Products + Technology

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet constellation now has over 9,000 communications satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). The satellites form an enormous mesh network utilizing infrared lasers that share information across space, between satellites, known as inter-satellite laser communication. The inter-satellite system achieves a bandwidth of 42 petabytes (PB) per day, which equals 42 million gigabytes [...]

South Korean researchers have demonstrated a new approach to LiFi using a red, green, and blue (RGB) OLED array. The Pohang University of Science and Technology team utilized an organic photodiode (OPD) array as the receiver. Their study was published October 19, 2023, in the publication, Advanced Materials. The new approach to LiFi reduced interference [...]

  Nichia has announced the release of a new line of products designed to enable different light distribution than conventional LEDs. The product line is based on new LED emitters called Cube Direct Mountable Chip. See photo above. It is a chip scale packaging (CSP) LED, which in itself increases the amount of light emitted [...]

  Optique Lighting has announced the launch of their Armadio illuminated closet rod collection. These custom architectural Nano Linear closet rod luminaires are engineered to be one of the industry’s strongest closet rods and are offered in custom lengths to a designer’s specification, in 1/8-inch increments up to 8 feet. The closet rod diameter is 1.34 inches, [...]

  Most people in the lighting industry know that high heat can destroy both LED’s and drivers, especially drivers containing electrolytic capacitors. However, there are classes of both LED emitters and luminaires that are designed to withstand high operating temperatures, up to 212oF. Example applications include lighting for steel mills, blast furnaces, pulp & paper [...]

 Three companies in Finland have collaborated to demonstrate the successful commercialization of bio-based packaging materials for light fixtures that are recyclable, plastic-free, and biodegradable. The three companies involved are: Secto Design – a company specializing in sustainable wooden design lamps, moved its Petite product line’s products from traditional fossil-based packaging into new packaging made of [...]

  The Green Proving Ground (GPG) program leverages GSA’s real estate portfolio to evaluate innovative building technologies. The program aims to drive down operational costs in federal buildings and help lead market transformation through the deployment of new technologies. Program goals include sustainability and interagency collaboration. Since 2015, GSA has coordinated the GPG program with [...]

  CES 2024 concluded last week, in Las Vegas, NV. While every imaginable type of tech was there, there were some lighting product releases. Here are two of them: NanoLeaf released its Sky Expansion Pack. See first two images. This NanoLeaf Skylight is designed to look and feel like a skylight. By replicating a dynamic [...]

  China’s near monopoly on rare earth metals production is diminishing, but still dominant. China’s market share of rare earth production has dropped from 97% a decade ago, to 70% in 2022. Rare earth minerals are critical to many important climate action technologies including magnets for renewable energy generation such as wind turbines, electric vehicles, [...]