OFweek Semiconductor Lighting Network February 6, 2012 The European Commission has listed optoelectronics as a key enabling technology. At present, the European Commission is strongly promoting solid-state lighting (SSL) in Europe. The large-scale expansion to reduce energy costs and promote the development of the lighting industry.

Not long ago, the European Commission’s Vice Chair Neelie Kroes announced that the European Commission had passed a Green Paper and conducted public consultation on the lighting theme. She said: “To vigorously develop LED lighting is undoubtedly, it can save costs and create a more Healthy environment. Please share your thoughts on how to accelerate LED deployment and how to create more job opportunities and save costs by promoting LED lighting applications."

LED lighting can bring many significant benefits, but to become a true mainstream technology, it also faces many challenges, especially in terms of cost, standardization, and public awareness. The European Commission hopes to ensure that Europe will not fall behind other major economies that are also trying to develop solid-state lighting.

The European Commission estimates that lighting currently accounts for 14% of total electricity use in the EU and 19% of the world's total. However, this proportion has rapidly risen in European cities. Lighting in these areas accounts for half of the total electricity consumption, which means that the development of high-efficiency LEDs will have a significant impact on energy demand.

However, many urban governments do not have enough awareness of this, and conscious cities face other challenges. The European Commission stated in the Green Paper: “A lot of cities are reluctant to use solid-state lighting widely in the field of outdoor lighting. This is mainly because of the conflict between the relatively high up-front investment costs and the tight annual budget. There are still others. Reasons, such as lack of quality certification system and standard development standards."

Philips has lighted similar difficulties for residential users in Zurich, Switzerland. The European Commission said that the sales and production of solid-state lighting will bring about a revolution. The Green Paper suggests that financial incentives for residential customers to purchase and install solid-state lighting, as with gas, electricity, and communications, can also be provided as a service, rather than simply by purchasing an SSL light bulb. In this way, the lighting company can bear the installation cost, and then obtain the return on investment from the saved energy use.

The European Commission predicts that the transition to smart lighting systems and services will have a major impact on the lighting and service market. More and more lighting companies will enter the lighting service market, leading to the integration of the lighting industry. Custom solutions will be a growth opportunity for the lighting industry.

Although Europe has two leading global lighting companies and LED manufacturers, Philips and Osram, the development of solid-state lighting is still relatively slow. The European Commission believes that other countries, especially China, South Korea and Japan, have developed rapidly under the strong government support and national strategy.

According to a new report from McKinsey & Company, the global lighting market in 2010 was about 52 billion euros, of which Europe accounted for nearly 30% of the total. By 2020, the global lighting market will reach 88 billion euros. At that time, as the share of developing countries continues to increase, Europe will account for only 25%.

The European Commission stated that Europe must address the current obstacles affecting the development of solid-state lighting and help the European lighting industry maintain its leading global competitiveness.

The European Commission acknowledges that although the European lighting industry currently has 150,000 employees, the production of LED chips is very limited. Lumileds, a subsidiary of Philips, is a major manufacturer of LED chips, but Lumileds manufactures LED chips mainly in San Jose, California and Asia. As a result, Opto Semiconductors, OSRAM's subsidiary, became the only leading manufacturer in Europe to mass produce LED chips.

Sharp's "Mega Zeni" LED module Osram and Philips are the main representatives of European lighting technology and industry influence, but other countries and companies outside Europe are rapidly advancing the development of solid-state lighting such as LED, which makes Europe worried that it will be left behind . This figure shows the Mega Zeni LED module from Japanese electronics giant Sharp. The module provides up to 100 lumens per watt of white light and is designed for indoor and outdoor lighting applications.

The European Commission raised a number of key strategic issues: the ability to transform technologies developed in Europe into marketable products, the strengthening of cooperation in the value chain, and the use of intellectual property rights.

The Green Paper also emphasizes the dependence of LED technology on rare raw materials, including indium and germanium required for the light emitting layer of LED chips, and rare earth elements such as germanium and antimony used in phosphors that convert blue light from LED to white light. China has more than 95% of rare earth supply, and exports are strictly limited.

The European Commission called on European lighting industry to seek public support for the "Horizon 2020" innovation plan and launch its own plan to promote cooperation between large-scale enterprises and SMEs. At the same time, it will work with relevant European organizations to establish industry standards.