Lots of light from LEDs

The APEC event was a reminder of just how far LED lighting has come in the past few years. At a reception, LED supplier Cree handed out 60-W equivalent LED bulbs that would have cost about $40 each when first introduced. Today they go for about $7 a piece at hardware stores. Then there was this LED luminaire from Crouse-Hinds which could be found at the Infineon booth. It contains 27 LEDs and is marketed as an energy efficient replacement for the kind of HID lights you might find illuminating an oil rig or a factory delivery bay. It gets a little over 100 lumens/watt and draws 130 W while the HID lamps it is designed to replace would typically consume 400 W. Infineon makes the driver circuits for it.
Next page