One of the current challenges in the LED industry is transformer compatibility for low-voltage LEDs. MR16 LEDs are at the forefront of the issue, but not an issue with the LED MR16s themselves. The issue exists with the transformers.

As seen in the figure 1 below, white light falls along the Planckian Locus (or black body locus) on the Chromaticity Diagram. This means that depending on where the white light falls along the black body locus, the light can be bluer or yellower than another white light.

With traditional lamp sources like halogen, fluorescent and metal halide, a selection of lamps (usually somewhere around 100 samples) are burned continuously at a given voltage and position. When 50% of these lamps have ceased to function, then this determines the lamp life for that particular lamp.

Glare is defined as a visual sensation caused by excessive and uncontrolled brightness. It is subjective and sensitivity to glare can vary widely.

Why aren’t Solais lamps UL listed? Why are they ETL? Which is better ETL or UL? We at Solais get asked these questions all the time. I’m going to try and briefly explain the ETL vs. UL showdown here.

Why doesn’t Solais provide LM-80 results on their lamps? That’s because LM-80 refers to the LED itself, outside of its environment.

Why doesn’t Solais have LM-79 certification? Well, that has a simple answer, there is no such thing. LM-79 is a testing process not a certification.

The most common mistake in lighting terms associated with the quantity of light is between the intensity of a light source and its total output. The total output of a light source is described in “lumens”.

LED sources are a new solution for virtually all lighting needs and have the potential to change the way we live and consume energy. The largest limitation currently slowing the adoption of LED lighting is simply that it is new and not well understood.

We recently evaluated the Solais LED LR38 (21W, 1000 lumens) against a PAR38 halogen (90W, 130V, 1310 lumens) for a high-profile client. The client had some initial concerns due to the apparent large difference in lumens between the two products, but this was simply because they did not have a proper understanding of the importance behind the 130V rating.