Category: Business & Innovation

Business & Innovation

US DOE SSL R+D Workshop

Brad Koerner

I recently presented at and attended the US Department of Energy’s Solid State Lighting 2014 R+D Workshop in Tampa, Florida.  A terrific event, the US DOE’s SSL group uses this input from key industry participants to help guide their long-term funding programs with the goal of promoting the adoption of energy-efficient LED and OLED lighting technologies. You can find my slide deck here:  20140106_BK_DOESSL_2014 Workshop_Tampa_V3_extra annotations We need to find ways to reduce the total costs of advanced lighting systems.  And as big a fan as I am regarding digital lighting technologies, I want our industry to leave behind a positive … Continue reading US DOE SSL R+D Workshop

Business & Innovation

emerging tech roundup

Brad Koerner

About a year and half ago I posted a brief roundup of emerging lighting tech companies.  Here we go again… I recently received the conference program for the upcoming 2014 Strategies in Light, to be held this February in Silicon Valley.  SIL is a fantastic conference that really focuses on cutting edge tech for the lighting industry…a brewing pot of R+D and investors (I spoke at both the 2013 SIL conference in Silicon Valley and the 2013 SIL Europe conference in Munich).  In flipping through the program, I saw a few interesting tech companies that I would like to point … Continue reading emerging tech roundup

Business & Innovation

emerge alliance and nextenergy – residential DC power

Brad Koerner

According to the Edison Report, the EMerge Alliance is starting development of a new standard for installing DC power in residential applications.  I believe that switching to DC power offers numerous benefits, as I explained about a year ago in my post “Residential Lighting Dream System“. The Edison Report also mentions a very interesting regional investment organization called NextEnergy, which has created a DC-powered showcase house.  According to their website: Who We Are NextEnergy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 2002 to drive advanced energy investment and job creation in Michigan. Located in Detroit, NextEnergy serves as a catalyst for … Continue reading emerge alliance and nextenergy – residential DC power

Business & Innovation

buildings as nutrient banks

Brad Koerner

Here’s a fantastic presentation on Greenbiz.com from Coert Zachariasse of Delta Development Group. Coert discusses some of the economic drivers for including Cradle-to-Cradle thinking in building projects. Everyone in the lighting industry should take note…how will you accommodate these changing demands from the building development community? I couldn’t embed directly, but here is the direct link: http://play.vidyard.com/zbbXF9C8Zjh52aCFyb7Upg Continue reading buildings as nutrient banks

Business & Innovation

Q+A from Philips Lumileds CEO

Brad Koerner

Interesting interview in Digitimes with Philips Lumileds CEO Pirre-Yves Lesaicherre. I particularly find interesting the comment that 1000 lumens of LEDs will cost $1 by the end of this year. Posted below for posterity:   The mid-power LED lighting trend: Q&A with Philips Lumileds CEO Julian Ho, Taipei; Adam Hwang, DIGITIMES [Thursday 12 September 2013] While mid-power LED chips account for only a small proportion of LED lighting currently, the proportion will grow fast over the next few years to reach about 50%, Philips Lumileds Lighting CEO Pirre-Yves Lesaicherre said during a Digitimes interview. Q: What is the trend of new LED lighting … Continue reading Q+A from Philips Lumileds CEO

Business & Innovation

2013 is full of opportunities and risks for LED lighting, says Everlight chairman

Brad Koerner

Most lighting designers don’t realize that the LED industry is focused in Taiwan, with a huge number of LED packaging houses located there; particularly in America, only the big names like Cree, Lumileds and Nichia are recognized. Everlight is a huge manufacturing of LED components…close to $600m a year in revenue (and not far off from Cree’s ~$700m).  Here is an interesting snippet of information from Everlight’s chairman about the state of the industry. Continue reading 2013 is full of opportunities and risks for LED lighting, says Everlight chairman

Business & Innovation

lighting designers: “independence” is cutting your potential short

Brad Koerner

I urge the lighting design community to stop obsessing over “independence” and start focusing on how to support and drive new forms of collaboration:  Collaboration with customers; collaboration with manufacturers and technology suppliers; and collaboration with contractors. The drive to … Continue reading lighting designers: “independence” is cutting your potential short