An AC-LED partnership between Lynk Labs and Thomas Research Products; funding announcements from Ledzworld, EcoSense, and Once Innovations; and new large-diameter patterned sapphire substrates from Rubicon top the recent SSL news space.

LED-based lighting will enable higher illuminance levels on iconic artwork in famed Rome cathedral while preserving the historically-significant work and utilizing 60% less energy.

At the Investor Forum at Strategies in Light Europe next week, Digital Lumens CEO Tom Pincince will present an update on the SSL- and adaptive-controls- focused startup. Prior to the show he answered questions posed by Maury Wright and Katya Evstratyeva.

Seeking to improve driver efficiency for portable power applications, Chris Glaser and Jim Chen explain a voltage-regulation technique known as high-side sensing, which eliminates the lossy sense resistor component by relying on a MOSFET.

The new Z5-M1 family of high-power LEDs offers SSL product developers 132 lm/W in warm white and 150 lm/W in cool white in a standard 3535 surface-mount package.

ChromaLit Linear remote phosphor optics appear white in the off state and enable LED-based linear lighting systems that can produce 2000 lm per foot in CCTs ranging from 3000K to 5000K.

The Lumination DI Series of downlights relies on the Infusion family of SSL modules that are compatible with the Book 5 Zhaga specification for socketable light engines.

The 2014 SSL R&D funding opportunities apply to LEDs and OLEDs across the three previously defined sectors of core technology research, product development, and US manufacturing.

LED-based spherical ornaments, traditional LED light strings, and commercial-grade GE Tetra Max LED products combine to efficiently light the US National Christmas tree located at President's Park in Washington, DC.

While SSL experts regularly project the demise of the lightbulb form, the popularity of stories focused on LED-based lamps with our readers make it clear that today it remains a very hot topic, outpacing even packaged LED stories.

The US Department of Energy announced $150 million in tax credits with Cree and Osram Sylvania winning awards for expansion of US-based manufacturing, while Philips Lighting and Toshiba announce new LED retrofit lamps.

The Finiré fixture family from Lutron's Ivalo collection now includes a recessed luminaire based on Xicato modular LED light engines that allow Lutron to supply the same basic fixture with a range of CRI options.

The US Department of Energy concluded that all 38 models of PAR38 lamps tested surpass halogen lamps in terms of energy efficiency. Subjective testing of some models by IES members determined that single emitters performed best.