DOE Caliper report indicates AR111 LED lamps not ready for prime time

The US Department of Energy (DOE) has completed Series 17 of testing through the DOE Solid-State Lighting Caliper program. Report 17 analyzes the performance of a group of five LED products labeled as AR111 lamps, a niche product. Results indicate that although the lamps may perform acceptably and provide some energy savings, this product category is lagging behind other types of directional LED lamps and continued performance improvement is warranted. A summary of the results is available on the DOE SSL website.For comparison, the eleven 6-in downlights tested in Round 14 of Caliper testing performed substantially better than halogen or incandescent downlights. Ten of the eleven LED products met Energy Star criteria for correlated color temperature (CCT) and color rendering index (CRI) and the efficacy was equal to or better than the system efficacy of a typical compact-fluorescent lamp (CFL) downlight luminaire.
Beginning in 2012, each Caliper summary report focuses on a single product type or application. Products have been selected with the intent of capturing the current state of the market – a cross section ranging from expected low- to high-performing products – with the bulk characterizing the average of the range. The Department allows detailed test results from Caliper testing to be distributed in the public interest for noncommercial and educational purposes.The net loss of $0.9 million improved $0.3 million compared to the second quarter's 2011 net loss of $1.2 million on $0.5 million lower sales.Net sales decreased during the second quarter of 2012 as compared to the prior year's second quarter as a result of lower sales from our Solutions business. This reduction was partially offset by a $0.7 million increase in our Products business as a result of increased sales of LED products.
Joe Kaveski, Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Our second quarter sales fell within our guidance of $7 - $8 million. We are encouraged by the 45 percent sequential increase in net sales and the 7.4 percentage point increase in gross profit margins from the first quarter of 2012. Furthermore, we expect to see significant increases in sales during the remainder of 2012. This is due to our expanded proposal pipeline in our Solutions business, additional shipments to the US Navy from our $23 million contract and from continued sales of our LED products anticipated in our second half of 2012."