SOLON, Ohio, May 07, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Energy Focus, Inc. (NASDAQ:EFOI), a leader in LED lighting technologies, has been awarded US Patent 10,236,716 for the RedCap® lamp (“RedCap®”), Energy Focus’ breakthrough emergency battery backup LED tube technology.
The patent for the RedCap®, which is UL-approved and DLC-certified, describes Energy Focus’ proprietary concept and design of an integrated, general purpose LED lamp and emergency backup battery. One side of the lamp is connected to switchable AC mains to power the lamp for normal illumination, while the opposite end of the LED lamp is connected to an emergency mains circuit. In a power outage, a microprocessor in the lamp immediately detects the power loss and initiates the battery power for emergency egress illumination. The RedCap® therefore functions as a normal, efficient LED lamp when building power is on, and becomes and stays lit during power outage as the battery inside automatically powers the lamp.
“We’re extremely proud of our cross-functional teams that ideated and developed such an impactful and disruptive product as the RedCap® from scratch, based on our deep understanding of customer pain points,” said James Tu, Chairman, CEO, and President of Energy Focus. “By eliminating the need for the installation of a separate, external emergency backup battery, RedCap® significantly reduces overall retrofit project cost and time and in the meantime enhances the sustainability profile of the buildings due to less materials required. We’re pleased that the US Patent office has also recognized the breakthrough achievement for the technology of RedCap®, which represents a triumph of innovation by combining technical ingenuity and customer problem-solving.”
“Shrinking the size of the emergency battery pack to the point where it became possible to incorporate it inside a long life LED tube - while still meeting or exceeding emergency lighting requirements - was the problem our technical team solved,” said John Davenport, Chief Scientist at Energy Focus. “The solution, as outlined in the patent, involves both a unique circuit and program that dynamically monitors and controls the operation of our highly efficient LEDs along with the charge and discharge of the batteries.”
“According to various industry and company estimates, there are approximately 1.8 billion fluorescent sockets in the U.S. to be retrofitted to LED in the non-residential market, which would require one emergency backup battery for, on average, every ten to twenty fluorescent lamps for commercial and public buildings to comply with the emergency lighting codes,” said Mr. Tu. “We believe that the emergency backup battery market that RedCap® uniquely addresses is in the billions of dollars in the U.S. alone and several times of that globally. With our renewed customer-centric mission and distribution strategy, we believe that RedCap®, now patent protected, will not only establish a more financially and environmentally sound LED retrofit mechanism for the lighting industry, but also propel our growth ahead.”
Visit Energy Focus at LIGHTFAIR International from May 21st-23rd, 2019 at booth #3231 to see the RedCap® Emergency Lighting System or visit our website at https://www.energyfocus.com/product/redcaptm-emergency-battery-backup/.
Forward Looking Statements:
Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Generally, these statements can be identified by the use of words such as “believes,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “seeks,” “projects,” “intends,” “plans,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “could,” “would” and similar expressions intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts and include statements regarding our current expectations concerning, among other things, our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies, capital expenditures and the industry in which we operate. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Although we base these forward-looking statements on assumptions that we believe are reasonable when made, we caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that our actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and industry developments may differ materially from statements made in or suggested by the forward-looking statements contained in this release. We believe that important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: (i) our need for additional financing in the near term to continue our operations; (ii) our ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time; (iii) our ability to implement plans to increase sales and control expenses; (iv) transitions in the Company’s leadership, (v) our reliance on a limited number of customers for a significant portion of our revenue, and our ability to maintain or grow such sales levels; (vi) our ability to increase demand in our targeted markets and to manage sales cycles that are difficult to predict and may span several quarters; (vii) the timing of large customer orders, significant expenses and fluctuations between demand and capacity as we invest in growth opportunities; (viii) our ability to compete effectively against companies with lower cost structures or greater resources, or more rapid development efforts, and new competitors in our target markets; our ability to successfully scale our network of sales representatives, agents, and distributors to match the sales reach of larger, established competitors; (ix) market acceptance of LED lighting technology; (x) our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, and to do so in a timely manner; (xi) the impact of any type of legal inquiry, claim, or dispute; (xii) general economic conditions in the United States and in other markets in which we operate or secure products; (xiii) our dependence on military maritime customers and on the levels of government funding available to such customers, as well as the funding resources of our other customers in the public sector and commercial markets; (xiv) our reliance on a limited number of third-party suppliers, our ability to obtain critical components and finished products from such suppliers on acceptable terms, and the impact of our fluctuating demand on the stability of such suppliers; our ability to timely and efficiently transport products from our third-party suppliers to our facility by ocean marine channels; (xv) our ability to respond to new lighting technologies and market trends, and fulfill our warranty obligations with safe and reliable products; (xvi) any delays we may encounter in making new products available or fulfilling customer specifications; (xvii) any flaws or defects in our products or in the manner in which they are used or installed; (xviii) our ability to protect our intellectual property rights and other confidential information, and manage infringement claims by others; (xix) our compliance with government contracting laws and regulations, through both direct and indirect sale channels, as well as other laws, such as those relating to the environment and health and safety; (xx) risks inherent in international markets, such as economic and political uncertainty, changing regulatory and tax requirements and currency fluctuations, including tariffs and other potential barriers to international trade; and (xxi) our ability to maintain effective internal controls and otherwise comply with our obligations as a public company and under Nasdaq listing standards.
About Energy Focus
Energy Focus is an industry-leading innovator of energy-efficient LED lighting technologies. As the pioneer of direct-wire LED tubes and creator of the first UL-verified low flicker LED products, Energy Focus products provide extensive energy and maintenance savings, and aesthetics, safety, health, and sustainability benefits over conventional lighting. Since 2007, the accumulated failure rate of our LED products has been well less than 0.1%, meaning over 99.9% of the millions of products we sold are still working today. Our customers include U.S. and foreign navies, U.S. federal, state and local governments, healthcare and educational institutions, as well as Fortune 500 companies. Energy Focus is headquartered in Solon, Ohio. For more information, visit our website at www.energyfocus.com
Media Contact:
Ashley Tolfo
Energy Focus, Inc.
(800) 327-7877