The people behind LED Optical Solutions aren't proof that there is life after the automotive industry, but it looks quite promising.
The two-year-old firm started with a handful of automotive engineers who saw the dark clouds forming over their industry. So they took their expertise in making LED head and taillight lamps and turned it into an LED commercial lighting company. Today it employs 15 people and a few independent contractors. Executives hope to make additional hires later this year.
"We saw that the commercial lighting industry was starting to work with LED and the supply coming from Asia wasn't up to standard," says Paula Wheeler, director of sales and marketing with LED Optical Solutions.
The Washington Township-based firm specializes in LED light systems for commercial customers. Think warehouses and parking garages where the big lamps burn for hours on end, sucking up nearly countless watts of electricity.
LED lights are generally considered the next big thing in energy-efficient lighting. These lights, a conglomeration of small light-emitting diodes, use a fraction of the electricity of normal light bulbs because 95 percent of the energy they utilize creates light the human eye can see. In comparison, only 50 to 60 percent of energy used by regular light bulbs makes visible light. This makes them exponentially more efficient than incandescent and even CFL bulbs.
LED lights also last several years longer than the life span for normal light bulbs. LEDs are currently used in traffic lights, TVs, and brake lights, as well as many other products.
These lights have also turned into a cause du jour for environmentalists and politicians looking to burnish their sustainability credentials. Ann Arbor has become a leader at installing them in its downtown streetlights. The city hopes to replace all of its streetlights with LEDs. Other Metro Detroit municipalities are also considering similar options.
LED Optical Solutions is launching its own brand of street light this summer and is looking for organizations to participate in its pilot partners program.
Source: Paula Wheeler, director of sales and marketing with LED Optical Solutions
Writer: Jon Zemke
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