LED maker Unity Opto sees solar street lamp orders coming

Esther Lam, DIGITIMES, Taipei  [Saturday 23 June 2007]

Unity Opto Technology is extending its product portfolio to solar street lamps using its LEDs, with orders about to arrive from the second half of 2007, according to company executives. Unity Opto is one of the few LED makers who attended the LED Lighting Taiwan trade show to exhibit LED-based solar-powered street lamps. However, the item on display was more of an engineering sample in terms of its height and brightness in comparison to a conventional street lamp. The lighting part is comprised of two key components, a white-LED light source and a solar panel. For the LED part, Unity Opto utilizes 12 high-power white LEDs, generating a luminance of 1,800lm at 36W. The solar panel is the prime source of power for the entire street lamp. Lifetimes for the LED and solar panel are 50,000 hours and 15 years respectively. Unity Opto said the exhibited version is just a model designed for show purposes. Customization for all components involved in the street lamp is possible, including sizes of the solar panels and lighting part. If customers require higher wattages, several individual lighting parts could be combined along with more solar panels, the company noted. Conventional street lamps use around 100W. Unity Opto said this 36W version could store enough converted electricity to enable the lamp to light ten hours per day and five days continuously without any sunshine. Sampling to both US and Taiwan-based customers has already started and feedback is good, revealed Unity Opto. The LED maker is positive about its deployment, especially in the US market. Given that Canada has started replacing conventional street lamps with LED ones and the US should follow suit, Unity Opto anticipates related market to take off within five years.