Luger Research e.U., the organizer of LpS 2013, announced a new attendance record with increased international visitors and exhibitors. The positive feedback from visitors, attendees, exhibitors and organizations confirm the importance of the event for the lighting industry. According to the event survey up to 93% of the visitors will be attending the LpS event in 2014. Almost 60% of all visitors were from manufacturing companies, over 10% were from distributors, about 8% came from engineering and design services and around 5% came from universities. The largest percentile of visitors was made up of executive and corporate managers (20%), followed by research and development engineers (17%), then distributors and sales people (14%) and finally, application engineers (4%).
LpS 2013 - Opening, Siegfried Luger
The indepth technology focus and quality of the presentations have become highly valued trademarks of the event. Intense discussions between CTO's, research and development engineers, project managers, engineers and manufacturers took place throughout the event. Stephane Rosa, Director of Lighting at Arrow Electronics EMEA declared: "This is the third time that we are here at the LpS event and we find it to be one of the best technology fairs in Europe. The value in this fair lies in the fact that people come here to see and understand the new technologies. I think it is more the quality rather than the quantity of customer contacts. Here you have a more quality approach with the customers. We have a lot of customers seen from Spain, from Israel, from everywhere. And I think the reputation of this fair is growing year by year." An attendee from Norway said: "One of the highlights is the technical level! For me it has been very useful."
Technology Insights
Forty-six lectures given by international experts were covered in 16 sessions titled: Light Sources I-IV, LED Future I, LED Systems I-II, Driver & Controls I-IV, Optics I-II, Thermal Management I-II and Applications I.
Dr. Heinz Seyringer, EPIC Director, summarized highlights from lectures and workshops in a report for the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC). One of the lectures he mentioned is from Annetta Kelso from Philips Lighting OEM, in The Netherlands about "Technology Push, Market Pull, Keeping a Sense of Proportion". The presentation was about LED transformation in the lighting market with the main emphasis on the professional business-to-business lighting market incorporating project business and trade. Kelso showed how the introduction of LED technology changes the market and opens new opportunities as well as new threats. With LED light sources there are some general observations that can be made so far: Any LED light engine, based on a platform that is quickly outdated or requires changes with every upgrade, will be harder to sell in large volumes and is prone to generate irritation. Also, LED light engines with specifications outside of market needs or norms will cause frustration. Furthermore, LED light engines or luminaires that are overdesigned and/or adding functionality that is not needed in a certain application are tempting but at the same time a failure in a market that is extremely cost sensitive. Therefore it is of great importance to create innovations that make sense based on a deep understanding of market needs and not innovation for innovation's sake. It is all about the correct combination and cooperation of technology staff and marketers.
The presentation "OLED Module Technologies for Professional Lighting Applications" from Joerg Amelung, Tridonic Dresden is part of the EPIC report as well. He gave a good overview of the technology, development, current status and applications of OLEDs. A very innovative example shown was an OLED luminaire where the front side of the device could be used as a mirror when switched off. Currently OLED solutions are mainly applied in the field of decorative lighting. To reach the professional lighting applications, OLEDs have to improve in technical parameters and cost aspects. In addition, Amelung pointed out that an OLED solution needs a thin converter. Thick converters used in traditional lighting solutions would reduce integration possibilities significantly.
The lecture from Matteo Meneghini, Professor at the University of Padua and member of the LpS Advisory Board, about "Degradation Mechanisms of High Power LEDs" was very popular. He reported on the key findings of his study about the main mechanisms that lead to degradation of high power LEDs. Together with his team, he carried out extensive reliability analyses on two different types of commercial white LEDs. In order to analyze the effects of operating current and storage temperature on the electro-optical properties of these devices, different stress tests were performed for several thousand hours. The results presented highlight the role of operating conditions in limiting the reliability of commercial white LEDs. He found out that both the current levels and the high temperatures are involved in various types of electro-optical degradation mechanisms. Temperature may induce modifications of the blue semiconductor chip, a darkening of the package, or the degradation of the plastic lens of the devices. Furthermore, he mentioned that the combined exposure to temperature and current levels may lead to significant optical power decay due to the generation of non-radiative defects in the active layer of the chip.
Among other journalists, Mark Hattersley from the lighting magazine mondo*arc, wrote his impression of the event and some of the lectures: "The variety of subjects covered in conversation during the event is refreshingly broad and yet focused. Lectures cover topics from LED failure management to the advance and alternatives to OLED applications, from the thermal behavior of bulbs to manufacturer responsibility in creating biologically friendly luminance. The conference is an ideal match for what was on show at the exhibition. Importantly, the topics hit resonance on a global level, providing experience from authorities in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. It is easy to imagine everyone - visitors and exhibitors alike - leaving with something to consider and perhaps implement into their area of the industry – and surely that is the raison d'être for events like these."
