- With higher performance and lower price, the new product is expected to accelerate the ubiquity of LED lights.
POSCO LED, a global LED lighting manufacturer, has unveiled its new LED bulb that is directly powered from 220V AC power, the standard voltage for household and industrial applications in Korea, on June 26, 2012, at the International LED & Green Lighting EXPO 2012, one of the largest LED lighting trade shows in Korea. Since LEDs operate on the direct current (DC) power, the existing LED lights require additional elements, such as convertors or SMPS, that can convert alternating current to direct current. What makes POSCO LED’s new LED bulb innovative is that it is powered directly from AC, featuring the simple design that improves the energy efficiency, trustworthiness, reliability and price competitiveness of the product.
AC powered LED bulbs offer long service life and low failure rate since they include a small number of elements. Also, they are easy to install and safe to use as they rarely cause fire. No use of convertors helps them save additional electricity that is usually lost during the electric conversion. Therefore, they consume less energy, save more cost and generate less carbon emissions. AC powered LED bulbs can replace the conventional incandescent and compact fluorescent lamps.
“Despite many benefits, LED lights have not been widely adopted as consumers feel the pressure of their higher prices,” said Nam-suk Hur, CEO of POSCO LED. “We made a success in producing AC powered LED bulbs that feature higher performance and lower price. We expect that this product will accelerate the ubiquity of LED lights. In order for the LED lighting market to grow further, however, the government should provide its support in policy. Currently, there are some support from the government including the Electric Power Industry Basis Fund operated by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). But, these supports are not effective since the beneficiaries and products subject to the support are limited. Rather than specifying the beneficiaries, the government should allow small and medium-sized businesses, particularly those in the manufacturing sector who are a big energy consumer, to receive the support for the use of energy saving LED lights so that the government’s support could lead to the practical result in the ubiquity of LED lighting.”
Besides the AC powered LED bulb, POSCO LED presented its new industrial products that are created based on its market-leading LED lighting technology specialized in industrial applications. The company differentiates itself from others by developing a 430W high-output LED light that can replace 1kW HID lamps, an area where other manufacturers were not able to reach due to high barrier in technology and cost. In addition to the high end product, it released more affordable 110W lamps that are suitable for general circumstances like assembly lines, warehouses and discount stores. While its competitors usually hold a limited range of products for a certain application, it has built a full product lineup which can cover various industrial applications in a wider range of circumstances from industrial facilities with extreme conditions to discount stores, differentiating itself from others and firmly establishing its leading position in the LED market for industrial applications.
Its new products include LED light engines for industrial, outdoor and indoor applications. As the government limits the domestic sales of end products by manufacturing arms of large business groups in order to protect small and medium-sized manufacturers, it begins to offer some products in the form of light engine units. POSCO LED, however, does not just sell light engines to small and medium-sized manufacturers, but also transfer the end product manufacturing skills to them and cooperate with them for the global sales of quality products. The company believes such a win-win relationship would make itself more competitive in the global stage.
At the exhibition, it also introduced its smart lighting control system (SLCS) which contributes to maximizing the energy saving effect of LED lighting. The SLCS refers to a system that adjusts its brightness by detecting the motion of a human and an object or according to the surroundings and automatically controls its color and lighting hour. Compared with the use of LED lights only, adding the SLCS can reduce energy consumption by more than 30%.
Meanwhile, at the exhibition, POSCO LED was awarded the prize of ‘Excellent Company for New Technology Development’ by the Minister of Knowledge Economy.