SOLON, Ohio, April 21, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Energy Focus, Inc. (NASDAQ:EFOI), a leader in LED lighting technologies, today announced its development of a new generation of “Network-Ready,” dimmable LED lighting products, including dimmable tubular LED lamps (“TLEDs”) that operate in direct-wire mode (without a ballast) and dual-mode (with or without a ballast), an integrated, dimmable emergency backup TLED, and a dimmable luminaire. These products, along with other newly developed products from Energy Focus, will be featured at the company’s booth (#5955) at Light Fair 2016 being held at the San Diego Convention Center on April 26-28, 2016. (See: http://www.energyfocusinc.com/wp-content/uploads/LightFair-2016-Featured-Products.pdf).
Energy Focus’ new Network-Ready products incorporate industry standard (IEC 60929) 0-10 V dimming protocol. As a result, power and light output of the Network-Ready lamps and fixtures can be controlled via a variety of dimming control mechanisms and networks, including wireless, broadband over power-line (“BPL”), as well as directly via wired low voltage D.C. (“twisted-pair”). The Network-Ready LED products are expected to not only yield an immediate energy savings of typically 50% or more compared to fluorescent, but also potentially save an additional 20-30% of energy by utilizing the dimming feature through dimming control, occupancy sensing and daylight harvesting.
The Network-Ready dimming protocol covers a wide range of new products that the Company is introducing, which include next generation dual-mode Intellitube® and direct-wire “D-Series” TLED product lines. The Company also plans to introduce a fully integrated, Network-Ready T8 Emergency Battery Backup TLED that functions as a standard lamp during non-emergency hours and does not need external batteries or drivers to provide backup lighting during emergencies, thereby dramatically reducing product and labor cost for mandated emergency backup lighting needs. In addition, the Company is introducing its first Network-Ready luminaire, the “Panel-Light Series,” fully integrated luminaires with a modern, elegant and sturdy design that can be used in fluorescent retrofit, renovation or new construction projects.
All these new products have been designed with Energy Focus’ rigorous performance and quality standards, which seek industry-leading efficiency, reliability and flicker-free features. Energy Focus is still in the process of completing all regulatory approvals, including the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certification. Upon completion of this process, Energy Focus expects to start taking orders and shipping these new products during the second half of 2016.
“The ultimate guiding principle of our product development effort is to maximize the energy savings of LED retrofits while minimizing the cost of material, installation and maintenance, without compromising quality,” says Dr. Jeremiah Heilman, VP of Research and Development. “TLEDs had been called ‘missed opportunities’ when it came to supporting advanced controls. We saw that did not have to be the case, and innovated to build network connectivity and get dimming signals into the lamp in a simple and cost-effective way. Our Network Ready TLEDs are designed to give our customers far better value propositions to achieve lighting connectivity without replacing the existing lighting fixtures with expensive and easily outdated new LED fixtures as LED and networking technologies evolve exponentially. The integrated emergency battery backup TLED and Panel Lights we are introducing also are expected to enable us to supply the whole spectrum of needs for fluorescent retrofit.”
“As the technologies associated with the Internet-of-Things (“IoT”)—the networking of physical objects for universal connectivity and data collection—start to permeate government and business buildings in the coming years, we’re extremely excited to be introducing this brand new line of products designed to enable our customers to further increase their energy savings and to connect and control lighting through building automation or energy management systems,” said James Tu, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “In addition to LED’s higher lumen efficiency, incorporating dimming capability into the internal driver already in our TLEDs is our first step to realize significant benefits by connecting lighting to its environment. We believe that LED lighting has unique and outstanding potential to play a central role in the future of building intelligence, and we plan to continue to actively explore, research and develop powerful and economical IoT applications to be integrated into our product lines.”
About Energy Focus, Inc.
Energy Focus, Inc. is a leading provider of energy efficient LED lighting products and a developer of energy efficient lighting technology. Our LED Lighting products provide energy savings, aesthetics, safety and maintenance cost benefits over conventional lighting. Our long-standing relationship with the U.S. Government continues to enable us to provide energy efficient LED lighting products to the U.S. Navy and the Military Sealift Command fleets. Customers include national, state and local U.S. government agencies, as well as Fortune 500 companies and many other commercial and industrial clients. World headquarters are located in Solon, Ohio with additional offices in Washington, D.C., New York City and Taiwan. For more information, see our web site at www.energyfocusinc.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Generally, these statements can be identified by the use of words such as "expects," "seeks," "intends," "plans," "may," "will," "should," "could," "would" and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts and include statements regarding our current expectations concerning, among other things, our product development capabilities, new product release timing, energy savings and other benefits of LED lighting technology and the industry in which we operate. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Although we base these forward-looking statements on assumptions that we believe are reasonable when made, we caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results and operations may differ materially from statements made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this release. We believe that important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the effectiveness and energy efficiency of our product design; satisfactory and timely testing and completion of product certification requirements; our ability to implement and manage our product growth plans and bring products to market in a timely manner and at an appropriate price point; market acceptance of LED lighting technology; our ability to respond to new lighting technologies and market trends with safe and reliable products; our ability to protect our intellectual property rights and the impact of any type of legal claim or dispute; our ability to obtain critical components and finished products from third-party suppliers on acceptable terms; and our ability to compete effectively against companies with greater resources. For more information about potential factors that could affect the financial results of Energy Focus, please refer to the Company’s reports that it files with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. Energy Focus disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.