ANN ARBOR, Mich., Oct. 16, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq:CREE), a leader in LED solid-state lighting components, and the City of Ann Arbor, Michigan, today announced that Ann Arbor will join Raleigh, N.C. and Toronto, in the growing LED City(tm) initiative. In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption, Ann Arbor plans to become the first U.S. city to convert 100 percent of its downtown streetlights to LED technology.
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Ann Arbor expects to install more than 1,000 LED streetlights beginning next month. The City anticipates a 3.8-year payback on its initial investment. The LED lights typically burn five times longer than the bulbs they replace and require less than half the energy. Each fixture draws 56 watts and is projected to last 10 years, replacing fixtures with bulbs that use more than 120 watts and last only two years.
Full implementation of LEDs is projected to cut Ann Arbor's public lighting energy use in half and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2,425 tons of CO2 annually, the equivalent of taking 400 cars off the road for a year. Detroit Edison, Ann Arbor's local utility provider, will meter the new LED streetlights with the intent to gather sufficient information to develop new LED-based tariffs.
"This decision is based on three years of extensive research on the energy and maintenance savings associated with LED lighting, citizen surveys and a very successful pilot of 25 LED lights spanning an entire city block," said Mayor John Hieftje. As a result, the City received a $630,000 grant from the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority to fund retrofits for the downtown lights. "This initial installation should save the City more than $100,000 per year and reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 294 tons of CO2. Our plan is to retrofit all downtown lights with LED alternatives over the next two years."
"We applaud the tremendous efforts by Ann Arbor's civic leaders to make energy efficiency a priority for the City," said Chuck Swoboda, Cree chairman and CEO. "We are especially pleased that Ann Arbor is joining the LED City program to share the results of their product testing and surveys with other municipalities to help accelerate the adoption of LED lighting worldwide."
The LED streetlights currently installed in Ann Arbor are based on the New Westminster Series made by Lumec, Inc., which contain LED light engines from Relume Technologies, Inc. The light engines are based on the performance-leading Cree XLamp(r) LED.
For additional information on the LED version of Lumec's New Westminster Series streetlight, please call (248) 476-7676. For additional information on Relume LED light engines and fixtures, please call (877) 564-3133 or visit www.lumecon.com. For additional information on Cree XLamp power LEDs, please call (919) 313-5300 or visit www.cree.com/xlamp.
About LED City
The LED City is an expanding community of government and industry parties working to evaluate, deploy and promote LED lighting technology across the full range of municipal infrastructure to:
* Save energy * Protect the environment * Reduce maintenance costs * Provide better light quality for improved visibility and safety
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 22 percent of electricity used in the U.S. powers lighting. In a world with soaring energy prices based on the availability and control of fossil fuels, and with growing concern about sustainability of the environment, a revolution in lighting is long overdue.
About Ann Arbor, Michigan
Located approximately 35 miles west of Detroit, Ann Arbor has 114,000 residents and spans 27.7 square miles. The City regularly receives national attention as an outstanding community and was named one of the top 25 U.S. cities to live in by CNN/Money Magazine in 2006, as well as the third smartest city in the U.S. by Forbes Magazine. The City's mission statement reads: The City of Ann Arbor is committed to providing excellent municipal services that enhance the quality of life for all through the intelligent use of resources while valuing an open environment that fosters, fair, sensitive and respectful treatment of all employees and the community we serve.
About Lumec, Inc., A Genlyte Group Incorporated Company
Lumec, based in Quebec, has been illuminating the world of outdoor lighting for more than 35 years. At the Boisbriand factory, which has more than 240 employees, Lumec designs, develops, manufactures and sells decorative and functional outdoor lighting products. In 2004, Lumec became part of The Genlyte Group. With sales nearing $US1.5 billion, The Genlyte Group is the second-largest lighting-fixture manufacturer in North America. Lumec is now Canada's top manufacturer of decorative and functional outdoor lighting products, both contemporary and traditional, as well as a major player in the United States. For more information visit www.lumec.com.
About Relume Technologies, Inc.
Incorporated in 1994 as an LED research and development company, Relume has evolved into a full-service, single source for innovative LED light-engine solutions for corporate signage, automotive, airlines, safety devices and the U.S. military. The company's advanced research and development facility and state-of-the-art manufacturing facility are under the same roof. This assures maximum quality, consistency and performance of all Relume light-engine solutions from concept to completion. Relume is the only company that offers the unique advantages of its patented "Silver Strips" and custom "Silver Circuit Boards," which enable LEDs to burn brighter, last longer and cost less. Additional information can be found at www.Relume.com or www.Lumecon.com.
About Cree, Inc.
Cree is a market-leading innovator and manufacturer of semiconductors and devices that enhance the value of solid-state lighting, power and communications products by significantly increasing their energy performance and efficiency. Key to Cree's market advantage is its world-class materials expertise in silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) for chips and packaged devices that can handle more power in a smaller space while producing less heat than other available technologies, materials and products.
Cree drives its increased performance technology into multiple applications, including exciting alternatives in brighter and more-tunable light for general illumination, backlighting for more-vivid displays, optimized power management for high-current, switch-mode power supplies and variable-speed motors, and more-effective wireless infrastructure for data and voice communications. Cree customers range from innovative lighting-fixture makers to defense-related federal agencies.
Cree's product families include blue and green LED chips, lighting LEDs, LEDs for backlighting, power-switching devices and radio-frequency/wireless devices. For additional product specifications please refer to www.cree.com http://www.cree.com.
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This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Actual results may differ materially due to a number of factors, including the possibility that actual energy savings may vary from expectations; customer acceptance of LED products; the rapid development of new technology and competing products that may impair demand or render Cree's products obsolete; and other factors discussed in Cree's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 24, 2007, and subsequent filings.
LED City is a trademark and Cree and XLamp are registered trademarks of Cree, Inc.
The photo is also available via AP PhotoExpress.
