Latest DOE Testing Data on LED Products

The latest report - May 2010 - has just been issued from "The Department of Energy Commercially Available Light-Emitting Diode Product and Evaluation (CALiPER) Program".  

We have continued to question much of the hype regarding LED products.  The best source of true performance data comes from the tests being run by the DOE.   The latest findings support what we have been hearing from top scientists in lighting.  LEDs are having significant issues with size, true efficacy, life and led color degradation beginning very early on.  The report does not address one of the biggest issues - cost.

Summary of Results: Round 10 of Product Testing: "Smaller Replacement Lamps" DOE Solid State Lighting

Two out of four lamps tested "Two of the small replacement lamps, the PAR30L (09-96) and the A-lamp (09-98), did not meet ANSI-defined lamp format standards for the geometry of the lamp styles they are meant to replace. The PAR30L lamp was shorter than the required minimal overall lamp length, which could cause the lamp to be recessed inappropriately or not fit in some fixtures. The diameter of the neck of the A-lamp was too large and widening of the neck starts too close to the Edison base, which could result in the lamp not fitting in some fixtures. Respecting form factor standards is important for market acceptance as demonstrated by lessons learned from CFLs.25" (initial market failure).


Due to the large differences in performance between the submitted and purchased units, several attempts were made to purchase additional units for testing. In each case, the manufacturer indicated that the product was temporarily out of stock and would not be available for several months. The CALiPER results in this case raise a number of doubts.
•
The relatively high performance of sample 09-16 submitted by the manufacturer may indicate that it was hand-picked to significantly outperform others and is not representative of the typical performance of lamps in this product line.
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The relatively poor performance of sample 09-107A as compared to the submitted sample may indicate inconsistently produced units of the product.
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The apparent malfunctioning in sample 09-107B may indicate product design flaws or quality control issues.
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The perpetual ‘out of stock’ status of the product may shed doubt on the general reliability of the product and on the longer-term integrity of the product warranty.


A 2010 report on CALiPER long-term testing shows that a wide range of behaviors in lumen depreciation and color maintenance can be observed across SSL luminaires and replacement lamps. None of the products included in CALiPER Round 10 have been tested for reliability at this time. 

Due to the range of behaviors and rapid rate of change of SSL technology, buyers and specifiers should be wary of all product life claims. More than half the SSL products subjected to CALiPER long-term testing will not provide 70% of initial light output at 50,000 hours and already exhibit significant color shift within the duration of the CALiPER long-term operation. About one quarter of the SSL products would not pass a simple 1000-hour operational test: they do not last as long as a traditional incandescent lamp.


Refer to http://www.ssl.energy.gov/caliper.html

Vu1 Press Release

Press Release

[For Release on May 20, 2010]

Contact:

Marzena, Dominik 

 +1- 206-913-2428

mdominik@Vu1.com.

Vu1 Corporation Announces Plans for 2010

Company Demonstrates Progress towards Product Introduction in 2010

(May 20th, 2010) SEATTLE – Vu1 Corporation (OTCBB:VUOC), a provider of non-toxic, energy efficient general illumination light technology, today reported its product status and plans for the remainder of 2010.

"Driven by the hard work and commitment of everyone at Vu1, the company has overcome a number of challenging technical difficulties which delayed our anticipated initial product introduction in 2009.  In spite of limited available funding, we have continued to refine our technology and have made significant progress in improving efficacy, reliability, performance and size-reduction while reducing our material costs“   said R. Gale Sellers, Vu1 Chief  Executive Officer.  Vu1 has continued to be featured as a “ breakthrough new technology to watch” in such publications and blogs as; The New York Times, LEDs Magazine, Residential Lighting, Huffington Post, Popular Science, CNET, Xconomy, Gizmodo and others.

Vu1 is pleased to announce the following accomplishments -

Product Development -

·         Arrangements have been made with Underwriters Laboratories™ for the Vu1 ESL R-30 bulb to begin UL certification testing in June 2010.

·         Key components of our Electron Stimulated Luminescence (ESL™) technology have been refined including the electron source, integrated electronics and luminescent materials.

·         Electronics have been miniaturized to support the Vu1 R-30 bulb being a direct replacement for all existing R-30 fixtures and trim kits.

·         The company has increased its bulb’s “Power Factor” (efficiency on the grid) to .99 which we believe exceeds all other energy efficient lighting technologies.

·         Vu1 has improved the bulb’s efficacy and believes that with sufficient funding it is on target to deliver a 19W, 600 lumen, dimmable R-30 reflector bulb later this year.  

·         The company anticipates significant improvements in energy-efficiency and bulb life through ongoing research and development.

Sales and Marketing –

·         Over 200 independent lighting distributors have expressed interest through our web site to distribute ESL bulbs into a variety of channels including hospitality, municipal buildings, museums, and cruise ships. 

·         Keen interest in ESL lighting has been expressed by major U.S. utility consortiums on the East and West coasts culminating in several meetings and ongoing progress discussions.

·         Meetings have been held with several of the largest retailers, electrical distributors and eCommerce lighting resellers in the US and EU.

ESL Competitive Advantage –

·         ESL technology will provide the best combination of safety, non-toxicity, incandescent light quality, performance and affordability of any energy efficient lighting technology.

·         Vu1 ESL bulbs will be a screw-in retrofit solution for the incandescent bulbs they replace.

·         The characteristics of ESL technology will allow Vu1 products to most closely match incandescent light quality when compared spectrally to other energy efficient technologies.

·         ESL will swiftly reach the affordability factor CFL’s now offer without having to compromise light quality, instant brightness, dimming or consumer safety.

·         In the recessed can market, LEDs suffer constraints due to the high heat environment.  ESL will be a superior, cost effective solution for addressing the 800 million recessed can fixtures in the US.

·         Vu1 anticipates ESL bulbs will always be significantly less expensive than LED’s while offering superior light quality.

·         Vu1 has begun testing ESL technology in other bulb shapes and sizes.  The most interesting is in a linear tube configuration that may provide a fully dimmable, energy efficient replacement for the common fluorescent tube.

Key Milestones for 2010 –

With sufficient funding, the company anticipates further progress through the remainder of the year to the point of reaching commercialization of ESL technology in Q4 2010 in the following steps:

·         Product - Completion and Certification  (June – August 2010)

·         Product - Channel Evaluation  (August – October 2010)

·         Product – Introduction  (October – December 2010)

Vu1 recently attended Light Fair 2010 and held meetings with distributors.   We were very encouraged to find continuing support for our bulb. The distributors we spoke to reaffirm the need for a non-toxic, affordable, fully dimmable, incandescent light quality replacement for the soon to be banned incandescent light bulb is still needed and the current energy-efficient lighting solutions fall short of consumer desires.

About Vu1 Corporation

Vu1 Corporation (OTCBB: VUOC) is dedicated to applying its technology to produce energy efficient, environmentally-friendly lighting solutions worldwide.  Vu1 is developing a new, energy efficient light bulb to provide the consumer market with the first affordable, non-toxic light bulb with features consumers are demanding and not receiving from existing products. More information about Vu1 is available at: www.Vu1.com and the Vu1 Blog at vu1corp.blogspot.com

This news release is not an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the securities discussed herein. These securities have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This news release is being issued pursuant to and in accordance with Rule 135c under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. 

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release includes forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, our ability to obtain the necessary funding required for our operations, the future demonstration and commercial availability of our light bulb, timing for submission of our light bulb to certification and certification results, timing for bulb production, manufacturing capability of our facility, future interest of channel partners and distributors, our strategic planning and business development plans, future applications of the technology, the viability, pricing and acceptance of our products in the market.. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The words "may," "would," "will," "expect," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe," "intend", “scheduled” and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the company's ability to control, as well as the risks and other factors set forth in our periodic filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (including our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009 and our other periodic reports as filed from time to time).

#  #  #

"solid state lighting providing a perfect opportunity for producing junk, vapor or smoke and mirrors "

We have received a number of emails about announcements regarding new LED lamp bulbs that are destined to solve all the issues of general illumination lighting - perfect color, great brightness and at what may be an affordable cost.   The bulbs are not available or independent laboratory tested and can't be seen except, in one case, inside a glass-domed display.

While at Light Fair last week we some how missed seeing any of these astonishing breakthrough LED products.   Lest we be seen as ESL-touting, LED naysayers - I thought it was interesting to see what people in the LED industry are saying about the state of LED lighting technology and some of these new "claims".

From  "Solid State Lighting" magazine -   May 17, 2010

"Light Fair, the USA's largest annual lighting-focused gathering, is always a good checkpoint for progress in the LED lighting front. There are never any real technological surprises, since progress in this field is fast-paced, but still incremental, as it is in any semiconductor-driven arena. In fact, if anyone is claiming something revolutionary, just plan to smile, nod and find someone who really knows about the technology to help debunk the over-zealous claims. Solid state lighting provides a perfect opportunity for producing junk, vapor or smoke and mirrors (it's important that the two are combined for the most spectacular effect) --"

FYI - we have heard no claims about break-through, high performance LED Reflector Bulbs.  All of the announcements have been regarding lamp bulbs.

Light Fair

The Vu1 CEO, CMO and VP of Manufacturing are all here at Light Fair. Light Fair is for manufacturers that are showing off their new products and lines to potential resellers. We are not into production so it did not make sense for us to go the expense of being an Exhibitor. Instead – we are meeting with EPA representatives, testing labs, strategic distribution partners and industry consultants. Plus getting a firsthand look at all competing technologies.

This year’s show is 95% LED. After you go through the first 10 booths you will find that the remaining 300 are mostly more of the same. Everybody is making essentially the same product – just different cases, some dim better than others, some are for stadiums or parking lots – some for business and homes. After 6 hours of searching I found exactly ONE product (an LED) that I had not seen before. It was a somewhat dim and expensive (as almost all the products were) recessed can product that is using a clever variation on deployment of the LEDs in the lamp. Other than that – not much new. In the recessed can space – there were lots of heavy, expensive LED PAR 35 types of products. High color temps, low lumen output, lots of glare and very directional light distribution.  And yes, expensive.   CFLs were few and far between.  One founder of a sizeable distribution/rep agency commented to me "CFLs are over".

The Direction of Light from EDN

The link below comes from Electronics Design Strategy News.  It gives one of the best descriptions we have seen regarding the challenges facing energy efficient lighting tehnologies.  They conservatively and accurately look at the issue of mercury in CFLs and also discuss why -

"It would be a formidable challenge for SSL to replace the venerable incandescent bulb and, in the longer run, the CFL."

The Direction of Light