Smart Energy News

Nashua, N.H. — Advanced RenewableEnergy Co. (ARC Energy), a Nashua-based provider of c-axis sapphire growth technologies for the LED solid-state lighting and other clean energy markets, announced it has signed $96.9 million in additional new contracts with two Asian manufacturers.

Under the contracts, ARC Energy will provide each customer with LED sapphire manufacturing equipment and technology, including automated, c-axis controlled heat extraction system furnaces, and additional technology and services.

ARC Energy also announced it is expanding its manufacturing facility by 30,000 square feet. The expansion, which is scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of this year, will triple ARC Energy’s manufacturing capacity and allow it to become one of the largest LED sapphire furnace suppliers in the world, the company said.

ARC was founded in 2007 and provides highly automated and efficient large diameter sapphire crystal growth and processing systems to enable rapid scale production and cost reduction of LEDs.

ARC Energy website

Livermore, Calif. – Bridgelux, a manufacturer of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), has raised $60 million in its latest round of venture capital, according to a recent filing by the company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The company has now raised a total of about $180 million in venture capital since its founding in 2002.

Bridgelux offers energy-efficient LEDs to replace traditional lamp and luminaire technologies with solid-state products for interior and exterior applications such as street lights, track and downlights.

The company’s new LED Array products are designed to address the quantity of light, energy efficiency, color rendering, targeted lighting color temperatures, color consistency, and beam uniformity that are traditional challenges for LED products.

Investors in Bridgelux include VentureTech Alliance, Doll Capital Management, El Dorado Ventures, VantagePoint Venture Partners, Chrysalix Energy Management and Harris & Harris Group.

Bridgelux’s SEC filing

Bridgelux website

Fairfield, Conn. – GE, the Fairfield-based technology giant, announced on Monday that its Appliances & Lighting division has signed an agreement to acquire Lightech, a privately held, lighting technology company based near Tel Aviv, Israel.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Lightech specializes in providing LED electronic drivers, plus halogen transformers, to the lighting industry. GE said the acquisition supports its plan to take advantage of the market transformation from older technology to new energy-efficient light sources, including LED lighting.

Founded twenty years ago, Lightech sell its products globally, but primarily in Europe and North America. The company employs nearly 17,000 employees around the world.

http://www.ge.com

http://lightechinc.com/

Austin, Texas – Nuventix, an Austin-based developer of cooling technology for light emitting diodes (LEDs), has raised $10 million in a round of venture capital led by GE, with additional participation from The Bergquist Co., Braemar Energy Ventures, CenterPoint Ventures, InterWest Partners and Rho Ventures.

Founded in 2003, Nuventix has developed a method for moving air to cool LEDs—thus preventing quick burnout—using a single oscillating membrane, as an alternative to traditional fans. Lighting fixture companies can use Nuventix’s technology for spot, down, track and accent lighting fixtures that also use high-brightness light engines such as GE’s Infusion LED modules.

In conjunction with the investment, GE and Nuventix have signed a license agreement that supports GE’s effort to develop reliable, longer-lasting LED products and systems. “Nuventix’s technology can improve the quality of LED lights by making them brighter, longer-lasting and potentially cheaper,” said Steve Briggs, vice president of marketing and product management at GE Lighting, in an announcement.

“The market for LED lighting is growing as businesses and consumers prefer its energy-efficient, longer-lasting features over legacy technologies that cost more to run and maintain,” according to the announcement

GE made the investment under its ecomagination Challenge program, which is intended to accelerate the deployment of new energy saving technologies through open collaboration and financial support.

GE Energy Financial Services website

Nuventix website

San Francisco – LumiGrow, a developer of high-efficiency LED lighting products for the horticulture and agribusiness sectors, announced on Tuesday it has raised its first round of venture capital, which was led by Clean Pacific Ventures. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2008 and based on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay, LumiGrow offers lighting products for use in greenhouses, indoor farms and scientific research chambers that the company says use 50% less energy than standard systems.

Commercial greenhouse growers typically supplement sunlight with high-intensity discharge lighting to boost crop growth and extend growing seasons, but ost of the light they produce is unusable for photosynthesis, so that the rest is wasted energy.

Lumigrow’s products are eligible for energy efficiency subsidies from Pacific Gas & Electric, Puget Sound Energy and some other utilities. The company’s list of 500 customers includes Dow AgroSciences, Duke University and the USDA.

Clean Pacific Ventures specializes in clean technology companies related to energy, water, agriculture and materials.

Lumigrow website

Clean Pacific Ventures website