Welcome to the LEDs Magazine News & Insights newsletter for Apr. 24, 2020. Happy Friday! I suspect that many of you, like myself, mainly use the weekend to mark another week of the new normal. I really should have caught up on numerous home projects during the past six weekends, but I confess I have made little progress.
We just learned on Thursday that the rescheduled LEDucation will not take place in late summer as the organizers had hoped. Obviously, New York City continues to have a real battle on its hands with COVID-19. I’d expect similar news from Light + Building (L+B) soon. They did cancel Oktoberfest in Bavaria this week; it was scheduled in a similar timeframe and the German government is proceeding extremely cautiously.
If you’ve read many of my columns in our newsletters or the magazine, or for that matter, news articles I’ve written, you could probably infer where I stand relative to the President of the United States. I think his regulatory rollbacks are just not wise, such as DOE lamp efficacy standards. And his continued disregard for the environment and basic science is deeply troubling.
Yesterday, however, President Trump's actions were so unacceptable, I felt I had to comment directly. He went on national TV at the daily coronavirus briefing and suggested ultraviolet (UV) light as a coronavirus panacea. Now, we’ve written repeatedly about the need for vigilance when it comes to hype about UV and especially energy in the UV-C band that can kill pathogens. It has great potential, but used incorrectly it can do great harm. And it’s not surprising that some unscrupulous people and companies are hyping products that could be very dangerous to humans.
Still, I’d expect any president to at least confer with a scientist before suggesting that UV could be applied inside the body to cure COVID-19. Or alternatively he suggested that it just be shined through the skin to work its magic. He also mentioned disinfectant, and I thought he was referring to UV-C as a disinfectant, but some TV commentators thought he was suggesting that people suffering from COVID-19 could be treated somehow with disinfectant. In any event, the discourse was completely irresponsible. It would have been wrong for any person of authority to say what was said. For the US President to advocate what is clearly dangerous is almost criminal.
Now, we will still cover UV any time there is legitimate news. Just this week, for example, Luminus Devices claimed to have achieved a breakthrough in cost per watt of UV energy in new packaged LEDs. But we will not cover irresponsible products such as UV-C wands intended to disinfect a space.
I often ask in our newsletters that you help us by providing information about one thing or another. Today, I’ll ask that you help the folks at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The lab has launched dual request for information (RFI) initiatives focused on DC-powered lighting and DC microgrids in efficient buildings. I think these technologies hold great potential and would encourage participation.
You will find many more stories of interest in the body of today’s newsletter. And always feel free to contact me to discuss content we post or to pitch a contributed article.
- Maury Wright, (858) 748-6785, [email protected]