Cree claims new LED benchmark
22 Feb 2012
Two new products demonstrate the company's faith in silicon carbide-based LEDs for performance and efficacy.
Cree XLamp XT-E
LED developer Cree has unveiled its XLamp XT-E white LED, which the company believes sets a new benchmark for performance.
According to Cree's figures, the XT-E more than doubles the lumens per watt of the existing XLamp XP-E LED family, providing up to 148 lm/W in cool white or up to 114 lm/W in warm white, both at 350 mA and 85°C. At 25°C it can deliver up to 162 lm/W. The company has stated that the XT-E features the highest performance and efficacy in the industry.
Now we are making some real progress. 148 LPW is a similar efficacy to a 1000W HPS and 162 LPW blows by it. To get the 162 LPW would require serious chip cooling though. The CREE LEDs I use in my DIY lamp get 78 LPW in warm white as compared to these new ones at 118 LPW. (By comparison most red and blue LEDs in current grow lamps are around 30-40 LPW).
In the lab, Cree has hit a record 239 LPW which would take growing to a whole nother level! It will be years hwoever, before they get this into production, but it shows what is possible.
Now before y'all get all excited, the XLamp XT-E LEDs are currently only available on reels as surface mounted devices, meaning hobbyists are not going to able to play with them. Also because they are not the standard red and blue, horticultural lamp manufacturers will likely overlook them as well.
Even so a 50% efficacy bump in one year is an amazing accomplishment and there will be a trickle down effect if we are patient.
