Plessey is working closely with Plymouth City Council, to help achieve the Council's carbon reduction strategy for all their managed buildings and infrastructure.

Plessey recently released the first commercially available 350mW GaN-on-silicon LEDs. The lighting products are manufactured on Plessey’s 6-inch MAGIC (Manufactured on GaN I/C) line. The GaN-on-silicon LEDs use a much thinner GaN layer at only 2.5μm, and they are cheaper than LEDs grown on sapphire or SiC.

This latest solid-state LED lighting solution to be employed in Plymouth, which will reduce carbon emissions through cutting energy consumption as well as eliminating replacement costs with fixtures of 30-year lifespan. The new lighting solution will create a better working environment for employees and visitors at Douglass House.

Cabinet Member for Finance, Councilor Mark Lowry, says, "Plessey Semiconductors is a local business pioneering a new innovative product which has huge potential market. We are keen to support their research and their latest lighting product. If successful, this could bring with it huge investment and job opportunities into the city."

"We are excited to work with Plymouth City Council and to play a key role in this first pilot project. Our solid-state LED lighting solution helps Plymouth City Council create a better working environment as well as contributing aggressively towards achieving their targets for cost and performance efficiencies. We are looking forward to continuing the development program with our partners at Plymouth City Council." said Neil Harper, Plessey's LED business unit director.

This breakthrough will enable much faster adoption of LED implementation in both commercial and residential market segments. The joint development program with Plymouth City Council is a cornerstone of Plessey's pledge to help create better use of the limited resources available on our planet.