LEDs — Refrigerated Display Lighting

Retail, grocery and convenience stores now have a dimmable, cool-running, long-life LED solution for refrigerated display cases.

Designed to replace traditional fluorescent lamps in both low- and medium-temperature reach-in door merchandisers, the GE system provides up to 10 years of virtually maintenance-free service.

Light-emitting diode (LED) lighting systems

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are compound semiconductor devices that convert electricity to light. In fact, GE scientists invented the first practical application of LEDs in the 1960s. LEDs are vastly different from traditional incandescent, fluorescent and neon light sources.

Unlike lamps that can shatter, LEDs are robust and highly resistant to shock and vibration. Due to the solid-state nature of these devices, there are no filaments to break, no moving parts to fail and no glass components of any kind. With LEDs, breakage during transportation, installation or operation — a common problem with traditional light sources — is virtually eliminated, speeding up installation times and installer training.

The benefits of using LEDs vary depending on the application, but typical technology features include:

» Up to 90 percent energy-cost savings

» A long life of up to 50,000 hours

» Minimized maintenance hassles and costs

» Low-voltage operation

» Excellent cold-weather performance

Many of GE's LEDs are Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and National Science Foundation (NSF) compliant and recognized by the Underwriters Laboratories (UL). GE's unique design provides an environmental benefit because it has no UV, no infrared, no glass and no mercury, making handling and disposal less of a concern.

LEDs have applications in retail displays, signage and architecture, and transportation.

LED refrigerated display lighting

Retail, grocery and convenience stores now have a dimmable, cool-running, long-life LED solution for refrigerated display cases. Designed to replace traditional fluorescent lamps in both low- and medium-temperature reach-in door merchandisers, the GE system provides up to 10 years of virtually maintenance-free service. It reduces energy consumption, minimizes light-source glare and provides uniform color with three times the light level uniformity.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. recently announced that it will outfit low- and medium-temperature refrigerated cases in 500 stores across the country with GE LED Refrigerated Display Lighting. The company expects to save US$ 2.6 million in energy costs and reduce its CO2 emissions by 35 million pounds annually.

If 200 stores, operating freezer cases 24 hours a day, replaced their current fluorescent lamps in 120 refrigerated case doors per store with GE LED Refrigerated Display Lighting, the energy savings would exceed US$ 975,000 per year and eliminate 11.4 million pounds of expelled CO2. That is equivalent to the CO2 absorbed each year by 1,400 acres of trees.

The GE LED solution reduces energy consumption up to 78 percent versus fluorescent lighting on a five-door refrigerated case. For every light watt reduced inside the refrigerated case, the compressor works less hard to remove heat from the display case. Also, our LED system reduces the heat load in the case by eight percent per door compared to a fluorescent system.

What's next for LEDs?

According to industry sources, the LED industry grew nearly 50 percent year-over-year between 1995 and 2004, and its growth trajectory between 2004 and 2009 is expected to nearly double, from US$ 3.7 billion to 7.3 billion. Many industry observers would attribute these high-growth forecasts to the low penetration of LEDs in general illumination (1 percent), signage (5 percent) and transportation (25 percent) applications.