5 JANUARY, 2015, NASHVILLE, TN—EdisonReport announces today its second annual LightTrades™ Awards for 2014. Your humble editor and a team of four anonymous judges determined the awards. Companies are not allowed to submit their products for consideration as the determination is made based on the best products that have been previously launched at lighting trade shows and conferences. Products and technologies were evaluated at the following 2014 events: Light & Building, LIGHTFAIR, IES Street and Area Conference, IES Annual Conference, LUX Live, Boston Lights, LEDucation and The Hong Kong Lighting Fair.
Below are the EdisonReport’s top 10 lighting products launched in 2014:
Cree SC5. At the Hong Kong International Lighting Fair, Cree demonstrated their SC5 Technology Platform which redefines high-power LEDs by doubling the lumen output of a single LED, giving luminaire manufacturers the flexibility uild at a significantly lower cost.
If a typical 5mm x 5mm wafer is 1000 or 1100 lumens at 10 watts, the SC5 will allow for 2250 lumens at 19 watts from the same 5mm x 5mm package. At its maximum current, the XHP50 provides twice the light output of the industry’s brightest single-die LED, the XLamp XM-L2 LED, at a similar LPW.
The SC5 Technology Platform is built on Cree’s industry-best silicon carbide technology and features significant advancements in epitaxial structure allowing for a more advanced light conversion system optimized for best thermal and optical performance.
GE’s Lighting’s LED Luminaires with Bytelight technology. Think of indoor GPS with light fixtures playing the role of satellites in retail applications. 
LED lighting fixtures can communicate with customers’ smart phones as they peruse store shelves, enabling retailers to provide location-based services using GE’s LED infrastructure. We spend 80% of the time indoors and this GE product offers a wide range of possibilities, radical possibilities—many of which have not been conceived. Imagine being in Walmart and adding a ceiling fan into the cart, then receiving a reminder on your smart phone to pick up light bulbs and receiving a map of where they are located, then receiving a coupon on your smart phone for a a specific bulb.
Ten years ago, I could never have conceived the importance of GPS on my smartphone. Today, most of us can’t conceive of the importance of indoor GPS.
Given GE’s strong corporate position in retail, they are probably the best poised to capitalize and execute this opportunity.
Lattice Power has succeeded in growing GaN material on a silicon substrate and solved the industry problem of material lattice mismatch and thermal expansion mismatch between GaN thin film and silicon substrate.
The company’s GaN-based LEDs on silicon substrate offers exceptionally high light density and better thermal dissipation. Lattice’s GaN-on-Silicon LED PAR38 lamp has the industry’s highest lumen output without active cooling—2000 lumens at 27W.
Juno Aculux® 3 ¼-inch LED Precision Recessed Luminaires with black body dimming and tunable white technology RecessedDownlights. Already known for the level of precision control that Aculux luminaires provide in the design, installation and adjustment of high-end recessed lighting applications, the Luminaires are equipped with black body dimming and tunable white technology to provide lighting designers and specifiers with the ability to interact with lighting design post-installation. With this new technology, users can now achieve precise effects or dynamically respond to changes in lighting requirements like never before.
Coelux. CoeLux has a system that mimics sunshine and it is the closest thing to the real sun that I have ever seen. It is an optical system based on nano technology to artificially reproduce the natural light and visual appearance of the sun and sky. CoeLux offers a breakthrough opportunity for indoor architecture by creating the sensation of infinite space.
This was a huge surprise at the LUX Live show in London in November. If you work in a windowless environment, or in Seattle, you will want this system. Look at the intensity and shadows.
Amerlux LINEA 1.5” Pendant. The LINEA 1.5” and GRUV 1.5” share equal components and a miniature aperture that allows 
designers to create recessed patterns running on walls and over ceilings, then transition nicely to open ceilings. Available at 5w or 10w per foot, the luminaires deliver a high output with up to 650 lumens per foot and a significant efficacy at 73 lumens per watt. Custom sized lengths are available to meet designers’ exact specifications.
LINEA 1.5” is perfect for direct, indirect or both direct/indirect illumination and can be cable mounted for open ceiling applications, over desks or over a conference table, with or without a louver, or as architectural decorative lighting above a reception counter. The system offers the industry’s first linear LED fixture designed for use with a louver, for optimal glare control, light diffusion and sight line reduction. Full range dimming capabilities are offered, as well as the option to operate with Lutron EcoSystem.
Peerless Open: Peerless, a division of Acuity Brands, launched its ‘Open’ luminaires which uses constructive occlusion to reflect and diffuse LED light across an inner arch and back down to produce soft, comfortable illumination without the need of a lens. As with most luminaires today, Open can be equipped with an integrated sensor.
ecoInsight. ecoInsight is the fastest growing energy upgrade sales platform in the world, and for the first time EdisonReport is adding a service to the Top 10 List. ecoInsight’s software reduces the time necessary to prepare a lighting upgrade proposal by almost half. It allows users to be more responsive to customers, more accurate in their financial analysis and more professional in their proposals. Eight of the top ten leading electrical distributors use ecoInsight. In addition to speaking to product management at ecoInsight, we spoke to a key customer who said this system has had a profound effect on their close rate. As we all know, we work in a great industry with world-class products, but most CEO’s tell me their main problem is closing orders. Any tool that helps improves sales will be great for our industry.
Intense Lighting. The Intense Lighting Gravity high lumen LED downlights deliver up to 7,500 lumens and provide even, qualitylight distribution for a variety of lighting needs in spaces with high ceilings. Gravity downlights excel in performance with precision designed optics and superior glare control. Gravity integrates multiple control options including 0.1% flicker free dimming, Dali and DMX 512 RDM. Downlights and adjustables are available in 6″ and 8″ apertures.
Thomas Research. Thomas Research makes luminaires bulletproof. If it weren’t for voltage protection, the Outdoor LED and Plasma industry would be in a different position. The Thomas Research surge protector is the Kevlar protection for these sophisticated systems and the EOL3-277-20KA series Surge Protector offering protection from surges up 20,000 amps, on electrical mains up to 277V. They are UL1449 Recognized and CE certified.