Energy harvesting: a thin film approach - EE Times Europe

NEWS & TECHNOLOGY
OPTOELECTRONICS
EETimes Europe: Highly integrated
– does this mean that you
integrate the driver circuitry onto
the LED chip?
M. Zeiler: Yes, for instance. This is
one option. Also the connecting
technology is designed to be as
slim as possible. We always have
solutions that are different. In addition,
we have many promising
contacts with large OEMs which
are interested in our technology.
If you look at the details, in the
high-volume retrofit market it even
makes sense to run a production
in Europe – if you have a high
degree of automation.
EETimes Europe: Where are your
manufacturing locations?
M. Zeiler: Everything but the chips
are produced in St. Petersburg.
In Dortmund we have R&D and a
pilot production. Our high volume
production is here in Landshut
where we can use existing infrastructure
(from LFoundry), clean rooms etc. We can rent the
infrastructure with an option for further enlargement, ideal for
mass production.
EETimes Europe: What’s your estimate of the LED market development
for the future? Do you think LEDs will quickly displace
CFLs?
M. Zeiler: Yes and no. Quickly in the sense of the traditional
lighting business, yes. This could happen in a time frame of
three to five years while it took some 25 years for the CFL to
gain significant market share in conventional lighting. But one
should not expect a complete changeover. In certain market
segments such as automotive or laptop display backlighting,
LEDs conquered the markets very quickly. In general lighting,
this won’t happen at the same speed. The established lighting
companies do not move that fast. This is a clash of the cultures
– conventional lighting and the fast-moving semiconductor
industry.
EETimes Europe: Which market segments do you expect to
grow the fastest? In which applications do LEDs gather acceptance
most rapidly?
Slim, cost effective processes and leading solid-state IP are the two main pillars of Optogan’s
technology strategy.
M. Zeiler: The automotive market is almost saturated with LEDs.
Therefore, we are not active in automotive lighting. We have a
clear focus on general lighting and see the highest potential in
industrial lighting. In this segment, customers can achieve an
ROI in less than three years in some cases. In the consumer
segment we are not so present but we prepare our first concepts.
Here the focus is high lumen per watt and more specifically,
high lumen per dollar.
To address the outdoor lighting market, we have launched a
joint venture with Philips which covers the market for street
lighting in Russia, Belarus and Kazahkstan. In this joint venture,
R&D is in the hands of our partner. For this reason, street lighting
is a “dead spot” on our R&D map.
EETimes Europe: Which technology trends in the LED lighting
segments do you find most interesting at the current point of
time?
M. Zeiler: We bet very strongly on modular concepts that embrace
the entire product chain from components to the complete
lamp. In these concepts, complete solutions with tiered
drivers and heat sinks play a major role. In addition, we see a
trend to ever-higher integration. The customers are increasingly
looking for reduced component count through higher integration.
EETimes Europe: Is the ability to control dimming a factor in the
market acceptance?
M. Zeiler: Yes – for example in the markets for home lighting
where dimming is a popular feature for retrofit lamps. We also
see an increasing interest for dimming in industrial applications:
it enables users to dim down the lighting in storage halls as long
as nobody works in there and when an employee with a fork
lift enters the place the illumination is turned up. This is also
relevant for dynamic sports areas lighting. End users can save a
lot of money with dimming solutions.
EETimes Europe: Are there any standard interfaces and industrial
standards that will gain importance in lighting technology?
M. Zeiler: Of course, for us the Zhaga standard is relevant. We
offer all components and interfaces necessary to position ourselves
in this environment. In industrial markets, it is important
to comply with the DMX / DALI standards. When it comes to
retrofits, however, the Zhaga standard does not help you along;
in this field we need to drive the integration by ourselves and
develop our own ideas.
10 Electronic Engineering Times Europe September 2012 www.electronics-eetimes.com