues and provide
information and networking on how to advance Colorado to a New Energy
Economy."
Online registration is available as well as opportunities for exhibiting. To
register or reserve exhibitor space, visit www.colorado.gov.energy. The agency sponsors are
currently seeking accreditation for the conference with the Continuing Legal
Education (CLE) and the American Planning Association, for AICP Certification
Maintenance
credits."
####
|
|
|
July 20th, 2008
Posted by Roland Piquepaille @ 9:42 am
You
all know that incandescent bulbs are pretty inefficient, converting
only 10% of electricity into light — and 90% into heat. Light-emitting
diodes, or LEDs, could soon replace incandescent and compact
fluorescent bulbs in our homes. They are more efficient and
environmentally friendly. But LED lights are currently too expensive
because they are using a sapphire-based technology. Now, Purdue
University researchers have found a way to build low-cost and bright LEDs for home lighting.
According to the researchers, the LED lights now on the market cost
about $100 while LED lights based on their new technology could be
commercially available within a couple of years for a cost of about $5.
It would also help to cut our electricity bill by about 10%, but read
more…
You can see above how “Timothy Sands, at left, director of Purdue’s
Birck Nanotechnology Center in Discovery Park, and graduate student
Mark Oliver, operate a ‘reactor’ in work aimed at perfecting
solid-state lighting, a technology that could cut electricity
consumption by 10 percent if widely adopted.” (Credit: Purdue News
Service; photo by David Umberger) Here is a link to a larger version of this photo.
This research work has been led by Timothy Sands, Professor of Materials Engineering at Purdue University. Sands is also the Director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center at Discovery Park and manages the Heterogeneous Materials Integration Research Group. Several members of this group participated to this project, including Mark Oliver, Graduate Research Assistant.
The research team is not using expensive sapphire-based technology, but cheaper silicon-based one.
“In the new silicon-based LED research, the Purdue engineers
‘metallized’ the silicon substrate with a built-in reflective layer of
zirconium nitride. ‘When the LED emits light, some of it goes down and
some goes up, and we want the light that goes down to bounce back up so
we don’t lose it,’ said Sands. Ordinarily, zirconium nitride is
unstable in the presence of silicon, meaning it undergoes a chemical
reaction that changes its properties. The Purdue researchers solved
this problem by placing an insulating layer of aluminum nitride between
the silicon substrate and the zirconium nitride. ‘One of the main
achievements in this work was placing a barrier on the silicon
substrate to keep the zirconium nitride from reacting,’ Sands said.”
And here are additional details provided by Emil Venere from Purdue
University. “The Purdue team used a technique common in the electronics
industry called reactive sputter deposition. Using the method, the
researchers bombarded the metals zirconium and aluminum with positively
charged ions of argon gas in a vacuum chamber. The argon ions caused
metal atoms to be ejected, and a reaction with nitrogen in the chamber
resulted in the deposition of aluminum nitride and zirconium nitride
onto the silicon surface. The gallium nitride was then deposited by
another common technique known as organometallic vapor phase epitaxy,
performed in a chamber, called a reactor, at temperatures of about
1,000 degrees Celsius, or 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.”
For more information, this research work has been published in Applied Physics Letters
under the title “Organometallic vapor phase epitaxial growth of GaN on
ZrN/AlN/Si substrates” (Volume 93, Issue 2, Article 023109, July 14,
2008).
And for your ‘reading’ pleasure, here is the abstract.
“An intermediate ZrN/AlN layer stack that enables the epitaxial growth
of GaN on (111) silicon substrates using conventional organometallic
vapor phase epitaxy at substrate temperatures of ~1000 °C is reported.
The epitaxial (111) ZrN layer provides an integral back reflector and
Ohmic contact to n-type GaN, whereas the (0001) AlN layer serves as a
reaction barrier, as a thermally conductive interface layer, and as an
electrical isolation layer. Smooth (0001) GaN films less than 1 μm
thick grown on ZrN/AlN/Si yield 0002 x-ray rocking curve full width at
half maximum values as low as 1230 arc sec.”
If I had only read this paragraph, I doubt I would have published this post…
|
|
|
City gets look at LED lighting |
|
|
|
City gets look
at LED lighting
|
|
 |
July 11, 2008
By David Mullings
Mayor
Bob Risch and the City of Ouray have a bright idea — to convert about
70 city street lights from mercury vapor bulbs to more efficient light
emitting diodes (LED).
Just how bright to make it is the question.
Next Tuesday, citizens will get a chance to see what three different intensities of bulbs look like.
On
the afternoon of July 15, crews from San Miguel Power Association and
Integrity Sales Group of Golden will change out bulbs on three light
poles on upper Sixth Avenue and juice them up for the night.
New
bulbs at three levels of brightness, 30, 60 and 90 watt LEDs, will be
placed at poles at the Courthouse corner, in front of the museum, and
near the Wiesbaden motel.
In addition, two induction lights will be mounted near the school gym and alley.
Resident
can have a look and weigh in on what amount of light might be
appropriate in Ouray. At 9:30 p.m., those involved will meet at the
courthouse and evaluate the new fixtures.
Richard Waltzman, of
the bulb supplier Integrity, will be available on Wednesday to discuss
the LED technology and other products coming to the marketplace, said
Gary Miller, of San Miguel Power Association.
Risch calls the
LED lighting method the "latest and the greatest" and says the mercury
vapor bulbs "have to go." He said SMPA and Miller have been "amazingly
supportive" of the city effort to conserve electricity and save money.
No definite plans exist for after the demonstration night of LED
lighting, but Risch said it's likely that the city might be out looking
for some grant money.
Ouray's street light situation is somewhat
complicated. SMPA owns ones on the side streets and charges the city a
fixed rate that includes maintenance. The city owns about 35 along Main
Street.
By some rough estimations by Risch, the city's lamps,
burning at 400 watts over an average of 11 hours per night, consume
about 4.4 kilowatt hours. That translates to about 55 cents per lamp
per night, or $19, making the annual cost about $7,000.
A
kilowatt hour of electricity requires about two pounds of coal to
produce. A LED could cut that consumption by at least 75%, Risch said.
Additionally,
LED bulbs need only be replaced once every 20 or 30 years. Risch
guesses that a 100 watt LED will be necessary to achieve the same
illumination as the mercury vapor bulbs. |
|
|
| Energy Star Wars and the battle to label LED fixtures |
| A
new set of requirements from EPA that will enable certain LED-based
lighting fixtures to qualify for Energy Star labelling has created
confusion and discontent, writes Brian Owen. |
[Comments welcome:
You can comment on this article via our new World of LEDs blog.]
Last week, without advance notice or public consultation, the US
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released Energy Star Program
Requirements for Residential Light Fixtures (RLF), Eligibility Criteria
– Version 4.2, which contains reference to LED-based fixtures. As
described in our initial report
of June 6, this puts the EPA at odds with the US Department of Energy
(DOE), which has already released Energy Star criteria for SSL after
several years of work and consultation.
The EPA's RLF 4.2 document
defines the product specification for Energy Star qualified residential
light fixtures and replacement GU-24 base integrated lamps, indicating
that a product must meet all of the identified criteria if it is to be
labeled as Energy Star by its manufacturer. Energy Star is a labelling
program for energy-efficient products, and is run jointly by DOE and
EPA.
The intent of Energy Star for RLF is to move consumers from traditional
incandescent fixtures to fixtures that use high-quality fluorescent
lamps, LEDs, or other energy-efficient technologies, including
motion-sensors and daylight-sensors for outdoor fixtures. The
specification covers the requirements for indoor and outdoor light
fixtures, recessed downlight retrofit kits and replacement GU-24 base
integrated lamps intended primarily for residential type applications.
So far so good, but here is where the contention stems from. EPA added
five new pages of specifications to RLF, expanding the scope of the RLF
to include fixtures using “LED light engines” for “primary
illumination.” These specifications address a wide variety of LED
performance measures, including efficacy, color rendering index,
correlated color temperature, lumen maintenance, color stability,
operating frequency.
EPA announcement
In a June 2 open letter
from the EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation (which administers Energy
Star), Alex Baker, Manager of the Energy Star Lighting Program stated,
“The purpose of this letter is to inform you regarding a technical
amendment to the Energy Star residential light fixture (RLF), ceiling
fan and vent fan specifications. With this amendment, EPA is responding
to a number of requests from manufacturers to incorporate test
procedures and metrics to allow LED-based fixture performance to be
evaluated against the requirements of the existing RLF specification.
This is pursuant to the recent finalization of a new testing procedure
for LED light engines which makes it possible to test LED-based
fixtures in a manner comparable to the way other technologies are
tested under the longstanding Energy Star residential fixture program.”
Baker's letter said that EPA believes it is appropriate to
allow LED-based fixtures to be eligible for the Energy Star "if they
indeed demonstrate the performance required in the current residential
specification (while also ensuring the products deliver on their claims
of long life). This technical amendment clarifies the procedures and
requirements for these fixtures to qualify. Given the importance of
providing a level playing field across today’s efficient lighting
technologies, it is effective immediately.”
EPA has not completely ignored the DOE Energy Star program. The
letter continues, "This technical amendment compliments the DOE SSL
program by allowing for a broader set of LED-based light fixtures to
participate in a harmonized manner with other Energy Star qualified
residential light fixture technologies.
Later, Baker's letter says that "This amendment allows for the
immediate qualification of LED-based fixtures that are intended for
residential general illumination, and it allows them to qualify at the
performance levels required for other lighting technologies. EPA will
be coordinating with the DOE as to how best to provide manufacturers
with as seamless a process as possible to qualify and promote the full
array of Energy Star qualified residential light fixtures."
The letter contains many phrases and statements that could
easily be described as "spin". The question is this: what does this all
really mean when it comes to general illumination and the years of
effort and work in the SSL general illumination space conducted by the
DOE. This includes the input and participation of the many - and I mean
many - stakeholders from the SSL industry, other government energy
agencies, utilities and energy efficiency organizations, of which I
represent one.
Shining some light on the issue
I am certainly not alone in thinking that the "new" criteria in
EPA's RLF 4.2 allowing qualification of light fixtures using LED light
engines directly overlap and contradict DOE's existing Energy Star
criteria for solid state lighting (SSL) luminaires. The DOE's much
stronger Energy Star SSL document was published on September 12, 2007
with an effective date of September 30, 2008. Our article entitled Energy Star for SSL gets energetic start
gives a good review of the DOE's work. Sources close to the issue
object to EPA’s action for a variety of reasons, including the
following:
1) Lack of public review:
The EPA issued the new LED specifications, without public review or
comment, declaring them final and effective immediately. Failure to
allow for public review and comment violates long-established Energy
Star program protocol. The specifications were developed in secret,
without the knowledge of the DOE, EPA’s co-manager of the Energy Star
program, and without any public announcement of EPA’s plans. DOE
learned of the new specifications only after they were announced as
final, and effective immediately.
2) Overlap and contradiction:
EPA's new criteria contradict the DOE-developed Energy Star SSL
criteria. EPA’s new specifications allow for residential LED fixtures
that are already covered by the DOE-developed specifications, creating
two competing sets of Energy Star criteria covering the same products.
This creates significant confusion for manufacturers and other Energy
Star partners, who are in the process of preparing for the phase-in of
DOE's SSL criteria.
3) Non-standard test procedures:
EPA’s new specifications reference test procedures developed by the
Lighting Research Center, not the Illuminating Engineering Society of
North America’s (IESNA) new LM-79 standard or its forthcoming LM-80.
Yet at this point, LRC’s test procedures documents are basically
thought pieces, which haven’t been subjected to the rigors of review by
industry standards organizations. In contrast, the DOE-developed
specifications were adopted in close cooperation with all major
lighting industry standards organizations, including the IESNA.
4) Inadequate lighting quality requirements:
The EPA's criteria are so lenient that they allow for a wide range
of low-performing products, many likely to share the same poor light
quality attributes associated with early CFLs. For example, EPA’s
specifications allow for very high color temperature lamps, which
consumers have clearly rejected in the CFL market. Further, they allow
for products with very low light output, despite clear evidence that
consumers rejected CFLs because they were too dim.
In summary, a source close to the issue commented that, “The
EPA actions were ill-advised and will cause great turmoil within the
industry”. We often refer to the SSL industry at this point in time as
being like the "Wild West". It is unfortunate that a "shoot from the
hip" attitude appears to be alive and well in government.
READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE AT http://www.ledsmagazine.com/features/5/6/1
|
|
|
|
LED Capital, Stockholm steps up |
|
|
|
|
Stockholm's Central Station Is Lit On Holidays With LEDs.
Stockholm's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA or
Miljöforvaltningen) said it will light all its new municipal office
spaces with only 100% LED lighting in future, eschewing both
incandescent lights and the compact fluorescents that are
here called low-energy lights. Tiny Torraca in Italy and Ann Arbor,
Michigan are two smaller cities that are similarly enamored of LEDs.
First with LED traffic lights
Stockholm was an early adopter of LEDs for traffic and crosswalk lights
- which have now become widespread in lots of cities. Now the Stockholm
State House, the Medieval Museum and the State Museum in the city are
all in the process of switching out their regular bulbs to LEDs to save
money and energy. Swedish Optoga has developed less-stark LEDs that IKEA
is using for its LED collection. The city reckons it will save five
million crowns per year with its ongoing switch to LEDs. Via ::NyTeknik
|
|
| | << Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 Next > End >>
| | Results 28 - 36 of 50 |
|
|
