Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, in collaboration with Okamura and Taisei, developed an OLED desk lamp for offices. Taisei is constructing a Net-Zero Energy Building (ZEB) in Yokohama, and the OLED lamps will be installed in this building for testing.
The Japanese government has called for new public buildings to be ZEB-compliant by 2020. Lighting takes up about 20% of the electricity in offices so it is a key target for energy saving efforts.
The idea is to reduce ceiling-light (ambient light) and use desk lamps to directly light the working area. But LED lighting has been found to be not comfortable as it dazzles the eyes and cast shadows. OLEDs offer a softer light. The companies says that these new OLED desk lamps are the first to meet the brightness, color rendering and service life requirements of office use.
The lamps use Lumiotec's latest OLED panels. MHI is a stake holder in Lumiotec. Taisei developed the concepts and specifications and the actual lamp units were designed by Okamura (they will also manufacture them). There are two lamp types - one for desktop installation and one for installation on desktop panels (I'm not sure what is meant by that).
It's been a while since we heard from Lumiotec, so it's good to see the Japanese company involved in this new project. The company's latest OLED lighting panel was launched in early 2014. The P09 is a 145x145 mm panel that features 45 lm/W and 4,000 cd/m2 maximum luminance. Lumiotec managed to increase the lifetime to 40,00 hours (LT70 at 3,000 cd/m2). The color temperature is 4000K and the CRI is 90.
