Next Generation LED Lighting

[abcha0s]

What’s New

Cree Press Release (December 16th, 2010) - New High-Efficiency Cree XLamp® LED Can Reduce Initial Fixture Cost for Lighting Manufacturers

Product Documentation for the XLamp XP-E High Efficiency White chips can be found here.

Cree LEDs for Reef Tank Lighting

Cree produces two LED chips that are used in LED lighting for Reef Tanks. These are the XP-G and XP-E. If someone really understands the difference between these chips, please enlighten me.

It’s a little deceptive in comparing these two chips. The XP-G does have more power and is often used in high powered LED lighting for reefs, but it is only available in White. Blue and Royal Blue LEDs are only available on the XP-E chip. As with everything, "there's no free lunch". The increased power for the XP-G comes at the cost of energy consumption.

Maximum power really shouldn’t be the only measure of performance as efficiency also needs to be considered. What I'm interested in is whether the new XP-E HEW chips will replace the XP-G chips currently being used by LED light manufactures? In theory, this would result in a higher PAR lamp for the same power consumption (or the same PAR for less power).

The Market Last Year

I also found this article on Reef Builders. It summarizes the Reader’s Choice awards for 2009. First and second place in the “Main Lighting” category was awarded to LED manufacturers. In summary:

“We were surprised to see the Pacific Sun BT EX modular LED light get a really strong vote but after carefully checking the IP voting records, the votes for the Pacific Sun BT EX came from all over the world and there were no irregularities whatsoever. The most popular main aquarium light in the U.S. was the AquaIlluminations LED light, another LED system that is also modular. The 2009 RBRC award goes to Pacific Sun for their BT EX modular LED light but the real winner is LED lighting for reef aquarium use. We expect the 2010 award for this category will also go to an LED light.” - http://reefbuilders.com/2010/01/18/2...wards-roundup/

It should be noted that the Vertex Illumina was not available in 2009. It will be interesting to see how it fairs in the 2010 Readers Choice Awards.

The Market Today
Pacific Sun – Poland

Modular Systems and Fixtures

AI (Aqua Illumination) - USA

Modular Systems Only

Vertex Aquaristik – Germany

Fixtures Only
Original Fixtures use Phillips LEDs - Review
Updated Fixtures are available with Cree - Review

ReefTech LED – Not sure?

Brand new – Launched in mid December – Not available through distribution yet, but looks like a very nice modular LED system.

Orphek – China

Eco-Lamps KR92 – Belgium

Very popular in Europe

DIY – While not for everyone, there are those who have had very good success with DIY LED Lighting.

Differentiators

There are many factors that differentiate one LED solution from another.
• Efficiency - This is perhaps the hardest aspect to compare between manufactures, but it is relevant and not all solutions are created equal.
• Spread - Will the solution cover the tank?
• Optics - Are optics required? Will they add value? Will they create a spot light effect?
• Cost / Quality / Value / Future Proofing / Etc.

The ratio of white to blue also varies by manufacturer.

• The AI Sol Module uses 16 XPGWHT-L1 and 8 XPEBLU-L1.
• Pacific Sun uses - White leds Cree XP-G 3W - 140lm/W, Blue leds Cree XP-E 3W Royal Blue 500mW@350mA , XP-E Blue 475nm 3W – I’m not sure of the exact ratio.
• Vertex Illumina comes in 3 versions. For example, the 200-P uses Phillips LED, the 200-C uses Cree XPE LEDs and the 200-P uses XPG for White and XPE for Blue and Royal Blue. The ratio is the same for all versions with 16 LEDs per module of which 8 are white, 4 are royal blue and 4 are blue. Each module is rated at ~38 watts of power.

My Thoughts

It’s pretty easy to find discussion threads where experience with LED lighting has not been good. Many of the early adopters really had a tough time getting their corals to grow under LEDs, but one has to check the date of these posts to give the comments some perspective. At this point, it’s equally easy to find success stories.

The truth is, there really isn’t a lot of historical data on LED lighting for Reef Tanks where PAR values are sufficient to support Coral growth. For example, where these PAR values are equal to, or exceed that of MH lighting. Lights of this nature are somewhat new and time is needed to observe its effectiveness.
The debate today is no longer about PAR, but seems to center on whether light produced by LEDs is good enough for corals or whether it is “missing” something. For example, there are those that feel that UV may be required. There are LEDs that produce UV radiation, but they are not commonly used in today’s LED modules and sufficient time hasn’t elapsed to really draw accurate conclusions.

It’s also not clear how long LED lights really last. Common marketing claims suggest that they will maintain 70% of their initial efficiency for 10 years. Reports from PFO Solaris owners suggest that 10 years is something of a myth.

I’m ready to jump on this band wagon. I am however waiting for the next generation of lighting to hit the market. I expect this to happen in the next couple of months. My personal favorite is Pacific Sun and as soon as I see something from them that looks like a next generation solution, I am going buy it.

Rumors

I really like the Vertex Illumina; however, the concern I have is with the spread. My tank is 3 feet from front to back and I’m just not comfortable with a strip light in this application.

I’ve heard rumors of a dual strip Vertex lamp? – This could be a killer solution for large tanks, but one could only speculate at the cost.

I’ve also heard a rumor that prices are expected to drop this year as more competition enters the market and LED lighting reaches critical mass.

[abcha0s]

Reeftech Promethus – www.reeftechled.com

These guys are very new. I can’t find any information on the company and details on the product are sparse. I would definitely “wait and see”, but their ideas look really impressive.

I’ve had some communications with the company. Here is what I can share.

Fixture - Technical data:

- LED panel consists of 4 LED boards.
- Each LED board consists of 15 led chips (6 White XPG, 6 XPE Royal Blue, 3 XPE Blue) - see LED Panel v03.jpg
- Each color on each board is controlled separately allowing us to create moving sun, moon or clouds simulation
- MeanWell Power supply
- WiFi wireless connectivity allowing for iPhone, iPad connection etc

If you remember in the past we emailed you the pics of LED boards/panel - see LED Panel v03.jpg attached file - these were first article boards from the manufacturer.

I am attaching the new led that is our production LED board - see attached LED Panel v06.jpg - you can see a shadow of the person taking the pic and also the white sticker will be taken off. We requested to make bigger thermapads and add two additional screw holes in the middle.

Pictures are clickable











- LED Pannel v03.jpg

- LED Pannel v06.jpg

[phi delt reefer]

go big or go home... 300 PAR at 48" custom built by evil66 of nanocustoms

(1) Nanocustoms 10" DIY LED Fixture
(4) Bridgelux N1203 neutral white LEDs
(32) Cree XR-E royal blue LEDs
(4) Ledil Brooke-W 50 degree reflectors
(32) Cree 60 degree lenses
(2) Thomas Research 120W 1050mA drivers

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...post&p=3152238

[mike31154]

Great post. Thanks for doing all the research and presenting it in a condensed format here.

I'm still on the fence with regard to LEDs at the moment. I think patience is the key. While I have the electrical training/background to diy myself a nice fixture, I'm really not all that keen on soldering an array of Crees together and then having to get the iron out again when one of them fails.

More screw in bulbs are appearing in stores every day and they're starting to come with higher power LEDs and dimming capability. No extra drivers, optics, heat sinks etc. required, they're self contained. Still a little pricey and you have to hunt around for something close to the colour temperature we require in our hobby, but I'm sure that will improve soon as well. There are a few forum threads on the subject of folks using PAR38 (parabolic form factor spotlights) with 7 to 12 LEDs in each to light their reefs. I think each bulb of the 12 LED variety is close to $100 still, so not inexpensive, but a lot easier to change out than a soldered up Cree array on a monster heat sink with a half dozen drivers.

I've also been keeping an eye on the small MR16 and GUI based LEDs designed to replace the halogen spotlights that have been used in that form factor for a long time. The MR16s are starting to appear in high power versions and I really like the two pin design that allows easy insertion and removal. I also like the fact that they are designed for DC voltage and one of the things I've been considering is splurging on an array of solar panels to run the lights straight from a DC source. LEDs are DC voltage devices after all and no matter how efficient AC to DC converters/drivers are, it would be so much more efficient and simple to run the LEDs off a DC source from the get go.

I've never been that excited about some of the other features of the high end fixtures like lightning, cloudy day simulation, wireless control et al. As long as the LEDs are dimmable to create a dawn/dusk effect and perhaps a moon phase option, I'd be content with that.

[abcha0s]

Pacific Sun has launched a new website. There are photos of their 2011 offering called 'Metis'. No details yet, but they should be coming soon.

http://www.pacific-sun.eu

I am continuing to learn more about the ReefTech LED offerings. I'm told that more information will be posted to their website in the next couple of days. I think there's an interesting story behind this company and the more I learn, the more impressed I am.

[mseepman]

You can't forget Maxspect or Ecoxotic among your manufacturers. There are also a ton more that hopefully can be added as they show up.

[abcha0s]

ReefTech LED updated their website with more information including Specs for their Prometheus light modules.

http://www.reeftechled.com/?page_id=64

I am seriously considering this light option. I'll probably bring in one or two for evaluation before making a final commitment, but the specs seem very impressive.

I would be really interested in whether anyone has heard about these lights or your overall impression of the specs/design.

- Brad

[soapy]

Yep I am thinking about these lights from Ecoxotic:

http://www.ecoxotic.com/products/mod...-pendants.html

http://www.ecoxotic.com/products/mod...-36-retro.html

The idea of no fans works for me. Plus it would be nice to hang those cannons a couple of feet above the tank for a really open look. Not crazy about the price though.

Originally Posted by mseepman

You can't forget Maxspect or Ecoxotic among your manufacturers. There are also a ton more that hopefully can be added as they show up.

[The Codfather]

I looked at these ecoxotic 50watt pendants when I was in phoenix last spring, they give off a huge amount of light. They where mounted on a 36" deep tank and easily light up the bottom of the tank, I don't however know what kind of par reading these things have. Although the store owner of reef culture was more than willing to show me the par reading on the other tanks that they had in the store. Quite impressive for sure.
http://reefbuilders.com/2010/09/02/p...-led-lighting/

[abcha0s]

Reefbuilders has some more information about the ReefTech Prometheus lighting

"The Prometheus LED from ReefTech is a new lighting fixture which is a fresh departure from the rebadged LED lights which have been flooding the aquarium market. With some clear design and engineering inspiration from PacificSun LED Phobos/Deimos series, the ReefTech Prometheus LED features actively cooled Cree XPG LEDs driven at 3watts each, tricolor white, blue and royal blue LEDs, no standard secondary optics, onboard controller, active cooling and bluetooth and wifi connectivity which will be interoperable with an iPhone application when it launches." - Full Article Here