09/06/2011 | LED Savings Solutions
GREENandSAVE News — The U.S. Navy just gave an extra boost to a lighting retrofit underway for navy ships to replace existing inefficient lighting with energy-efficient light emitting diode (LED) lights. The LED lighting retrofit project will use solid state lighting fixtures supplied by Energy Focus Inc. that use less energy and have a much longer life over the existing incandescent and fluorescent fixtures throughout the entire Navy fleet.
The Navy invested an additional $500,000 on top of an initial $1.9 million awarded to Energy Focus by the Department of Defense. In addition to energy efficiency, the Navy set up strict requirements for LED lighting regarding light output, shock and vibration and corrosion. The retrofit is expected to save 76 percent of energy previously used with incandescent lights.
read more08/14/2011 | WKYC, Channel 3 News
Keeping the lights on for our U.S. military as well as our homes is very important.
read more03/08/2011 | optics.org, the business of photonics
One sailor’s request to replace humming fluorescent tubes with a quieter alternative will have the additional benefit of saving energy.
The US Office of Naval Research (ONR) has begun testing solid-state lighting (SSL) fixtures on board the USS New Hampshire attack submarine, after one of its sailors complained about the ‘humming’ noise produced by fluorescent bedside lamps.
Following the request to replace the noisy bunk lights with LEDs, submitted by a sonar technician serving in the Atlantic Fleet in Norfolk, Virginia, the Naval Sea Systems Command has now installed 33 SSL fixtures on the submarine.
“The goal is to eventually retrofit the entire forward section of the New Hampshire with SSL to assess the benefits of the advanced lighting system and measure [the] savings achieved,” said the ONR, which is also planning to install SSL fixtures on the USS New Mexico.
Aside from the reduction in noise, there are obvious benefits in terms of energy efficiency, with the LED-based replacements reckoned to consume only half of the power used by the fluorescents, as well as lasting much longer.
“LED lights are an immediate way to improve efficiency across the fleet,” said Roger Buelow, principal investigator for the SSL project, and also the CTO at Energy Focus Inc., a US company specializing in high-efficiency lighting that is now providing four different types of fixtures to various Navy ships and submarines.
03/01/2011 | Office of Naval Research
One Sailor’s request to replace humming fluorescent bulbs with a quiet alternative inspired the Office of Naval Research (ONR) to create the Solid State Lighting (SSL) project, being tested aboard USS New Hampshire (SSN 778), which got underway Feb. 28.
A product of ONR’s TechSolutions program, SSL is being installed aboard several ships and submarines across the U.S. Navy, and is one of several rapid-response technologies created using recommendations and suggestions from Navy and Marine Corps personnel.
TechSolutions funded development and certification of a suite of LED fixtures that are direct form-fit-function replacements for all the T8W5 light fixtures currently used by the Navy. The request to replace noisy fluorescent bunk lights with LEDs was submitted by a sonar technician at Commander, Submarine Force, Atlantic Fleet, Norfolk, Va.
02/24/2011 | hiVelocity
Energy Focus Inc. began in California in 1985 as Fiberstars, a fiber optics firm specializing in architectural lighting such as that used to illuminate underwater spaces in spas and swimming pools.
Today, the company is headquartered in Solon, the Fiberstars brand is an Energy Focus division and the parent company is zeroed in on new LED products for both military and commercial....
read more10/12/2010 | Tecniques, A blog by Tec Inc. Engineering & Design
Technology is evolving so quickly these days and it seems what was “new” yesterday is old news today. We recently had a situation where a product specified less than 10 years ago became obsolete. A lamp used in a Fiberstars fiber optic illuminator was no longer available or supported by the manufacturer. The First Convenent Church of Willoughby Hills was desperate to come up with an affordable solution to keep the cross illuminated at night with the loss of the original lighting system.
Tec would like to thank Gene Scheilcher of Fiberstars for stepping up and finding a solution. While the lamp was no longer available, Gene had urged us to consider an LED option. Based on the cut sheets submitted, we were concerned with lumen output matching the previous system and asked for support on a mock-up. Following the mock-up, Gene went step further and provided the church with the replacement illuminator from Fiberstars.
03/03/2010 | cnet news
The ARPA-E Summit, a conference designed to showcase potential breakthrough clean-energy technologies, started on Monday, attracting some 1,700 investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers all vying to reinvent the energy infrastructure to be cleaner and more efficient.
Given the makeup of the group, the mood is optimistic that new technologies can shake up even the slow-moving energy business. At the conference, scientists and entrepreneurs showed off early-stage ideas, such as kinetic energy storage systems or methods for low-cost solar power.
One company vying for ARPA-E funding is Energy Focus, which makes LED bulbs that can replace existing fluorescent bulbs, offering more control and higher efficiency, according to the company.
(Credit: Martin LaMonica/CNET)
01/12/2010 | World Market Media
Stone River Companies LLC, a subsidiary of Energy Focus Inc announced that it was awarded 7 lighting contracts totaling $12.3 Million. Stone river company is a Green focused company that produces energy efficient lighting solutions. Their newest product is an Energy focus LED dock light. Video on the company’s website shows various employees smashing competitor’s dock lights, while Energy Focuses’ remains impervious.
read more01/05/2010 | Cleveland Plain Dealer
Energy Focus Inc., the Solon lighting manufacturer, said Tuesday that it has completed the $5 million acquisition of an electric contracting company called Stones River Cos.
Stones River, based in Nashville, Tenn., specializes in redesigning electrical systems for existing buildings to make them more energy efficient.
Energy Focus will pay SRC owners, TLC Investments LLC, $1.5 million in cash, and revenue-based benefits valued at about $3.5 million. Energy Focus, which announced its plan to buy Stones Rivers in September, says the deal will help the company sell more of its lighting products into the existing building market.
read more01/01/2010 | Plain Dealer, Featured Story of 01/01/2010
SOLON, Ohio—For nearly 25 years, Energy Focus Inc.’s fiber-optic lighting business depended on the new-home and commercial-building industries.
So when new construction came to a near-standstill in 2009, so did demand for the lighting systems made by the Solon company.
That caused the company to act fast, making big changes to its business plan. Over the past year, Energy Focus has positioned itself to tap into a growing public-sector construction market, which has been a major benefactor of federal stimulus money. The company hopes to bring in streams of new revenue beginning in 2010.
read more07/23/2009 | Green Business Quarterly
When Whole Foods began “spotlighting” its seafood to highlight premium items in special displays, the chain encountered a two-pronged problem: the incandescent halogen bulbs gave off too much heat, warming the food and driving up the stores’ electric bills. Enter Energy Focus, Inc.
read more07/01/2009 | Foundation for Enterprise Development
Technology and Innovation
Under this DARPA SBIR, Energy Focus successfully upgraded their High Efficiency Distributed Lighting (HEDLight) system by implementing an innovative process to effectively apply an organometallic external barrier coating (thin film) to arc tubes. The coatings extended lamp life by preventing or delaying lamp failure by devitrification, a condition where the surface of the fused quartz develops deposits, cracks or wrinkles. The program succeeded in ex tending DC 3rc source lamp life by a factor of five, more than twice the program goal.
06/29/2009 | Supermarket News
LED lighting has become an accepted alternative to fluorescent lighting in refrigerated and freezer cases, but is LED really better than fiber optics?
Refrigerated and freezer cases account for nearly half of a supermarket’s annual electricity costs, according to the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, N.Y. Meanwhile, the lighting used to illuminate those cases figures in one-quarter of those costs or one out of every eight dollars spent on energy in a store.
read more06/01/2009 | Architectural Lighting
Energy Focus wasn’t always in the business of developing new technology for the military. Originally founded in 1985 as Fiberstars, the company built its reputation on fiber optic products and lighting for museums and retail applications. In 2000, the company began working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency on an initiative to create high-efficiency distributed lighting that could better use optics to spread and focus light. The research resulted in a patented optic to reduce glare. By 2006, the company was collaborating with Sturtevant on the naval lights. Sturtevant says partnering with commercial companies like Energy Focus helps foster new applications for both the military and civilian marketplace. “If a product survives a Navy ship environment, it can survive any application ashore,” he says.
Energy Focus has since brought their advanced LED technology onto dry land. The design of the naval light has been reconfigured for commercial environments. The marine-grade electronic specifications were adjusted to make the units lighter and more affordable, and the Navy’s specific color temperature requirements were altered, resulting in three new consumer products.
read more03/31/2009 | Greentech Media
The U.S. Army now uses rockets with flares that provide infrared light to soldiers wearing night vision goggles on the battlefield.
But apparently the Army thinks light-emitting diodes (LEDs) could beat the flares on performance and reliability and it's asking Energy Focus (NSDQ: EFOI) to help research the possibilities.
The Solon, Ohio-based maker of fiber-optic and LED lighting, which has seen some tough times in its commercial, industrial and swimming pool lines of business, said Tuesday it has won a Department of Defense research grant to work on replacing flares with LEDs.
read more10/01/2008 | Entertainment Engineering, 2008 Issue 10, pg. 14
Decorative lighting fixtures look like real jelly fish, but also minimize energy consumption.
Sometimes, innovative architectural designs come from new technology.
09/01/2008 | Grocery Headquarters Magazine
Sophisticated monitoring systems and equipment upgrades keep supermarkets humming withing running up the energy bill.
Seeing the Light - For every $100 in revenue, $1 goes to energy costs, and out of every $1 in energy cost, with almost one-quarter of that going towards lighting, according to Julia Dolsen, marketing manager for Solon, Ohio-based Energy Focus. “So anything they save there has an impact.” she says.
07/07/2008 | Entertainment Engineering - Pages 14-15 & Page 17
Custom countertops light up the night with thousands of fiber optic lights.
read more07/01/2008 | Aquatics International
Energy Focus’ Star Ceiling creates the illusion of a starry-night sky with over 1,200 fiberoptic lights installed in the ceiling over this extravagant Hotel owned water park.
read more05/25/2008 | The Plain Dealer
The dollar, once king of Cash Hill, now lies in a deep trough with the home currencies of London, Munich, New Delhi and Tokyo towering above.
But for global manufacturers in Northeast Ohio, the low-value buck creates a competitive edge for products they’re selling abroad.
read more05/01/2008 | U.S. Department of Energy
The Defense Commissary Agency operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families. Patrons save an average of more than 30 percent on their purchases compared to commercial prices, which is a valued part of military pay and benefits. For these reasons, keeping costs low is paramount to the Defense Commissary Agency.
Conventional lighting and refrigeration systems typically work against each other. Lighting systems generate heat, which the refrigeration system needs to remove. In addition, lower temperatures typically reduce the efficacy of lighting systems. Thus, more power is required to generate the desired illumination, which in turn, increases the load on the refrigeration system.
The old incandescent lights were replaced with 36, 15-watt white LED (light-emitting diode) fixtures from Energy Focus, Inc.2 The LED lights offer several advantages over the incandescent lamps.
read more03/11/2008 | Portland Tribune
Imagine the energy savings if grocery stores, offices, department stores, cinemas and other commercial spaces switched to a lighting system that operates on about 25 percent of the energy used by incandescent lights.
read more08/20/2007 | NCET News
Here’s that final touch you’ve been looking for in the kitchen remodel war with the Joneses: efficient fiber optics (EFO), the “breakthrough in accent lighting technology,” could be perfect for your undercounter needs.
DARPA calls it a breakthrough technology with the potential to innovate lighting systems across the Department of Defense. The Navy is currently testing Energy Focus technology on two ships at sea, where it expects to save 52,000 kWh a year on one ship alone.
07/01/2007 | Lighting India - July/August 2007
Michael Morrison is Managing Director of Fiberstars Crescent Lighting Ltd. a UK based subsidiary of Energy Focus, Inc. actively involved in technical and commercial lighting for over 30 years and worked for Thorn Lighting, ITT Lighting Design Service, Edison Halo, Condord Lighting he founded Crescent Lighting in 1988.
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