EuroLED takes ‘green’ approach to lighting and energy
BIRMINGHAM, UK-Birmingham became the center of the ongoing “green” earlier this month when it hosted euroLED 2007, Europe’s largest conference dedicated to a very small technology: LEDs.
BIRMINGHAM, UK-Birmingham became the center of the ongoing “green” earlier this month when it hosted euroLED 2007, Europe’s largest conference dedicated to a very small technology: LEDs. The show, which featured numerous market- and technology-based talks and a commercial exhibit, took place June 6-7 at The National Motorcycle Museum.
Birmingham already plays a key role in the development of alternative light sources with the Solid State Lighting Research Centre (SSLRC), based at the Aston Science Park, which provides an independent, end-to-end product development and testing service for companies from the West Midlands and all over the world.
“LED technology has been around for many, many years but has developed rapidly in the last six months, resulting in many ground-breaking concepts that come with technical and business challenges for manufacturers to overcome,” said Alex Clarke, Head of the SSLRC. “At the SSLRC, we help companies, universities and governments address these problems using our experience and expertise, coupled with some of world’s most advanced photonics technology.”
Beyond lighting, there are many applications for LED technology, including in vehicles, in street lights, in traffic signals, on mobile handsets and in many forms of signage, and the total market is now estimated to be worth $7.2 billion. It is predicted that the worldwide market for solid-state lighting will be worth more than US$155 billion by 2020 due to the significant demand for energy efficient lighting.
“If all domestic 60W light bulbs were replaced with LED-based light sources, the amount of electricity used in residential lighting today could be reduced by up to 80%-the equivalent of eliminating the need for approximately two nuclear power stations,” Archenhold said. “And the applications of LED lighting are not just in the home: LEDs are replacing lighting in retail outlets, offices, in our cars and on our streets and roads.”
He added that energy production for all types of illumination around the world creates more than 900 million tons of CO2 gas and represents 19% of all electrical energy used worldwide. “We estimate that this figure could be reduced by 300 million tons if LEDs were used for all general lighting purposes,” he said.
There was business news at the show as well. Anglia announced a distribution agreement with Cree to sell and support Cree XLamp power LEDs in the United Kingdom and Ireland. As well as sharing a booth with Cree, Anglia also had a booth to promote is distributor relationship with Avago, announced earlier this year.
“The agreement with Cree is a prime example of this approach and we are looking forward to helping drive more widespread adoption of Cree LED technology in the UK,” said Bob Pollock, Cree senior vice president of sales. “Anglia’s strong market presence, outstanding growth in recent years and demonstrated technical ability makes it a solid sales channel for Cree.”
Anglia announced in March that Avago Technologies has appointed Anglia as UK and Ireland distributor for Avago’s optoelectronic components. This is Avago’s first new distributor appointment in the UK for 15 years.
“Anglia’s solid relationships in Northern Europe enable us to reach a large base of mid-tier OEMs and EMS companies,” said Steffi Kircher, Avago’s sales director for distribution in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “This customer base penetrates the local mid-tier sector very well and will give us access to many new accounts.”
Anglia is franchised to distribute Avago’s complete product portfolio. However, their main emphasis will be on LEDs, especially for the lighting market.
“Anglia’s access to a unique customer base perfectly complements our existing network today,” added Kircher. “With a strong technical group that is highly focused on demand creation, Anglia will successfully extend Avago’s product reach into this region.”
Tim Whitaker, editor of LEDs Magazine, contributed to this article.
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