Cantalupi USA

LED (Light Emitting Diode)

Cantalupi specializes in custom LED marine lighting. These custom lighting methods are environmentally friendly and provide a customized personality for yachts of all sizes.

LED (light Emitting Diode)
LED lighting is an electronic light source considered to be an environmentally friendly source of light. When an electrical current flows through a silicon junction appropriately treated (an LED), the electrons act in such a way that energy in the visible wavelength is emitted.

There are two main types of LEDs:

• the MINIATURE LEDs and
• the HIGH POWER LEDs.

The MINIATURE LEDs also called SMD (SURFACE MOUNTED DEVICES) LEDs, 5mm LEDs or CLUSTER LEDs are those little round, dome top, components (see picture) very common in many electronic devices as backlight or displays sources. They emit light in different colors (blue, red, green, cool white, warm white, etc.) but their CRI is not good. They otherwise are very good for energy consumption (a 5mm Warm White LED light requires 0.25 W), they don't need sophisticated drivers or heat sinks and are very reliable. Those were the first LED lights available on the market and about 10 years ago we start using them in our custom lighting designs as clusters to increase the lumens output of the light. This type of LED light was very "blueish" and it was generally not acceptable for general lighting. We still use these LEDs in certain lighting environments such as courtesy lights (BLINK, LEDA, POLARIS, etc.) and reading lights (BORA, DREAM, GALAXY, etc.).

HIGH POWER LEDS or simply POWER LEDs are those LEDs that can be driven with intense currents and give out large amounts of light. Because of this high intensity flow of electrons, special precautions need to be taken electronically with a DRIVER and thermally with a HEAT SINK that will draw away from the silicon junction the excess of heat generated by process.

This is the LED lighting we customize and use on all marine applications requiring large amount of light (JENY L, MICRO, all CLL products, etc.).

This technology is covered in following chapters and is the quintessence of LED lighting.