Start-up develops snap-in LED light

Bridgelux worked with Molex to make a lighting fixture that can snap into a base, a system designed to make upgrading and installation easier.  (Credit: Bridgelux)

by Martin LaMonica

LED lighting company Bridgelux says out with the Edison screw-in bulb and in with the snap-in lighting module.

The Livermore, Calif.-based start-up said Wednesday it has designed a lighting module called Helieon that combines Bridgelux’s LED lights and a snap-in interconnect system made by Molex, which is based in Lisle, Ill.

The interconnect system will make it easy to install LEDs and upgrade them when more efficient or brighter lights come out, the companies said.

The Helion system, which will be available in May for $20, is aimed at lighting manufacturers that build actual lighting fixtures. The Helion will be available with a light output between 500 and 1,500 lumens, the equivalent of between 40 watts and about 100 watts for incandescent bulbs but will use significantly less electricity.

Bridgelux says that the packaging and efficiency of its lighting system is a step toward making LED lighting more cost-effective when compared with other forms of lighting. “Solid state lighting is poised to displace conventional incandescent, fluorescent and other technologies in many high-volume general lighting applications,” Bridgelux CEO Bill Watkins, who joined the company earlier this year, said in a statement .

Bridgelux has signed on some lighting fixture manufacturers to use Helieon, including architectural lighting company Focal Point. But as it goes after the general lighting market, it faces competition from a number of LED start-ups and established lighting companies.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-20001055-54.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

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