It was a little over a year ago that Wired ran an article about the future of the light bulb. The feature covered a liquid-filled bulb made by a California-based startup, marking the first time most people heard about Switch Lighting Company. Eventually word spread, not to point where Switch became a household name, but enough that a smattering of geeks know who these guys are. Now, after about a year of delays, the liquid-filled bulbs are finally about to hit the market. We’re not quite at the release date yet, but it’s close enough that I’ve had a chance to test one out.
The Switch60, a 60W-equivalent LED bulb is the same model I demoed last year and what will likely be the mainstay of the company’s lineup. It produces 800 lumens, has a CRI (color accuracy) rating above 80, and consumes 12W. It should last for at least 25,000 hours of operation and has a color temperature of 2700K, which translates into warm white light. The Switch60 is a standard A19 size, works in existing sockets in any orientation, and is should qualify for Energy Star certification. In other words, the Switch60 was designed to be the perfect replacement bulb.
The defining feature of the Switch bulb is its liquid cooling system, which the company calls LQD. Filling the bulb with liquid silicone does a lot of things for Switch but, most importantly, it makes for a serious amount of cooling. With better cooling than a normal bulb Switch is able to get more heat away from the LEDs, which means that their lamps can use more LEDs or higher powered ones. This isn’t really an issue for 40W- and 60W-equivalent models, but it allows Switch to have a 100W-equivalent (1600 lumen) replacement bulb that is not over-sized.
If you are curious about the LQD cooling system here is the quick-and-dirty explainer on how it works: The liquid silicone inside the bulb cools the parts through convection. In practice this means that the warmer liquid rises away from the heat source, while the cooler does the opposite. The convection happens because the liquid expands — you would not have convection without buoyancy. To account for expansion within a fixed volume the bulb has a compensation piston which moves in and out to adjust for changes in temperature and pressure. All that to cool 10 little LEDs…
Through some clever engineering — all of which has been patented — Switch was able to create a liquid-cooled bulb that operates at -4° F TO 113° F, can be placed in an enclosure, and doesn’t turn into a bomb when it gets hot (and the fluid expands). Some of the downsides are that the bulb weighs a hefty 10 ounces and that it’s expensive to produce, but more on that later..
I first tested out the Switch60 in a light fixture that is nothing more than a socket and a cord — given just how good this bulb looks, I didn’t want to hide it behind a shade. Once it was powered on the first thing I noticed is that the light is truly omnidirectional. This isn’t too easy to pull off with (directional) LEDs, but the placement of the 10 emitters inside the bulb allows it to get close to the light pattern of an incandescent. The light is the brightest around the equator, which means eye-level placement is not ideal, but the overall pattern is good.
The Switch60 I tried was clear though a frosted version will be available as well. The clear exterior can look impressive under certain circumstances, but it does allow for visible hot spots on the bulb and can create multiple shadows in the room. This is an inherent issue with using more than one light source and while I never found it to be a problem, the aesthetes amongst us might be more picky. That said, it does seem like a shame to hide the interior of the Switch behind a frosted surface or a lamp shade.
STEVE KLINEBERG, a sociologist at Rice University, mentions a couple of events that made Houston’s leaders take notice of a looming problem. One was the day, in 1999, when their city overtook Los Angeles as America’s most polluted—evidence that the rise in asthma attacks among the city’s children, and the students passing out on football pitches, were no coincidence. Another was when Houston came up short in its bid to compete to host the 2012 Olympics. No one on the United States Olympics Committee voted for it, despite the fact that Houston had a brand-new stadium and had promised to turn an old sports field into the world’s largest air-conditioned track-and-field arena.
At a casual glance, Houston looks much as it ever did: a tangle of freeways running through a hodgepodge of skyscrapers, strip malls and mixed districts. A closer inspection, though, shows signs of change. The transport authority, which branched into light rail in 2004, is now planning three new lines, adding more than 20 miles of track. Most of the traffic lights now boast LED bulbs, rather than the incandescent sort. More than half the cars in the official city fleet are hybrid or electric, and in May a bike-sharing programme began. Every Wednesday a farmers’ market takes place by the steps of city hall.
Other changes are harder to see. The energy codes for buildings have been overhauled and the city is, astonishingly, America’s biggest municipal buyer of renewable energy; about a third of its power comes from Texan wind farms.
Houston, in other words, is going green. Laura Spanjian, the city’s director of sustainability, says that businesses are increasingly likely to get on board if they can see the long-term savings or the competitive advantages that flow from creating a more attractive city. She adds an important clarification: “We’re not mandating that they have to do this.” That would not go down well. Houston is the capital of America’s energy industry, and its leaders have traditionally been wary of environmental regulation, both at home and abroad.
In fact the city has been sceptical of regulations in general, and even more of central planning. Houston famously has no zoning, which helps explain why the city covers some 600 square miles. It is America’s fourth-largest city by population, but less than half as densely populated as sprawling Los Angeles. People are heavily dependent on cars, the air quality is poor and access to green space is haphazard. At the same time, Houston has jobs, a low cost of living and cheap property. Many people have accepted that trade-off. Between 2000 and 2010 the greater metropolitan area added more than 1.2m people, making it America’s fastest-growing city.
Still, the public is taking more interest in sustainability, and for a number of reasons. As the city’s population has swelled, the suburbs have become more crowded. Some of the growth has come from the domestic migration of young professionals with a taste for city life. And despite living in an oil-industry hub, the people of Houston are still aware of the cost of energy; during the summer of 2008, when petrol prices hovered around $4 a gallon, the papers reported a surge of people riding their bicycles to bus stops so that they could take public transport to work.
The annual Houston Area Survey from Rice’s Kinder Institute also shows a change. This year’s survey found that 56% think a much better public transport system is “very important” for the city’s future. A similarly solid majority said the Metro system should use all its revenue for improvements to public transport, rather than diverting funds to mend potholes. In the 1990s, most respondents were more concerned about the roads.
The Green Building Council of South Africa recently awarded Millennia Park office building in Western Cape Province of South Africa a Green Star SA Certification. The accolade is significant: the 29-year-old building located in Stellenbosch is the first refurbished building in the country to receive the rating.
The refurbishment of Millennia Park set precedent for how existing buildings can be turned green. The market for green buildings is increasingly expanding in South Africa, as indicated by the membership of the GBCSA, with many companies adopting sustainability in businesses and property development.
"Green technologies are fast becoming mainstream globally, and even though South Africa is lagging behind compared to countries such as the UK, the country is transitioning from an early adopter stage to green building practices becoming the standard," says Graham Peters, the managing director of GJP Consulting Engineering.
According to the GBCSA, more existing buildings will be refurbished in the short to medium-term, as economic and environmental factors continue to be a challenge.
"Property developers and home owners are keen to green existing buildings, and there are many ways of tackling such projects. One of the cheapest and quickest ways to realise savings is through lighting. Compact fluorescents are now commonplace and LED lighting is emerging as a new technology, which uses even less energy. Daylight and motion sensors can also easily be retro fitted to control lighting. If the building has an air conditioning or heating system, insulation is the first step to better efficiency. Blinds can be easily fitted to windows to reduce solar gain, as this makes air conditioning systems work much harder," says Peters, whose company offers sustainable design service to the property sector.
The GBCSA says there is now a growing and wider market base for green buildings, following its marketing and education campaigns that highlight the need for change in the South Africa's built environment.
However, due to conflicting interests of investors in the built environment, more commitment would be required to grow the green building market further.
"One of our greatest challenges is changing the mind-sets. People often believe that the temperature of a building's air conditioning system should be constant throughout the year. However, by varying the set point between summer and winter (23°C in summer and 21°C in winter) a great deal of energy can be saved throughout the year.
Further challenges are encountered in the engineers themselves. In addition, engineers need to educate themselves on global best practices in systems design. What worked several years ago may not be appropriate now," says Peters.
As South Africa's industry develops, attention has turned to other African countries such as Botswana, Ghana, Mauritius, Kenya and Namibia, with a view of supporting the green building industry.
Founded in 1999, South Africa- based GJP Consulting Engineering, focuses on all aspects of commercial property such as shopping malls, airport buildings, office blocks, schools, prisons and data centres. The company has international experience covering projects in the UK and Malaysia.
The S5’s delicately curved chassis is Onyx Black, and the cover rim wraps around the system body like a protective shell. A magnesium-aluminum alloy cover and palm rest provide a slim and sturdy design, while the metallic brushed detail provides subtle elegance. Clean and ultra-fluid contours from all angles make the S5 a vision of beauty.
The Aspire S5-391-9880 is Acer's first Ultrabook to feature a smartly designed MagicFlip I/O port panel concealed just below the hinge. This design feature enhances the overall slenderness and streamlined form of the S5. When needed, a press of the MagicFlip key opens the panel to reveal a selection of I/O ports: HDMI, USB 3.0 and 20 Gbps Thunderbolt.
Despite its razor thin design, the super slim and sleek Aspire S5-391-9880 manages to pack in top notch technologies and features, making it a solid performer. Packing a punch in terms of power and efficiency, it includes a 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-35i7U Processor, a 256GB solid state drive for speedy data access and increased shock resistance and an ultrafast Thunderbolt I/O port. Thunderbolt connection technology brings together high-speed data transfer and high-definition display (HD) on to a single cable, enabling up to six Thunderbolt enabled devices, such as PCs, hard drives, displays, cameras, audio/video equipment and docking stations to be daisy chained together. It is up to 20 times faster at transferring data than USB 2.0; running at 10Gbps, it can transfer a full-length HD movie in less than 30 seconds.
Long battery life is delivered via the PowerSmart battery pack which provides up to three times longer battery life cycles than traditional batteries (1,000 vs. 300 cycles). These batteries also maintain 80 percent capacity after the 1,000 cycle count, which means the battery will last longer, reducing the need to replace it. Acer Hybrid Standby Technology provides up to 15 days(2) of standby power, or up to 6.5 hours of continuous use.
A 13.3-inch widescreen LED-backlit display (1366 x 768) delivers vivid images making surfing the web, streaming favorite shows, engaging on social networks all that much more enjoyable in stunning HD. In addition the Acer S5 Ultrabook can be connected to an external monitor, projector or HDTV through a single cable using the HDMI port for big-screen enjoyment. An HDMI to VGA cable adapter is included with the system. The S5 also offers triple independent display support, so images can be shown across multiple screens.
The advanced 1.3 megapixel HD webcam produces amazing video image quality at 24 frames per second. Crystal-clear chats with friends and family across town or across the country are easy. Consumers can also snap HD still pictures to save and share.
Qatar Solar Technologies (QSTec) yesterday urged polysilicon and solar industry experts to join the organisation and help build a brand new industry of solar energy in Qatar, the solar hub for the Middle East and North Africa region.
QSTec chief financial officer Abdulla Saif al-Mesallam was addressing an international audience from a panel session focussing on the MENA region at the Intersolar Europe Exhibition, the world’s largest for the solar industry, in Munich, Germany.
“QSTec is currently made up of a multinational and multi-cultural workforce. We are looking for talented industry professionals to join the team as we develop a new industry for Qatar and the region from the ground up,” he explained.
Pointing out that there is enormous untapped potential for solar energy within Qatar and the Middle East region, al-Mesallam claimed QSTec is well placed to deal with this growth.
“A number of our senior professional staff members come from Qatar, specifically from the oil, gas and petro-chemical industries as they have many transferrable skills that are highly suitable for the solar industry and especially the polysilicon manufacturing sector. We are looking to expand QSTec to meet local, regional and international demand,” he stated.
A number of new jobs and business opportunities within the local economy will be created in Qatar. QSTec will provide new career paths in the solar energy sector for the country’s youth and talented professionals to participate in, he said.
The polysilicon produced by QSTec will enable solar energy companies and organisations around the globe to manufacture products that reduce greenhouse gases, protect the environment and provide clean renewable energy, he pointed out.
As part of the Qatar National Vision 2030, there is a growing demand within Qatar for solar technologies and applications that are sustainable, reliable and which will bring a lasting benefit to the region and the world. Solar energy compliments the energy created from natural gas and the use of solar power alongside gas will both preserve and protect the country’s natural resources, he said.
QSTec’s number one priority is providing solar solutions that are the very best quality, efficient and sustainable. QSTec will soon produce high quality, solar grade polysilicon, the key ingredient that goes into making the world’s most efficient solar technologies such as solar cells and modules that convert the sun’s power into energy, he pointed out.
This solar energy will provide a sustainable alternative source of energy whilst conserving and protecting Qatar’s natural resources for the future.
QSTec hopes to expand into other areas and create many more solar energy solutions here in Qatar– not just benefiting the country but also the rest of the world.
QSTec’s $1bn polysilicon manufacturing plant, coming up in Ras Laffan Industrial City, will initially produce 8,000 metric tonnes per year of polysilicon. By the time this is transformed into solar modules, these solar modules will capture enough solar energy to power around 240,000 homes for an entire year.
QSTec aims to become one of the world’s leading integrated solar companies, with its products used locally in Qatar and exported globally.