Seoul Semiconductor has released a new version of its Acriche LED, a semiconductor light source operating directly from an AC power supply (110 or 220 volts) without an AC-DC converter, reports LEDs Magazine. The new product has been launched in the US, Europe and Japan.

Seoul says that the new version of Acriche has a luminous flux of 200 lumens at 3.3 watt. This represents an efficacy of almost 60 lm/W, an improvement of 50% compared with the previous version released in November 2006 (see news).

The new version of the Acriche LED is sold as a single emitter, without a heatsink PCB. Seoul thinks this will broaden the range of applications for the product, since lighting fixture companies will be able to use the PCB type of their choice, and build emitter arrays as required. Potential applications for this new version of Acriche include downlights and MR-16 lamps.

Do Hyung Kim, head of the Acriche unit at Seoul Semiconductor, pointed out that the Acriche doesn’t need an AC-DC converter, which costs around 5 dollars for 5W in general, and there are associated space savings. "DC LEDs can’t directly replace lighting fixtures for the architecture and machinery lights running from AC power," he said.

Seoul Semiconductor has ambitious targets for increased performance. It plans to realize 80 lm/W efficacy with an output of 250 lumens by the fourth quarter of 2007; and 120 lm/W from a 400-lumen package before the end of 2008.

Do Hyung Kim is also extremely optimistic about potential sales of Acriche. "Acriche’s share of the conventional lighting market has the potential to reach tens of billions of dollars," he said. In contrast, Strategies Unlimited has estimated that the LED market for lighting applications in 2011 will be around $1 billion.