Top 20 reflects coronavirus concerns, companies in flux during 2020
For the third year in a row, while analyzing our top 20 articles of the year LEDs Magazine has observed tremendous disruption and uncertainty in terms of the content of our editorial coverage. However, the context of that disruption was completely unprecedented in recent memory, with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic impacting all business sectors worldwide. While it created financial instability from the individual to the global economic level, many companies dug deep to curb a downturn in business. Some even worked to produce personal protective equipment or other tools to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.
Readers may be wondering where applications we’ve covered frequently such as circadian lighting and horticultural SSL stood in this year’s top 20. Truth be told, in this editor’s opinion, some emerging research, commercialized products, and projects were likely held back as a result of personnel restrictions and guidance on physical and social distancing, in addition to supply-chain gaps and manufacturing operations shutdowns earlier in 2020.
That is not to say that articles on such topics gained no notice. Indeed, they performed relatively well when compared against previous years’ analytics on our various website topic channels. However, the fact remains that one application topic dominated 2020, whether in business, R&D, or product development news.
The numbers don’t lie — any news or feature coverage of topics that were directly influenced by the coronavirus pandemic nearly trampled anything else out of the running. Conference and event updates impacted by the global health crisis, as well as company financials and operational reports from the biggest players in the LED and SSL supply chain, figured into the top stories of the year. And if you read our recent blog on the massive gains in ultraviolet (UV) disinfection topic-based traffic, organizations researching UV effectiveness at deactivating or eliminating pathogens, developing or commercializing new technologies, or ramping up existing UV-C-band capabilities in the war on germs skyrocketed to attention on our website over the course of the year.
Before we get to the top 20 list, here’s a primer on the methodology: As we have during the past several years, we looked at website analytics for the number of visits to article pages (both news and magazine articles). Within the initial data report, we pulled together related stories — as you will see with Osram and Signify coverage — within the top 10 commentary as supporting links. We’d remind readers that this fairly represents the popular trends regardless of articles that published earlier in the year having more time to gain traffic.
Top 20 articles of 2020
1. Osram, like Signify, is ramping up conventional UV-C lamps to fight Covid
As mentioned above, the public interest in anything claimed to fight the spread of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 brought extra attention to news such as well-known industry players Osram and Signify pumping products into the arena. Now, the conventional mercury-vapor technology has long been used to deliver UV radiation for various purposes, so the news was not so much “new technology” so much as renewed and vigorous pursuit of the market for what is known as UV germicidal irradiation (UVGI).
One of the points we have commented upon multiple times this year is the need for valid studies on the effectiveness of UV disinfection methods on the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Obviously, since it is a recently discovered pathogen, models would need to be established for wavelength, time of application, and deactivation rate. Boston University’s National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) participated in such experiments using UV-C tube lamps from Signify, finding that a dose of 5 mJ/cm2 deactivated 99% of the virus on tested materials within 6 seconds. Signify CEO Eric Rondolat had earlier indicated the company was focusing on the UV-C lamp technology as a key business area, and followed up with an announcement on multiple UV-C disinfection offerings to come.
3. With its Osram acquisition complete, ams now mulls how to pay for it
The long road to an ams acquisition of the larger Osram organization began in 2019 and still it goes. In January, our Mark Halper reported on the means to meet the financial demands of the transaction, and followed up nearly halfway through the year with yet another reported strategy that involved convertible notes, bonds, and other means of attracting outside investors to the financing plan. Later in the year, ams had gained approval from the European Commission for the acquisition, then to dominate Osram under German law, and finally began making staffing changes that declared its focus was not on the digital lighting and associated IoT systems business.
4. LRC studies the use of UV-A LED lighting to disinfect hospital room
The coronavirus is not the only danger to public health. The healthcare system has been looking for solutions to reduce the occurrence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) that can happen when patients receive treatment in medical facilities. Researchers from the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute announced findings from a trial with UV-A LED luminaires by GE Current, which were shown to destroy pathogens on surfaces after eight-hour exposure in a hospital intensive care unit. The short-wavelength energy (350‒380 nm), while effective against some pathogens, did degrade some of the room surfaces. But the study will inform further research to improve future technology.
The traction on this feature-length article by SSL industry consultant Mike Krames is well deserved and we hope that readers continue to view it as a benchmark for the progress of UV-C LEDs. Krames’ compelling and thorough summary of the technical challenges to engineering such LEDs and how they are being resolved drives home the potential of UV-C devices as materials and tooling costs are reduced and radiometric power and lifetime performance increase. It truly is a roadmap of the milestones in R&D with a reasoned outlook for their market growth and uptake in applications such as UVGI.
6. Sapphire 2020 winners tackle quality of experience
In this sixth year of the LEDs Magazine Sapphire Awards program, entrants and judges alike recognized the next phase of LEDification, with light quality, creativity in design, and improved experience with illumination. Those characteristics of the next wave of SSL and lighting design informed our recent virtual event, too, focusing on performance, standards, and how occupants experience light in the built environment. The initial shortlists of Sapphire Awards product finalists and Illumineer of the Year finalists highlighted technology breakthroughs across applications from architectural illumination to outdoor area lighting to human-centric lighting and smart SSL systems.
7. Coronavirus pressures on financials at Osram and Signify, plus events
March brought financial reports into sharper focus at Osram and Signify, as the pandemic was declared by the World Health Organization and its health, social, and economic impacts were already being felt keenly. Case in point: To help prevent the further spread of the virus, many in-person events were re-scheduled, canceled, or moved to online formats. The organizers of the largest lighting industry exhibition, Light+Building, announced in late February they would postpone until the fall while organizations that had planned to exhibit began to back out due to travel restrictions and expense reductions. That trade show was eventually canceled until its next iteration in 2022. Both Osram and Signify took cost-cutting measures in the spring after reporting losses earlier in 2020.
8. Laser light pioneer now moving in on Li-Fi
Nobel winner and laser technology innovator Shuji Nakamura headed to CES this past January to tout SLD Laser’s Li-Fi capability, which the company claims can burn rubber against 5G at data speeds of 20 Gbit/s. It’s an interesting proposition to consider, since every mobile telecom company on the planet is cheerfully promoting a technology to customers that hasn’t proven to blast 4G networking speeds yet in Washington Post-reported and other test runs. While we covered a lot of Li-Fi news last year, in 2020 we observed a bit of a slowdown in both activity and interest, with readers’ attention elsewhere. And how many times can we really point out that until developers disconnect from the dongle, Li-Fi can’t get a decent foothold as a mass consumer communications technology? Still, now we’ll keep an eye out for potential competition between LED- and laser-based light communications providers.
9. New HQ connects 6000 lights via PoE
As you’ll see further down this list, wired technologies aren’t yet dead when it comes to lighting controls and networked SSL. Low-voltage power over Ethernet (PoE) attracted a big name in semiconductor specialist Arm, which outfitted its new headquarters with a sophisticated configuration of PoE-connected LED lighting and Bluetooth sensors in a mesh topology to inform the system’s light output and levels, deliver messaging, track room usage, and locate occupants with control via DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface).
This year marked another milestone for LEDs Magazine, with the launch of its 40 Under 40 program recognizing the new generation of lighting design and specification, product development, and supply chain professionals. We received so many outstanding nominations, and the response from the honorees selected as well as their colleagues has been phenomenal. We hope to continue to inspire industry professionals to bring positive attention to those who are marking a new path in SSL, and that we all can work together to motivate new entrants to the LED and SSL sectors with fresh perspectives and untapped potential for innovation.
11. Signify positions WiZ for broader mass market appeal than Hue, with lower prices
12. UCSB researchers reveal phosphor-free white LEDs and separately new light extraction technique
13. Osram announces packaged LEDs for horticulture and auto headlamps
14. LED lifetime claims need a reality check
15. Cooper Lighting will become Signify business unit on March 2
16. Mini-LED displays approach market, while micro waits in the wings
17. GE Current debuts 365DisInFx brand, and germicidal UV-C LED ceiling puck
18. Acuity partners with Ushio to embed UV excimer lamps for disinfection in SSL
19. Ecosense acquires Soraa brand, lamp portfolio, IP, and assets
20. PoE is poised to accelerate intelligent building growth
Stay tuned for an upcoming reveal of our top blogs of 2020.
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Carrie Meadows | Editor-in-Chief, LEDs Magazine
Carrie Meadows has more than 20 years of experience in the publishing and media industry. She worked with the PennWell Technology Group for more than 17 years, having been part of the editorial staff at Solid State Technology, Microlithography World, Lightwave, Portable Design, CleanRooms, Laser Focus World, and Vision Systems Design before the group was acquired by current parent company Endeavor Business Media.
Meadows has received finalist recognition for LEDs Magazine in the FOLIO Eddie Awards, and has volunteered as a judge on several B2B editorial awards committees. She received a BA in English literature from Saint Anselm College, and earned thesis honors in the college's Geisel Library. Without the patience to sit down and write a book of her own, she has gladly undertaken the role of editor for the writings of friends and family.
Meadows enjoys living in the beautiful but sometimes unpredictable four seasons of the New England region, volunteering with an animal shelter, reading (of course), and walking with friends and extended "dog family" in her spare time.
