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Moonshine
Government can help by being a customer at the very beginning for LEDs in Space, ...
Kevin.Jackson
Government didn't need to "understand and support" automobiles, personal ...
London Calling: Leading in LEDs
Peter Clarke
8/14/2012 3:18 AM EDT
The use of LEDs for lighting is hitting the news fast and furiously now.
The general lighting application is set to grow rapidly to become more than 50 percent of the demand for LEDs within just two or three years, according to Yole Developpement, so it is no surprise that Osram AG is building another plant for the manufacture of LED components.
Osram, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens AG (Munich, Germany), has laid the foundation for its next back-end facility in Wuxi, China and it is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013.
The Asian region already accounts for around 35 percent of the global general lighting market and this is expected to increase to 45 percent by 2020. The Chinese lighting market is worth 8 billion euro (about $10 billion) annually and is predicted to double by 2020.
Osram plans to invest more than 100 million euro (more than $120 million) in the plant over the next five years as well as getting "comprehensive support" from Chinese partners, the company said. When finished the plant will be employ about 1,600 workers.
Front-end production of LED die will continue in Regensburg, Germany and Penang, Malaysia. Packaging of die will continue in Penang but be added to in Wuxi.
The general lighting application is set to grow rapidly to become more than 50 percent of the demand for LEDs within just two or three years, according to Yole Developpement, so it is no surprise that Osram AG is building another plant for the manufacture of LED components.
Osram, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens AG (Munich, Germany), has laid the foundation for its next back-end facility in Wuxi, China and it is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2013.
The Asian region already accounts for around 35 percent of the global general lighting market and this is expected to increase to 45 percent by 2020. The Chinese lighting market is worth 8 billion euro (about $10 billion) annually and is predicted to double by 2020.
Osram plans to invest more than 100 million euro (more than $120 million) in the plant over the next five years as well as getting "comprehensive support" from Chinese partners, the company said. When finished the plant will be employ about 1,600 workers.
Front-end production of LED die will continue in Regensburg, Germany and Penang, Malaysia. Packaging of die will continue in Penang but be added to in Wuxi.
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any1
8/14/2012 11:06 AM EDT
This kind of government policy making is increasingly mired in politics here in the US. With "green" technologies in general becoming a wedge issue. So predictably there is no middle ground to be found, and hence no comprehensive energy plan or strategy.
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Kevin.Jackson
8/15/2012 9:26 AM EDT
"no comprehensive energy plan or strategy"
How can you say that when we have an entire branch of the federal government taking care of us in this regard? It's called the Department of Energy and I'm sure they have a plan. After all that is why they exist.
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any1
8/17/2012 9:19 AM EDT
They only have an actionable plan as far as congress will allow in their funding. Without congressional consensus the DOE is pretty much hamstrung in what they can implement. Due to the dysfunctional federal budget process over the last few years US energy policy has not advanced.
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Bert22306
8/14/2012 3:55 PM EDT
I'm not even sure I understand why it should take any government policy to get LED lighting everywhere. If the LED lights are made compatible with existing fixtures, which is ALWAYS the smart way to go, then all it takes is half way reasonable prices. Energy usage goes way down, life expectancy is hugely higher, so it should be a no brainer. It certainly is in our home.
I thought it was rather pathetic of the US lighting industry to complain that government mandates for CFL or LED would force more business to China. That was entirely their call. If the lighting industry in the US can only manage to produce products competitively whose design dates back to 1879, I'd say they do have a problem. And they preferred to just kick the can down the road, I guess.
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any1
8/15/2012 9:36 AM EDT
I think Peter's article was pointing out that yes, when economically feasible, LED lighting will be widely used. However, due to the fact that China and Taiwan government policy has fostered and subsidized LED research, manufacturing, and installation in their home nations they will be better able to compete in the burgeoning world market for LED lighting than companies based in the west who have not had these advantages to this point. Do you disagree?
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Kevin.Jackson
8/15/2012 9:42 AM EDT
Force a public that can't afford LED lighting for themselves to pay for government facilities to have it?
Great plan pal, as a taxpayer I can only say thanks a lot.
How about requiring lighting technology in public buildings that makes the most economic sense for the building?
LED lighting isn't that great when compared to old fashioned fluorescent lamps. Requiring replacement ballasts to be high efficiency electronic types would make more financial sense in an old building than replacing all the fixtures.
For new construction of government buildings LED lighting should be used only if the LED lamps don't fail before they have paid for themselves with energy savings when compared to fluorescents (which currently takes a very long time).
The author sounds like one of those people that don’t realize that governments don't have any money of their own, don't make any money of their own and only take money from others. Some of whom may wish to use that money to retrofit their own homes and businesses with solar cells and LED lighting, as I would like to do.
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Sheetal.Pandey
8/18/2012 7:36 AM EDT
LED lighting is the next big things. But I guess Government needs to understand and support. There is huge business potential as well as electricity saving.
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Kevin.Jackson
8/29/2012 9:00 AM EDT
Government didn't need to "understand and support" automobiles, personal computers or cell phones, why do they need to understand and support LED lighting?
If LED lighting is good then it will take over the world without governments.
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Moonshine
8/29/2012 4:45 PM EDT
Government can help by being a customer at the very beginning for LEDs in Space, aviation, ground military, etc. They should subsidize some research when it isn't in the immediate interests of business. They should avoid competition with private American companies unless they account for all costs and are more competitive than they have usually been.
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