New HB LED sets the bar at 1 Lumen per Penny
LED Design Engineers are used to evaluating LED performance in engineering units such as candellas, Lumens, and Lumens per watt, but Sales and Marketing are often just as interested in total product costs, giving rise to a pseudo engineering measurement unit of “Lumens per Penny”. Both Engineering and Sales have reason to rejoice over Seoul Semiconductor’s (http://www.seoulsemicon.com/en/) new STW8Q2PA device 1/3 Watt SMT LED which sets the bar at 1 PENNY per LUMEN! Rated at 100 mA typical forward current and Vf of 3.2 V typical, the 2600-3700K (warm white) devices produce about 25 Lumens and the 3700-7000K are about 27 Lumens typical. With large volume pricing around $0.26, that is right at magic sweet spot that Sales, marketing, AND engineering can get excited.
With a pleasant Color Rendering Index of 80 and a viewing angle of 120 degrees, they are clearly aimed at the commercial lighting market. They have a thermal resistance of typically 15 degrees C per watt (Rth JS (Junction to Solder) for a 4 pin unique SMT package. These devices will make possible more cost effective LED lighting products for incandescent bulb replacement.
While perhaps best known for their high voltage AC operated LED line (the “Ariche” LEDS) Seoul Semiconductor is clearly aiming for the big volume incandescent bulb replacement market. While everybody agrees that LED lighting with its high energy efficiency, long life, and environmentally more friendly waste disposal are likely a serious contender for the Edison bulb and even CFL replacements, the biggest drawback has been COST. This is driven by the fact that a significant number of devices is required to get the lumen-output of a 40 W or 100 W incandescent bulb. Add in the LED driver requirements and heat-sinking requirements, even the possibility of dimming, and the LED s are NOT competitive with the price of a the old technology bulbs.
But the new Seoul STW8 device promises to be a significant new entry into the LED price/performance benchmarks that will set the bar for other manufacturers to match and make possible another round of more cost effective LED lighting products.
Seoul Semi STW8Q2PA(040810) Data sheet
