LED the most promising technology - SME Corp

"Most promising technology.... demand to grow 34% by 2020"

This is what SME Corp Malaysia said during the recent Light+Building Show, the world's biggest event for lighting and building-related services technology, in Frankfurt .


LED lamps can be designed into many different attractive shapes and sizes


It's about time entrepreneurs put more effort in innovation, to promote more applications of LED and solid state lighting (SSL) in industry and commercial sectors as well as home use.

Also, we must find ways to make LED lighting more affordable. For example, for an approximately equivalent lumen, a 60W incandescent bulb would cost just RM2.00, a CFL would cost RM18.00 while a 8W - 10W LED bulb would cost around RM36.00

While LED lamps would save a lot of energy (and money) throught their significantly longer life, many people are not ready yet to pay upfront for energy saving lighting.

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For future reference, I'll share an excerpt of what was reported by Bernama during the Frankfurt Show in Germany:-

The Malaysian Government has identified light emitting diodes (LED) as the most promising technology in terms of commercial viability from among several kinds of clean technology such as photovoltaic solar power, wind power and electric vehicles.

Keeping in view this growth potential, the government was supporting LED and solid state lighting (SSL) companies and also helping them penetrate the global markets, thereby ensuring that the Malaysian LED industry grows in tandem with the world demand.

The demand is expected to grow by 34 per cent by the year 2020. Malaysia is considered to be one of Asia's leading LED manufacturing nations.

In an interview with Bernama on the opening day of the Frankfurt Show, Datuk Hafsah Hashim, the Chief Executive Officer of SME Corp Malaysia, said SME Corp was an Entry Point Project under the electronics/electrical part of the National Key Economic Area (NKEA), with emphasis on the LED/SSL segment.

"The LED/SSL segment has been posting double-digit growth though the quantity exported by Malaysia is still small. LED/SSL technology is the most efficient energy form to bring down the carbon dioxide component. The LED is widely used today."
- Datuk Hafsah Hashim, CEO of SME Corp Malaysia

The SME Corp sees "great potential" for LED products in the emerging markets, including China, India, Africa and the Middle East.

The SME Corp's networking event was attended by designers, architects, distributors and retailers.

Garreth Jones, Managing Director of the UK-based LUX-TSI, provided signposts at the networking event on how to establish and implement proper testing processes for safety and performance of LED lighting products for the European markets.

Though Malaysia's LED exports presently may be small, many German trade visitors at the Light+Building Show were confident that the exports would grow in future.

LED exports appear in the Ministry of International Trade and Industry statistics under the broad product grouping electrical and electronic products.

Consumer demand for LED lighting rises in 2014

Overall demand for LED chip or also called semiconductor chip is expected to grow from 17 billion in 2012 to 61 billion in 2014, according to NPD Display Search.

LED chip is the integral part of the fabrication of LED bulbs.



Locating the LED chip: The heart of an LED is the semiconductor chip of which one side is attached on the top of an anvil (attached to negative power lead), and the other side connected with a whisker/post (attached to positive power lead). Photo source


More than three-fold in demand growth

Although demand for LED chips for backlight applications in display screens is expected to decline, LED lighting sales are growing, and total shipments of LED chips are on the rise. According to the latest NPD DisplaySearch, worldwide LED lighting chip sales reached $1.1 billion in 2013 and are predicted to reach $3.4 billion in 2017.


Source: NPD DisplaySearch Quarterly LED Lighting and Display Supply/Demand Report


Demand for display back-lights slowing but demand for LED lighting to increase

While consumer demand for LED lighting will continue to increase in the coming years, the demand for LED backlight chips for TVs and other display applications will start to decline after 2014.

Demand from backlights is falling due to a combination of slower growth in LED-backlit LCD TV sales and efficiency increases that have resulted in a reduction in chips used per backlight. LED backlight chip sales reached $2.0 billion in 2013, but are forecast to decrease to $1.4 billion in 2017. By comparison, consumer demand for LED lighting has increased since 2012 and is expected to keep growing through 2017.

Significant growth in consumer lighting is helping to keep the LED market on an upward trajectory, even with ongoing declines in backlight demand.


LED fluorescent tubes

As costs fall for LED fluorescent tubes, they continue to replace traditional fluorescent lighting, especially in certain offices and garages, where lighting is required on a 24-hour basis. DisplaySearch noted that, the LED tube is currently the most popular LED lighting product because, unlike traditional fluorescent lighting, LED tubes do not contain mercury, are 50 percent more energy efficient, and boast a longer lifespan.

Source: NPD Display Search


TheGreenMechanics: Very well. The Mayoy's pledge to install more LED lamps in and around Kota Kinabalu city is indeed timely. The lower power tariff for public lighting should also incentivise more lamps at strategic places.

Price of LED light bulbs in Sabah

LED lighting was once considered luxury, simply because the cost to purchase a single LED light bulb can buy you 50 to 60 pieces of incandescent light bulbs of the equivalent lumen (loosely translated as brightness of the bulb).

They are still 'luxury' bulbs today, but prices are dropping fast as more manufacturers are producing better and improved versions. Cree, Philips, Osram, Panasonic, GE, and many lesser known brands are starting to flood the market, which is actually good for the consumers.

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) are the energy saving lamps that did very well in replacing the energy-hungry incandescent lamps as well as the 36W/18W fluorescent lamps in the homes of many.


Philips 24W CFL (equavalent to 125W) was selling for RM21 last year.


The price of CFLs has dropped to almost 50% in the last 2 years. Re-sellers are now offering 25W bulbs (equivalent to 150W) at as low as RM12.50 and other outlets are offering RM20.90 for a pair of 23W CFL. Quite a good deal as it cost you only RM10.45/pc.



Panasonic's 19W CFL (equivalent to 100W) is now available at RM9.50



I bought quite a number of these recently.


Of course there is downside to using CFLs: there is a small amount of mercury in each bulb you purchase. Disposal of spent bulbs would be an issue, not to mention the accidental breakage that would definitely expose you to the dangerous mercury fume.


LED bulbs - safer, more environmentally friendly
With LED bulbs this is a non-issue. No toxic gas, no heat and they last much, much longer than CFLs and incandescent lamps. 

So, how much is an LED light bulb? Well prices vary but one thing is for sure - they are dropping and many average guys would be able to afford them now.

For a start, towards the end of last year, Cree introduced a 75W equivalent LED bulb for US$24.00 (around RM77.00) which is pretty steep.


LED lamps compared with the soon-to-be-banned incandescent lamps:
Saving per year per lamp = 23 kWh (quoting Panasonic)
Saving with 10 similar lamps = 230 kWh,
or RM42.55 / year         - assuming you use not more than 200kWh of electricity monthly.
or RM75.90 / year  - assuming you consume more energy, hence the higher tariff bracket (RM0.33/kWh)



Earlier on, LED bulbs don't seem to be that affordable. This MiNT LED bulb is an example.

7.8W LED bulbs: RM49.90/ pc (Parkson Kota Kinabalu) - as at August 2013



During PC fair at 1Borneo in Novermer 2013, ACI Technology was selling this Panasonic LED bulbs at:
LED 8W (equivalent to 60W incandescent)  = RM35.90/ pc
LED 10E (equivalent to 75W incandescent) = RM40.90

Slightly lower than the one at Parkson.


Recently, I checked and found that they are sold cheaper albeit a lower wattage and lumens.
OSRAM LED 5W bulb = RM29.90/ pc


TheGreenMechanics: Fancy this - Panasonic claimed that their LED bulbs can last up to 40 years before they need to be replaced. What? Are you kidding me? I'd be happy if mine can last 10 years.

Do you think you can find lower priced LED bulbs near you? Please share with us in the comment section.

Can we replace all fluorescent bulbs with LED, soon?

Presently, there is already LED version of the long soft glowing tubes found in most offices and homes. But these LED tubes are very expensive and are not widely used.

What Phillips is doing is to develop an LED light that will be "far more efficient than the best fluorescents on the market. Greener and cheaper."

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Prototype of a new tube LED light developed by the Phillips that is capable of generating 200 lumens of white light per watt. AP Photo/Phillips


Goodbye fluorescent bulb? Philips says yes

Top executive at Dutch company Phillips said the prototype LED is headed to mass production and will hit the market in 2015. He claimed that in 10 years, LEDs will replace at least half of the world's fluorescent bulbs, which have been the main source of workplace lighting since shortly after World War II.

"This is a major step forward for the lighting world. It will bring an enormous savings in energy."- Rene van Schooten, CEO of Philips' light sources division.

Experts outside the Dutch company say they have long expected LEDs to eclipse fluorescents. If Philips' predictions are correct, however, the arrival of the LED in office spaces will come faster than expected.


Huge potential of LED tubes

Lights suck up more than 15% of all energy produced globally, and fluorescent lights currently make up more than half of the total lighting market.

In the United States alone, fluorescents consume about 200 terawatts annually, according to Philips' estimates. Cutting that in half would save $12 billion in electricity costs and lessen carbon dioxide emissions by 60 million metric tons per year, the company said.

The technical milestone the company claims to have achieved is the ability to produce 200 lumens of light per watt. That's about twice the output per watt of the best fluorescent tubes currently on the market.

A lumen is the standard measure of the amount of light a lamp casts in a given area.

"LEDs will take over, definitely within 10 years, certainly within 5 years, maybe within three." - Rene van Schooten.


Source: Yahoo News

MyLED Opto eyes 70% local market share in 5 years

This is another testimony that we are capable of producing products with cutting edge technology but end up shipping them out of the country for others to use.

Homegrown MyLED produces among others:

• LED fluorescent lamps
• Yellow LED lamps
• LED street lamps
• LED floodlights

The reason for the 70% shipping out to foreign markets could be a combination of small market in Malaysia and our slow adoption of LED lighting applications. I hope it is not the latter.

LED tube similar to the conventional fluorescent tube, but uses 50% less energy, is one of MyLED's products. Power factor ranges from 0.8 to 0.9


MyLED Opto Technology Sdn Bhd to capture local market

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia's first light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and solid-state lighting (SSL) producer, MyLED Opto Technology Sdn Bhd (MyLED Opto), targets 70 per cent local market share in five years from 30 to 40 per cent currently.

Chief Executive Officer Jetson Lai said the company is optimistic of capturing a bigger share of the local market with its prices 10 to 15 per cent lower than international brands.

"About 70 per cent of sales is from foreign markets, which are our current focus, with high demand from Japan, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom and Indonesia," he said in a statement here.

Lai said MyLed Opto will more aggressively market its products locally.

"The plan is to raise production capacity to 200,000 units of fluorescent lamp tubes a month from 50,000 units now," he said.

MyLed Group, which is 75 per cent Bumiputera-owned, offers various LED lamps including street lamps, floodlights, fluorescent lamps as well as yellow LED lamps for the local and overseas markets.

The company expects to rake in about RM2 billion in revenue over the next five years, he said.

"We have signed an agreement with the marketing arm of a Japanese company to supply LED lamps for self-service machines, which number 10 million units nationwide," he said.

Lai said to meet rising demand, MyLED Opto plans to venture into upstream industries and start production of LED components in the second half of this year.

"To meet this target, MyLed Opto plans to invest RM120 million to RM150 million to expand operations and buy high-technology production machinery, the plan is expected to start in June.

"We are working to obtain financing from financial institutions and the government, and we hope banks see the LED industry as an industry of the future after IT due to the technology's energy saving potential," he said.

MyLed Opto's RM5.2 million manufacturing plant in Batu Berendam, Melaka has been operating since last year. - Bernama

Take advantage of Thailand's LED Lighting market: MATRADE

If you have outgrown the domestic demand, venture globally. This seem to be the message of MATRADE to local manufacturers and exporters.

But is our domestic demand that high? I doubt it.

Malaysia has more than 20 local LED companies involved in the assembly of LED lighting products. Some of the bigger ones are Osram Opto Semiconductors (M) Sdn Bhd, Globetronics Technology Bhd, Elsoft Research Bhd, MyLED Opto Technology, and MMS Ventures Bhd.

Malaysia's LED lighting market is not that big compare to that of China or even Thailand but what's more disappointing is the lower than expected usage of LED lighting locally. For example, Osram in Bayan Lepas, Penang is expanding its production plant because it is anticipating the huge demand in China beginning 2013.

Why can't we expand domestic consumption instead. (Again) are we happy with just being the manufacturer and exporter but not using the product itself?

Thailand's LED lighting market is currently 12% of the nation's total lighting market share

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I've appended Bernama's article herewith for your reference, in case the news portal decides to archive it and becomes unavailable for free:


Malaysian exporters urged to take advantage Of Thai LED Lighting market

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 15 -- The Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) is encouraging Malaysian exporters of LED lightings to take advantage of the huge demand for LED products in Thailand.

In a statement, Matrade said Thailand continues to encourage energy saving, and plans to reduce energy consumption by 20 per cent by 2030.

"Thailand's current LED lighting market is about US$27 million (RM84 million) or 12 per cent of the Kingdom's total lighting market share.

"Market demand is anticipated to increase further between 30 per cent to 50 per cent by 2015. The market has shown a positive growth trend with revenue of more than US$10 billion (RM31 million) in recent years," it added.

Matrade's Trade Commissioner in Bangkok, Niqman Rafaee Mohd Sahar said the Provincial Electricity Authority is planning to replace one million street lights nationwide with (LED)bulbs. He said other areas that require LED lighting are public and private infrastructure projects, including the construction of a new stadium, the Parliament house, residential areas in the city and provinces, commercial areas such as shopping malls, hospitality and entertainment projects.

"Malaysian companies should focus on the requirements of LED products for massive government projects in Thailand, as well as to explore and support the growth demand of LED lighting in the electrical, electronics, and automotive industry," he added.

The number of cars with LED headlights will grow from 1.5 million this year to five million in 2015 with the value of LED components growing from US$130 million (RM406 million) to US$300 million (RM938 million).

Last year, Malaysia's total trade with Thailand grew 5.4% to US$74.01 billion (RM231 billion) with a positive export growth of 5.5% to US$37.71 billion (RM118 billion).