News

1 October 2010

 

LED City’s US members join forces with DOE consortium

US participants in the Cree LED City Program are to join forces with the Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium, which is sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE).

The LED City Program is an international community of government and industry parties initiated by LED chip, lamp and lighting fixture maker Cree Inc of Durham, NC, USA in 2007 to evaluate, deploy and promote LED lighting across municipal infrastructure (with the aim of saving energy, protecting the environment, reducing maintenance costs, and providing better light quality for improved visibility and safety). The objective is to accelerate the implementation of LED lighting by encouraging users to share experiences and data. The program has since helped cities across the world move to solid-state lighting, and member cities are regularly reporting energy savings of 50–80% and maintenance cost avoidance in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, over the life of the fixtures, says Cree.

The Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium is a voluntary group of representatives from interested municipalities, utilities and lighting professionals. Its goal is to build a catalog of field experience and data that will accelerate the learning curve for buying and implementing high-quality LED lighting, as well as serving as an objective resource to evaluate new products on the market. Formed earlier this year, the consortium has nearly 400 members in 48 states, five Canadian provinces, and four other countries, all seeking to share technical information and experiences related to LED street and area lighting demonstrations.

The Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium will now provide ongoing national organizational structure and guidance to LED City members and new members in the process of evaluating solid-state street-lighting technologies meant for public streets and other public areas. The consortium also aims to provide a forum like the LED City Council Meetings, where buyers and implementers can get information, discuss best practices, and share lessons learned.

“Cree’s innovative LED City Program has provided a valuable forum for municipalities to learn and share in the earliest stages of LED street lighting,” says Jim Brodrick, DOE’s Solid-State Lighting Program Manager. “We are pleased to have the leadership and rich base of experience these cities bring to the consortium. Their knowledge and interest in continuing to mentor other municipalities will speed many up the learning curve as they evaluate new street-lighting options for their communities,” he reckons.

“DOE’s Municipal Solid-State Lighting Consortium represents a significant next step in the continued adoption of LED lighting in cities across the country,” comments Greg Merritt, Cree’s VP corporate marketing. “The DOE’s consortium is well positioned to build on and enhance the growing momentum of the Cree LED City program, guiding cities along the path to LED lighting,” he adds.

See related items:

Seattle to lead DOE Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium

Search: Cree LED City LEDs

Visit: www.ssl.energy.gov/consortium.html

Visit: www.cree.com

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