During 2023, LED iBond has developed two light management solutions targeted at parking facilities, solar carports and indoor parking garages. The two solutions differ in complexity and supported functionality and are marketed as Smart Light Control and Advanced Light Management, respectively.

LED iBond is proud to announce two orders for large scale carport projects in Germany and the UK that includes both the patented flagship product TRACY® together with LED iBond’s Smart Light Control system. LED iBond has also received an order for a larger indoor parking garage project in Copenhagen that includes TRACY® together with LED iBond’s software-based Advanced Light Management solution.

The three orders booked amount total DKK 0.5 million. The order for the project in UK is only first phase of a very large parking facility under construction, and additional orders for this project is expected for Q1 2024 (expected order value is minimum DKK 0.5 million).

Martin Løbel, CEO of LED iBond international comments:

“I’m delighted to see that our development efforts and new offering of light management systems add value to our customers and that we have been successful in winning orders for several larger projects within the parking facility segment. It is an important milestone in LED iBond’s strategy towards becoming a full solution provider, where we deliver turnkey solutions.

As a solution provider, we take on more responsibility for the technical aspects such as installation design and system configuration, but we can see that our customers demand complete lighting solutions that are more plug-and-play rather than just light panels. It is a demanding strategy for LED iBond, but the announced orders show that it is the right direction, and it strengthens our competitiveness and value for our partners and customers”.

Successful development of own Software and Hardware

LED iBond’s Advanced Light Management system is based on proprietary software and hardware. The system is in beta phase and the first implementation of the light management system is scheduled for the end of year, when the indoor parking facility in Copenhagen is completed. The system can control even the largest lighting installations with a broad range of functionality such as dynamic lighting zones, varying schedules, and multiple scenarios to support multiple use cases.

Focus for additional offerings for complete solutions - Emergency lighting

In addition to customer needs for lighting control solutions, customers also request emergency light solutions in case of electrical black outs in an area. Such emergency functionality is required by law in most countries, and consequently LED iBond has developed an emergency power supply solution that works with TRACY® light panels; This allows TRACY® light panels to light up even during electrical black outs and act as emergency lighting. The value to customers is that they can save the cost and installation of dedicated emergency lamps.

The indoor parking garage project in Copenhagen is the first project that includes LED iBond’s emergency power supply solution.

The emergency lighting solution is an example of additional offerings that LED iBond is pursuing to make the product portfolio for parking facilities even more complete and attractive to our potential customers.
As announced in company announcement no. 57, 13 July 2022, LED iBond intended to position its LED packaging technology as a platform for UV disinfection systems. With focused activities around Far UV during 2023, LED iBond has made significant progress towards Far UVC products.

Far UVC (200-240 nm) is a new disinfection technology which claims to kill pathogens in the air and on surfaces without harming people and animals present during radiation. Needless to say this has profound implications for keeping society safe from pandemics because the technology can be used in any public space. A few examples of such spaces are offices, schools, hospitals, and public transportation. The market for Far UV products is expected to experience significant growth.

Far UVC source based on impact ionization – Patent application filed in US and EU

Disinfection has for a long time been one part of LED iBond business, and more recently in 2021 a joint venture named Baldr Light ApS was formed to develop a Far UVC source based on solid state technology which is the leading edge of UVC disinfection.

As announced in company announcement no. 36, 11 Oct 2021, Baldr Light ApS is actively protecting its proprietary invention and as next step of its PCT application (WO2022188937) process initiated in 2022, Baldr Light has decided to file with both the US patent office and European Patent office (EPO). The US patent application (18/549,725 - USPTO) have been filed and the European patent application will be submitted in late September (22711480.8 - EPO).

Link to PCT application https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2022188937

These patent applications are for developing a unique solid state Far UVC technology which if successful in scale would revolutionize not only the Far UVC disinfection industry but also other related industries such as curing (used in painting and printing) which also need a Far UVC product that has a high-power output with a practical, appealing formfactor and which is also inexpensive.

The underlying Baldr technology called "impact ionization" when used with oxides such as MgZnO can in fact also be used for generation of visible light. So the possibilities for its use are widespread and the impact ionization technology can simultaneously potentially make a crucial contribution to the health and safety of society. Far UVC is indeed a matter of national security in times of pandemic.

Successful demonstration of Far UVC module based on UVC LEDs and TRACY®

This summer, as announced in company announcement no. 71, 24 March 2023, Baldr Light was honored to attend and present at the first conference ever to be held on Far UVC (in New York City) and as a result was able to establish commercial contact to a 3. party that could secure some of the first available Far UVC LEDs on the market.

The Technical University of Denmark (DTU) has since tested these 3. Party Far UVC LEDs mounted in TRACY®, LED iBond’s flagship product, and confirmed that Far UVC light emission was achieved with good performance and low optical losses which proves the advantages of TRACY as a platform for modules hosting UVC LEDs.

LED iBond therefore now has a roadmap to a breakthrough for a disinfection product based on TRACY® which would be the first ever Far UVC LED product and system with a slim formfactor and advanced features such a replaceable LED capability and longer lifetime.

Other Far UVC products are available on the market but these generally use cumbersome and expensive Krypton Chloride (Kr-Cl) Excimer Lamps (222nm) that also has an undesired tendency to generate the toxic gas Ozone as a ‘bi-product’. LEDs clearly offer a much more practical and functional solution that the market has been longing for.

Investigating options for boosting R&D activities

LED iBond continues to see a great potential in the market for Far UVC technology and solutions but the company’s current capitalization limits its possibilities to boost the R&D activities short term. Consequently, LED iBond and Baldr Light are both continuing to explore opportunities for external funding, investors for Baldr Light, and partnerships that can support further R&D of the technologies and development of products and/or modules for the UVC market.
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