NRTC To Help Electric Coops Reduce Costs

“Area lighting is a huge expense for rural electric cooperatives, both in terms of energy usage and the resources required to maintain the numerous lamps on any given distribution system,” said NRTC Vice President of Utility Solutions Ed Drew. That is why the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC) is teaming with PowerSecure of Wake Forest, NC to provide PowerSecure's energy efficient and low maintenance SecureLite LED area lighting solutions to NRTC members. “SecureLite was designed with electric cooperatives in mind, and it will allow our members to reduce costs, streamline operations and help the environment—all while delivering great quality lighting.”  said Drew. SecureLite can reduce a cooperatives energy usage by 67% compared to HPS area lights and a lifespan three times that of HPS lighting. SecureLite is also Dark Sky compliant and uses dusk-to-dawn control technology to improve efficiency and reduce maintenance costs. "We’re confident that NRTC’s members will benefit from the product’s returns on investment, in terms of energy usage, maintenance costs and quality of light." said PowerSecure CEO Sidney Hinton.
The National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC) represents the advanced telecommunications and information technology interests of more than 1,500 rural utilities and affiliates in 48 states. Reduce your energy usage and maintenance costs by installing underwater LED dock lights at your waterfront restaurant.
PowerSecure International, Inc. is a leading provider of Energy and Smart Grid Solutions to electric utilities, and their commercial, institutional, and industrial customers.

LED Savings Stack Up For Aluminum Smelter

This story I found on the Sustainable Planet website tells about what I think is one of the best uses of LED lighting I have seen yet. After 42 years in service, the incandescent beacon lights on the chimney stack at Century Aluminum's Hawesville, Kentucky primary smelter were in need of an upgrade. The eight 1,400 watt lights, four on top and four halfway up, and eight 116 watt lights, a quarter way up and three quarters way up, were not only costing the company around $6,000 a year in electricity, maintenance costs were adding another $4,000 a year. Century found a solution to the high costs of operating and maintaining these lights in a pair of LED obstruction lights from Dialight of Suffolk, England. The Dialight L-864 LED beacons use only 20 watts of electricity and will replace the top and middle lights. The remaining lights will be replaced by Dialights L-810 Red RTO steady-burning LED's that use only 6.5 watts. The lights are FAA compliant and have a greater then 10 year life expectancy so not only will Century Aluminum save over 90% on electrical costs, they will save around $40,000 on maintenance over the lights lifetime. I think this is a great example of the potential cost savings of LED lights. Not only do you save lots of money on electricity, your maintenance costs are almost non existant for the life of the lights. Home owners, waterfront resturants and marinas can save on electricty and maintenance costs by installing underwater LED dock lights.

http://www.sustainableplant.com/2011/04/century-aluminum-cuts-maintenance-and-energy-costs-with-led-obstruction-lights/

Chinese Choose US LED's

China is said to be the leader in the development and manufacturing of LED lighting products. In spite of this assertion, one of Chinas largest automotive corporations is turning to an American company to bring LED lights to Eastern China. Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation USA, Inc., one of the top 3 automotive corporations in China engaged in the manufacturing, sales, research and development in passenger cars, commercial vehicles and components has turned to Lighting Science Group of Satellite Beach, Florida  for ultra-efficient, low cost LED infrastructure lights. SAIC-USA will serve as Lighting Science Group's exclusive agent for LED infrastructure products in China. The two companies are exploring the possibility of contracting eligible factories in Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui provinces to manufacture and assemble Lighting Science Group's LED infrastructure LED lights destined for Chinese consumption. "We chose Lighting Science Group as a partner because they offer the most advanced and affordable LED lighting products in the world," said Mr. Chen, President of Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation USA, Inc. "Their lighting solutions deliver the best light distribution, excellent color, optimum performance, and are ultra-efficient in meeting our country's energy, environmental and design needs."
I am glad to see LSG and SAIC-USA form this partnership. As long as the products made in the Chinese factories stay in China and Southeast Asia it will bring a much needed income stream to Lighting Science Group while it reduces shipping costs and holds down prices. It is partnerships like this one that will help establish US LED manufacturers as world leaders in LED lighting products. Shadow-Caster Marine LED's is another manufacturer of quality, US made LED lights. There line of underwater LED lights for boats has established them as the top marine LED manufacturer in the world.

Lighting Upgrade Pays For Itself

This story by Liz Shepard of thetimesherald.com tells how Port Huron, Michigan is upgrading all of the cities lights to LED's at no cost to taxpayers. The project is costing Port Huron $6.3 million, but will save $300,000 a year in energy costs along with reduced maintenance costs and replacement costs. "I think every city and county should be doing this," said Bob Clegg, city engineer. "I think this is important because energy is invisible, nobody sees it,". I'm glad to see that cities and towns are discovering the true saving potential of LED lighting. LED lighting does have a big upfront pricetag, but the cost savings pays for the lights in just a few short years. Underwater LED dock lights are the same way. They are more expensive upfront, but the savings in electricity and maintenance costs makes up the difference in price in a few years.

Port Huron Lighting Upgrade

New Streetlights Go 'Off The Grid'

I found this story by Lee Procida on the pressofatlanticcity.com website. Three towns in New Jersy are installing wind and solar powered LED streetlights. Egg Harbor, Sea Isls and Salem will all install hybrid LED streetlights that use a combination of solar pannels and wind turbines to charge the internal batteries that power the lights. Egg Harbor will save $95,00 a yer ain electricity costs by replacing its 568 streetlights, Sea ile will save $120,000 a year by replacing its 638 streetlights. The hybrid streetlights are from Brooklyn-based Lumi SolAir, and will cost $10,000 each. They are projected to last 15 years and should pay for themselves in about 7.5 years.

New Jersy Cities Test Hybrid Streetlights.

Nova Scotia Going To All LED Streetlights

All Nova Scotia Street Lights To Be LED

The province of Nova Scotia in Canada plans to convert every street light to LED's by the year 2016. Around 120,000 street lights will be switched over at a cost of around $100 million. When the project is completed, Nova Scotia will be the first state or province in North America to use only LED streetlights. The province expects to see a 50% savings in street lighting costs when the project is finished. The city of Halifax in Nova Scotia is also planning on installing underwater LED dock lights along its waterfront.
Read more on this story in The Canadian Press. http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5g0aB4tc_ZSCLoBiBN0Xrm_UL1Ytg?docId=6601090

Malls Control Costs By Going Green

This well written article by Jennifer Popovec gives suggestions on how retail center owners can greatly reduce operating costs by improving energy management. Miss Popovec gives some key facts about present day energy costs, gives forecasts about future costs and gives suggestions on the best ways owners and managers of retail centers can cut future costs. At the top of this list is reducing lighting costs by switching to LED lighting and using sophisticated lighting control systems. She gives real world examples on ways some retailers are drastically reducing lighting costs and how they did it. I would suggest this article to anyone who owners or manages any kind of commercial building. The facts presented in this article will work for any type of retail, storage or office building. Restaurants and hotels can further reduce lighting costs by switching to energy efficient underwater LED dock lights.

http://retailtrafficmag.com/management/propmgmt/center_owners_energy_management_04142011/

Illuminating The New Lighting Laws

The Energy Independence and Security Act signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007 takes effect January 1, 2012. I have noticed a lot of confusion and misconceptions about the new law on the internet. Many people seem to think the law will ban incandescent bulbs and force them to buy new bulbs that are expensive and inferrior in quality. This story by Mary Beth Breckenridge of The Akron Beacon Journal in Akron, OH does an excelent job of dispeling the myths and giving you the real facts about the new law. I highly recommend you reed it.  

http://www.ohio.com/lifestyle/119109624.html

Free Energy Saving Bulbs To NY Businesses

Free Energy Saving Bulbs To NY Businesses

Con Edison has entered into a non-exclusive agreement with Baltimore based Pro EcoSolutions, LLC to give away 100,000 energy saving bulbs to New York City businesses. "This agreement provides us with the incentives to be on the street in New York City, offering FREE energy saving bulbs to businesses." said John Romano, President of Pro EcoSolutions. Pro EcoSolutions will replace existing incandescent bulbs, subsidize the cost of lighting, and administer the installation. The bulb give away will help reducing carbon emissions and energy loads for Con Edison. I think Con Edison should be congratulated for this great program. You might not think an energy company would want to help businesses use less electricity, but it is a lot less expensive then building a new power plant. You can reduce your energy consumption by switching from older underwater lights to energy efficient underwater LED dock lights.

You can read this entire press release at http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/SavWatts-Subsidiary-Pro-EcoSolutions-Signs-Contract-With-Con-Edison-1421176.htm

Color Temperature Changing LED Strips

A San Francisco Bay Area-based LED lighting company, Elemental LED, is now producing a White Balance Strip Light that allows users to choose the exact shade of white balance and brightness of their lights. The LED strip light combines with a White Balance Wall Controller to create the perfect LED lighting scheme. The system lets users choose LED lighting colors between a cool white 8000k and a warm white 2700k. The White Balance Wall Controller lets users easily fade between the different color temperatures. "Like many of our custom, in-house products, the White Balance LED Strip has been designed by Elemental LED for a high color rendering index (CRI) and high efficiency. We designed the controller to mate perfectly with the strip light for smooth fading in different applications," says Joseph Martin, Elemental LED Lead Engineer. Elemental LED is offering the White Balance LED Strip Light, Wall Controller and custom connectors in several discounted kits. To learn more about the White Balance LED Strip Light and Wall Controller visit elemental.com
Here is a way that Grocery Stores are using lights like this one to make there produce look more appealing. LED's Make Food Look Delicious

Software Makes LED's Even More Efficient

Redwood Systems of Fremont , California has introduced an improved version of it's networked LED lighting control software that provides advanced sensing and alerting features. The new features allow facility managers to easily monitor a buildings performance and enhance it's environment. The system is capable of...
Monitor light levels from outside sources and keep internal light levels constant.
Brighten and dim lights as people approach and pass by in areas of the building that are normally unoccupied.
Sense and determine if motion is a person entering an unocupied room or just walking by.
Send alerts on excessive temperatures or unexpected motion in any part of the building.
“This upgrade demonstrates that Redwood Systems continues to innovate in ways that bring tangible benefits for our customers,” said Dave Leonard, CEO of Redwood Systems.

Adaptive exterior lighting dims the lights in parking lots, parking garages and sidewalks at night when there is no one around. You save big on exterior lighting bills.

Vermont Towns Switch To LED's

In an effort to lower energy consumption and reduce light pollution, Green Mountain Power is partnering with Efficiency Vermont to help every town in GMP service territory change over to energy efficient LED street lights. Green Mountain Power expects to replace thousands of mercury vapor and high pressure sodium street lights with new, energy-efficient LED street lights in towns throughout its service territory. LED lights produce a comparable amount of light when compared with existing mercury vapor bulbs with an average 66 percent savings in energy use and have a potential lifespan of up to 25 years, compared to 5-7 years for traditional street light lamps.

'Helping towns across Vermont switch to LED lights is a very important way to reduce Vermont's use of electricity,' said Jay Pilliod, of Efficiency Vermont. 'Towns are eager to participate and benefit from savings on their electric bill.'. 'This program supports our commitment to power that is low cost, low carbon and reliable,' said Mary Powell, president and chief executive officer of Green Mountain Power. 'Reducing energy consumption is an important part of this overall strategy that we have pursued for the past three years.' Towns switching to LED streetlights will reduce light pollution and glare while saving money and electricity. LED's can be precisely aimed to illuminate only the desired areas of streets, walkways and parking lots. Almost no light is reflected into the night sky or neighboring windows.
Save energy when illuminating your waterfront with underwater LED dock lights from Shadow-Caster. Thanks to CSRwire for the information contained in this story.

Cool LED Light Show!

Blue LED lights change to red and yellow, then dim and dance there way across a building in the Warehouse District in downtown Cleveland. The new LED lights on the Bingham Building perform a four minute light show each night at the top of the hour from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.. The lights can perform different programs for holidays and special occasions.
Thanks to Tom Livingston of NewsNet5.com for the original story.

McGill Researches Grow Lights

McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada is working with Les Serres St-Laurent to develop LED lighting technology for commercial greenhouses. There goal is to improve growing efficiency while reducing business operational costs in northern greenhouses. Northern greenhouses around the world do not get enough sunlight in the winter and need supplemental lighting to grow plants. The joint research is expected to develop technologies that will enable northern greenhouse growers to become more profitable and competitive. The Canadian Government and GE Canada have each invested $1.3 million for the research project.

Mark Lefsrud, an assistant professor in McGill’s department of Bioresource Engineering, will conduct research on the specific light wavelength plants require for optimum growth. LED lights emit specific colours or wavelengths of light, this reasearch hopes to find the right wavelengths to optimize plant growth. “We’re trying to determine which wavelengths are the best, or what colours are the best to allow our plants to grow. Our goal is to determine what wavelengths and what ratios of colour ranges work best.” says Lefsrud. Lefsrud expects a 25% to 40% energy savings for greenhouses with 50% a possible as LEDs continue to improve. The long-term goal is to allow northern greenhouses to one day grow just about anything under LED lights.

Amerlux Introduces 10 Year Warranty

In a bold move that demonstrates the company’s confidence in its products and its long-term commitment to its products and customers, Amerlux Lighting Solutions has announced a brand new 10-year warranty that applies to the company’s LED lighting fixtures. Amerlux is offering this extensive warranties because of it's ongoing commitment to manufacturing using only the highest quality, best performing LEDs and drivers. The company is also dedicated to superior thermal design and quality control.Underwater Dock Lights

“At Amerlux we have stood behind all of our product lines from the very beginning,” noted Frank Diassi, Amerlux chairman and founder. “Our new 10-year warranty adds exciting new levels of value and assurance for our lighting customers in every category.” says Chuck Campagna, president and CEO. "we have the experience and expertise to stand confidently behind our products, We consistently seek to achieve not only the highest levels of technical achievement, but also the finest in customer service. This new warranty offers a way to help our clients to experience both.”

LED's Chill US Cold Storage Energy Costs

LED's Chill US Cold Storage Energy Costs

Refrigerated storage and distribution services company, United States Cold Storage, Inc. will save 541,000 kWh Per Year with an LED lighting retrofit at their Tracy, CA, cold storage distribution center. USCS retain an energy audit by SmartWatt Energy, Inc. that recommended replacing all of the lighting in their cold storage room with new, energy efficient LED lighting from Albeo Technologies, Inc. The new Albeo LED lighting, installed by SmartWatt, will not only save USCS substantial amounts of electricity per year, the project came with a utility incentive from PG&E of $69,222 & an EPAct 2005 tax deduction of $117,619.

“As part of our company-wide sustainability program, we conducted an IRR analysis of various supply side energy savings options—wind, solar, etc.—and none of them made financial sense. The paybacks were just too long,” said Danny Dietrich, Project Engineer for USCS. “After SmartWatt proposed their value engineered LED lighting retrofit using top of the line Albeo fixtures, we knew we’d found the right project—the IRR was 35.2% and it’ll pay for itself in just 1.6 years.”

SmartWatt Energy, Inc. is a leading nationwide provider of turnkey energy efficiency solutions. We are dedicated to lowering business’ operational costs through demand-side energy reduction strategies. Albeo Technologies, Inc. manufactures high quality, long-lasting LED lighting products for commercial and industrial facilities.