Vinod Khosla invests more money in clean energy

Vinod Khosla, the billionaire venture capital investor, is raising his bet on clean technology.
Khosla Ventures, the company he formed in 2004, created a $1.05 billion fund and will steer as much as 65 percent of that to back businesses developing renewable sources of power, energy-efficiency technology and LED lighting products, Khosla said Friday.
In supporting early stage companies with unproven technology, Khosla expects some of them to fail. Lawmakers in Washington have criticized an Energy Department program that followed the same strategy by providing a loan guarantee to Solyndra LLC, the Fremont solar company that filed for bankruptcy last month.
“When you’re trying new things, some things just don’t work,” Khosla said. “Solyndra wasn’t cost competitive with other companies in the valley; there are other companies that are doing fine.”
Khosla is seeking companies that are striving for scientific breakthroughs, such as Soraa Inc., which he has backed since 2007. Soraa has “fundamentally changed the materials on which LEDs are built,” he said. That means there’s “more science risk than just a little bit of engineering.”
He’s also interested in thermoelectric materials, which generate power from waste heat. “Thermoelectrics, if they have a large enough breakthrough, which we hope for, could revolutionize air conditioning, cooling and refrigeration,” Khosla said. They may also revolutionize power generation to become “both a demand-side and a supply-side technology.”
Khosla Ventures said its clean-technology portfolio has generated about $1 billion in profit. That includes gains from the initial public offerings of biofuels companies Amyris Inc., Gevo Inc. and Kior Inc. Khosla has also backed at least two companies that have been acquired by larger entities – solar energy developer Ausra Inc. was bought by Areva SA in 2010 and efficient-motor maker Ramu Inc. by Regal Beloit Corp. in April.  www.bgocled.com

Market for LED Luminaires Over $3.8 Billion in 2010

Growth rates among applications vary, but the global market for LED luminaires is expected to grow to $8.3 billion by 2014. Rapid improvements in performance and price of commercially available high brightness LED packages, heightened awareness about energy efficiency, phasing out of incandescent bulbs, and fiscal stimulus undertaken by countries around the world, created conditions for adoption of white light application of LED technology, which otherwise would have faced the low-volume-high-cost conundrum. Quality issues that affected the market penetration of previous energy efficient lighting technologies continue to affect this market but the resolve to reduce energy consumption is likely to propel this technology to be widely commercialized and adopted by the market. The LED Luminaires, Market Analysis & Forecast includes nine LED lighting application segments and analysis for the period from 2008 to 2014.
Being the most efficient light source technology for applications requiring a directional beam of light and batteries, consumer portable applications were the largest segment of the LED luminaire market in 2010. The quality of LEDs has improved to a point that performance is no longer an issue. The issue now is the price of designing LEDs into luminaires. Color and color-changing application in architectural and entertainment applications together had revenues more than $1 billion in 2010. Residential lighting — the fastest growing segment of the market — starting from a small base, is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 44% through 2014. Global revenues for LED luminaires in commercial/industrial applications are expected to be more than $1 billion in 2011. The outdoor area lighting applications, which benefitted from fiscal stimulus and the need for energy conservation, are expected to grow at a CAGR of 38% through 2014. Solar powered lanterns will be a low margin-high volume application assisted by NGOs and governments trying to save fuel subsidies. The revenues for this sub-segment are forecast to grow at a CAGR of 58% for the same period. LED exit signs have become a mature market in the U.S. and are in the initial stage of market penetration in white light application in egress signage lighting outside the U.S. China is the largest market as well as the largest supplier of LED luminaires.

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Vermont towns turning to LED lights

LED lights, those darlings of environmentalists and the budget conscious, are hitting the streets. The light-emitting diodes, which can use as much as 70 percent less energy as traditional lights, have been turning up regularly in car headlights, traffic signals, aviation lights and increasingly in home interior lighting. Now they're taking over street lighting in Vermont.   www.bgocled.com

RGGLED launched unique largest LED ceiling screen

Lately, no big event can be imagined without LED production, especially without something new, creative and record breaking. Just like the 2011 Asian winter games in Kazachstan which on 30th of January took place in Astana, the capital of Kazachstan. New arena in Astana was illuminated by the ceiling LED screen which was designed, manufactured, installed and launched by Lithuanian company RGGLED. This project is unique in Europe as well as in Asia by its measures - ceiling LED screen was 8500 sq. m big.
„I evaluate Astana arena project as an extreme success, despite the fact that designing and negotiations took us nearly a year. The exact LED screen project is unique by its measures both in Europe and Asia because this big area in the ceiling have not shined anywhere else,“ said RGGLED CEO Gytis Mikelinskas.
For about a year company's specialists were participating in ongoing negotiations and were trying to clarify the needs of the customer which led to a happy ending – unique ceiling illumination was created.
“The project of the size like this was refused by other world's biggest companies due to these major problems: risk of failure, because nobody else has ever made a project like this and because of short period of time, which we had for designing and installation. So this is why we can say that we accepted it as a challenge for us, which we had to complete and most importantly – we succeeded,“ described the project G. Mikelinskas.
The screen in Astana arena which consisted of more than 4,86 million pieces light emitting diodes was installed by the RGGLED specialists. Whole month the team of twelve specialists and technicians from RGGLED were assembling the screen in Astana arena.    www.bgocled.com