Question for Mac about new Cree LEDs

[Jetpowered]

Mac, have you looked into these new super efficient Cree LED's?
I think they call them the "

XLamp® XB-D LED".
Link below. If these numbers are close, you're talking a 40% increase in brightness with almost double the efficiency.
That is amazing to me. Would you offer emitter change outs, or would we need new drivers(for a fee of course)?

http://www.cree.com/products/xlamp_xbd.asp

[AnAppleSnail]

I think these are more of the ones with a remote-phosphor dome. In other words, the entire dome is white-emitting surface. I think you'll have a 2mm-diameter dome for the light source, which would (I think) lead to less throw.

[Jetpowered]

I don't know. They say on the videos that it is much smaller than the XML (And HALF Price!!....:-). That's why I was interested.

From Cree;

http://www.cree.com/press/press_deta...=1317907138185

Cree Introduces the Next Generation of Lighting-Class LEDsAdvanced LED Platform Doubles Lumens-per-Dollar to Accelerate Adoption of LEDs

DURHAM, N.C., January 11, 2012 — Driving the next generation of mainstream LED lighting adoption, Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) introduces the breakthrough XLamp® XB-D LED. The first LED based on an innovative new Cree technology platform, the XLamp XB-D LED ushers in a new era of price-performance for lighting-class LEDs. This LED can further simplify designs, ultimately removing a key barrier to widespread LED implementation—up-front system cost.

The XB-D LED delivers twice the lumens-per-dollar of other LEDs, in the industry’s smallest lighting-class footprint of 2.45 mm x 2.45 mm. The XB-D LED is 48 percent smaller than the XLamp XP package and ideal for lighting applications where high lumen density and compact light sources are required. The innovations behind this next generation of lighting-class LEDs can enable significantly lower prices for LED lighting products by using up to three times fewer LEDs, three times fewer optics and substantially smaller circuit boards than current designs.

“Being a leader means delivering revolutionary, not evolutionary, innovation to drive the LED lighting revolution,” said Mike Watson, Cree senior director of marketing, LED components. “With this new platform Cree has fundamentally redefined the price-performance paradigm for our components customers. It’s not enough to just make LEDs brighter—it’s also about improving product payback and market acceptance of LED lighting.”

Leveraging Cree’s proven silicon carbide technology and expertise, the XB-D LED delivers up to 139 lumens and 136 lumens per watt in cool white (6000K) or up to 107 lumens and 105 lumens per watt in warm white (3000K), both at 350 mA and 85°C.
XB-D LEDs are also compatible with most existing XP family secondary optics, which can speed the optical design process and create direct cost savings for existing XP family-based designs.

For more information, and to request a free sample visitwww.cree.com/products/xlamp_xbd.asp. Samples are available immediately and production volumes are available with standard lead times. To locate a distributor, please visit www.cree.com/buyxlamp.

About Cree
Cree is leading the LED lighting revolution and making energy-wasting traditional lighting technologies obsolete through the use of energy-efficient, mercury-free LED lighting. Cree is a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting, and semiconductor products for power and radio frequency (RF) applications.

Cree’s product families include LED fixtures and bulbs, blue and green LED chips, high-brightness LEDs, lighting-class power LEDs, power-switching devices and RF devices. Cree products are driving improvements in applications such as general illumination, backlighting, electronic signs and signals, power suppliers and solar inverters.

For additional product and company information, please refer to www.cree.com. To learn more about the LED Lighting Revolution, please visit www.creeledrevolution.com.


This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Actual results may differ materially due to a number of factors, including the risk that we may be unable to manufacture these new products with sufficiently low cost to offer them at competitive prices or with acceptable margins; the risk we may encounter delays or other difficulties in ramping up production of our new products; customer acceptance of the new products; the risk that actual savings may vary from expectations; the rapid development of new technology and competing products that may impair demand or render Cree’s products obsolete; and other factors discussed in Cree’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 26, 2011, and subsequent filings.

Media Contact:
Michelle Murray
Cree, Inc.
Corporate Communications
(919) 407-5505
michelle_murray@cree.com

[blackron]

Jetpowered,
If you use Cree's product utilization tool you can compare the XB-D LED to the xml and xpg. the xb-d does not put out more lumens than the xml. According to cree at 1 amp the xbd r5 puts out 351.1 lumens, the xpg r5 puts out 347.7, and the xml u2 puts out 415.7. They don't recommend you drive the xbd past 1 amp, where as the xpg can be driven to 1.5 amps and the xml to 3 amps. So I'm not sure what benefit you would get out of swapping out leds.

[mvyrmnd]

They look like they're designed to run at low power in large arrays to produce lots of light cheaply.

They look quite efficient, but only at lower power.

[AnAppleSnail]

They look like they're designed to run at low power in large arrays to produce lots of light cheaply.

They look quite efficient, but only at lower power.

My post went poof: Anyway, to replace the 80 100-watt short-arc 4000-lumen units just outside my office on the factory floor, here's a possible build:

4.4 xml
13.2A xml
Over 10x10mm down-facing area

11.4 xb-d
11.4A xb-d
7.5x10mm down-facing area, up to 20% more LEDs in same area


I would build high-bay lighting on long metal bars, with long lead wires. The power supply becomes the failure point with proper thermal design. In some cases active cooling would be needed, producing denser lighting units.

Given a dense swap-in light with active cooling, the XM-L unit would need at minimum 1x1cm down-facing surface, and the XB-D over 25% less down-facing surface for the same 4000L output. This also means smaller heatsinks (Big money savings - central bulk and down-facing area cannot radiate heat!), smaller optics, and smaller reflectors. These seemingly-small savings wind up dropping the main costs of building an LED light unit:

Heatsink costs (My attempts to build run into this limit - Aluminum is expensive!)
LED costs (
Cooling costs (13% less power on XB-D)

[mvyrmnd]

So if you wanted to build a 20 emitter mule head mag mod, the XB-D would rock

[AnAppleSnail]

So if you wanted to build a 20 emitter mule head mag mod, the XB-D would rock

That sounds like an exciting DD floodlight on some unlucky IMR cell. What gives 20 amps?

[mvyrmnd]

3*18650 IMR in parallel