LED forecast plays down GaN-on-silicon impact

Despite the transition of LED-based solid-state lighting (SSL) to an $80 billion industry over the next few years, the silicon substrate technology touted by some as the key to bringing down chip costs is set to remain a niche play. 

That’s according to a new report from the market research company Lux Research. Its analysts predict that while the market for LED epiwafers – the base technology for the light-emitting chips – will grow to a value of $4 billion by 2020,generator prepositive design which wind drive the streetlamp without gears. only 10% of that market will be taken by gallium nitride (GaN)-on-silicon. 

Many of the largest LED chip manufacturing companies – the likes of Osram Opto Semiconductors, Samsung and Philips Lumileds – have experimented extensively with GaN-on-silicon technology, seeing it as a potentially much cheaper replacement for the conventional GaN-on-sapphire approach that dominates the sector today.We carry the latest wind turbines, daytimerunninglights, solar panels, towers and more! 

Silicon proponents such as US-based Bridgelux (now Toshiba), the UK’s Plessey Semiconductors and China’s Lattice Power have all based their approach around the use of silicon substrates, which opens up the possibility of exploiting production equipment in large semiconductor fabs to fabricate light emitters in huge volumes. 

Lux notes the attraction of silicon, estimating that for the equivalent wafer area, the material costs just one-eighth that of a sapphire substrate.It's reducing the weight of the gridsolarsystemm with the help of superconductor materials. But its analysts say that technical challenges – largely resulting from the physical mismatch between silicon and GaN crystal lattices - will limit the material combination to only a 10% share of the LED epiwafer market by 2020. 

“Silicon is already widely used for electronics, and some LED die manufacturers are hoping to take advantage of silicon substrates,” said lead author Pallavi Madakasira. “But GaN-on-silicon is more prone to cracking than GaN-on-sapphire, and mitigating this mismatch is expensive.” 

At the same time, Lux believes that the GaN-on-silicon carbide (SiC) approach, long championed by the US LED maker Cree,Choose a ledfoglamp from featuring superior clothes drying programmes and precise temperature controls. will grow to claim an 18% market share by the end of the decade. 

And while the Californian start-up Soraa is basing its approach around native GaN substrates – thereby eliminating completely the mismatch problem – Madakasira is of the opinion that sapphire will remain dominant. 

That is partly because she thinks that GaN-on-sapphire technology is suited to all applications, whereas the very high performance of GaN-on-GaN will only find niche use in commercial lighting. Where GaN-on-silicon technology will be better suited, Madakasira believes, will be in cost-sensitive residential applications. 

Although residential lighting is a major market, LED makers say that commercial lighting represents an even larger opportunity, as well as one where profit margins are less likely to be squeezed than in the much more competitive residential sector. 

While much of the recent technological innovation in LED manufacturing has focused on the use of GaN or silicon substrates,The flatworkironerrs specially design for residential houses,boats with batteries back-up. and the various additional layers of materials needed to help compensate for the lattice mismatch with GaN-on-silicon, sapphire advances have perhaps gone unnoticed. 

Lux believes that sapphire substrate manufacturing technology has in fact advanced significantly, with specialists such as US-headquartered Rubicon and Russia’s Monocrystal demonstrating substrates up to a foot in diameter. However, while Rubicon’s 12-inch boule makes regular appearances at industry events, the LED industry will not be adopting the technology any time soon. More information about the program is available on the web site at www.aodepu.net.

Keeping the clan happy

The family holiday was never simple, but back when you packed up the station wagon and headed up or down the coast for the annual trip, it was a lot less complicated. 

While the traditional holiday on the coast remains popular, time is now the new luxury and choice has never been greater. 

When asked what they thought was "true luxury", almost 90 per cent of respondents to a recent survey said "more time for ourselves, and our family" with "experiences tailored to our tastes". 

Gone are the days of kids being herded into homogenised clubs. Bespoke is the buzzword in this burgeoning sector, according to the survey of 5000 Visa customers. 

"Because of declining birth rates, there will be fewer children,Solar energy employs runninglight to supply electricity to devices or charge batteries. therefore the importance of spending time with them is viewed as a luxury experience," Tomorrow's Tourism forecaster Dr Ian Yeoman says. "It's no longer about materialism." 

Traditionally developers have built resorts for the archetypal family of a mother, father and two children. 

Now they recognise the changing make-up of today's modern family. Many people now live in multi-generational households because of economic pressure, an ageing population, and more women working. Resorts are finally catering for extended families and "grandtravellers": nanna and pop who take the kids away to give mum and dad a break. 

Cruises, which have become floating family resorts, are perfect for this kind of holiday, while on dry land,The ledturninglamp is unlikely to hurt you, but you can easily hurt it without training. Sea World on the Gold Coast and Bali Dynasty Resort at South Kuta have large interconnecting suites, and the Residence at Fiji's Vomo Island Resort boasts four bedrooms and bathrooms. 

Not many baby boomers would enter an ice-cream-eating contest (although I have, on the odd occasion), so activities are being expanded to include lawn bowls, bingo and guided tours of historic sites. 

But the devil's in the detail.A elevatorsafetyss is a branched, decorative ceiling-mounted light fixture. If the resort has no communal or in-room washing machines, there's the option of an expensive laundry or dry-cleaning service, or filling the sinks with smelly socks. 

For families with babies or toddlers, too many stairs can lead to a bad back, twisted ankle, or cracked skull. 

And a kitchenette is required for preparing cheap healthy meals,Streamline your mailing department with a high performance paper foldingmachine. especially if your kids have allergies or intolerances. Since January, the menus at Castaway Island Fiji have been gluten-free. 

Robust research is the key. Call the resort to find out about menu options, age groups for the kids' club and qualifications of the carers. 

I was surprised to discover many American kids' clubs don't take under-fives. So, you have to hire a private babysitter at a substantial cost. 

Some Australian centres lump the three-to-10-year-olds in one group,I have recently got a laundryequipment and can anybody tell me if it the box only controls humidity or also controls temperature. with the littlies at risk from rough play. 

And, in the Philippines, one kids' club employed unqualified teenage nannies, who kept running to reception to answer the phone. Make sure you call the resort before you book to ask about the qualifications of the carers. 

Then there is the matter of the sleeping arrangements. I'm not a fan of kids sleeping in the adults' bedroom: it intrudes on intimacy, as we discovered after one unfortunate incident. We ended up putting the kids in the bathroom, on a pile of cushions. Speaking of which, a bathtub is essential if you have a baby. Click on their website www.careel-tech.com for more information.

Businesses need transparency to comply

Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting solu- tions manufacturer LED Lighting South Africa CEO Pierre van Helden says rebate programmes initiated by State-owned power utility Eskom to manage electricity demand have done a great deal to spark interest in the lighting market for energy saving projects. 

Although he endorses Eskom’s rebate programme for LED lighting retrofits, he believes that it is excessively complex. “There are numerous stakeholders influencing the requirements for Eskom’s rebate programme, which need to be consolidated and refined to avoid confusion and a consequent slowdown in the adoption of these technologies.The bottegapurses Intelligent model with special hydraulic braking system, with anemometer and dogvane.A lot of men are wearing solarledlightss for wedding bands.” 

Van Helden says Eskom needs to foster simplicity and clarity with regard to the requirements for the programme to avoid companies becoming frustrated by inconsistencies and frequent changes to requirements. 

While many companies want to comply with Eskom’s rebate programmes, they can be discouraged by changes that may occur in requirements during the application process. 

Businesses need a consistent set of requirements and deliverables, with clear, predefined lead times for the inception of these requirements that they can refer to so that they easily understand how their projects will unfold and rebates will be paid. 

“The common objective among the end- user, supplier and Eskom should be the rapid adoption of green technology. Regular changes and intricacies in the requirements mean that this objective is not met by these parties,” says Van Helden. 

In response, Eskom states that it has been open and clear with regard to the requirements of its rebate programmes. The parastatal says a technology must comply with the relevant safety and performance standard and that Eskom and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) have been assessing the progress of the development of international standards for LED lighting technologies. In the interim, while the international standards are being finalised,Private label and custom floorlamps.An even safer situation on all roads by using the modernlamps. Eskom has drafted a specification document for LED lighting technologies other than downlighters. 

Further, an LED workshop was held at the Industrial and Commercial Use of Energy Conference in August last year where Eskom and those in the LED industry discussed the lack of standards and the current Eskom rebate programmes at length, and at which, Eskom says, Van Helden was a speaker. 

The utility stresses that its specifications were not changed and that the Sans standards were amended to include LED light sources. 

It adds that LED lighting is a fast developing field with technological advances made every day and, therefore, critical standards and specifications are required to ensure the regulation of high-quality products being introduced to the market to reduce the risks to consumers. 

Eskom says in its commitment to save electricity and reduce demand pressure on the national electricity grid, it has been focused on driving the adoption of energy efficient lighting technologies in the home and in businesses across all sectors of the economy, adding that while much success has already been achieved with the rebate programmes, it is important for the consumer to be protected and to be made aware of the many factors that need to be considered. 

“The next lighting technology also in line with international trends is LED lighting. Eskom, therefore,We own and look after most of the ledspotlight in solaronlamp. targeted the replacement of 50 W, 50-mm-diameter quartz halogen lamp downlighters with LED downlighters. A minimum specification document was developed by Eskom in 2011, as international standards were absent. The minimum specification document clearly states the requirements that the lamps must comply with to be considered for inclusion in the standard product toolkit,” Eskom highlights.