Energy Focus Inc. began in California in 1985 as Fiberstars, a fiber optics firm specializing in architectural lighting such as that used to illuminate underwater spaces in spas and swimming pools.
Today, the company is headquartered in Solon, the Fiberstars brand is an Energy Focus division and the parent company is zeroed in on new LED products for both military and commercial applications.
The company moved to Ohio in 2006 because of a well-trained workforce and a bevy of northeast Ohio research and commercial entities related to lighting, says Julia Dolsen, the company's marketing manager.
"Then, in 2007, we changed the corporate name from Fiberstars to Energy Focus," Dolsen says. "And with that, we changed our core focus a little bit away from this architectural lighting division to really concentrate on R&D."
Much of the R&D in recent years has resulted in new lighting solutions for the military, she says. However, "a lot of the product we've developed for the military we've then been taking and commercializing."
That's what's happened with a new lighting fixture the company is developing with the help of a $1-million
Ohio Third Frontier award, she says. Energy Focus, in collaboration with Replex Plastics, Ohio State University and Lighting Services, Inc., will use the money to develop a photovoltaic system for exterior building lights. The solar-powered wall pack being developed is designed to reduce the hefty costs that large buildings currently incur to illuminate exterior grounds, she says.
"Most of the wall packs out there use metal halide lamps," she says. "They use between 250 and 400 watts in energy consumption per fixture."
If a building like a Wal-Mart has 50 such fixtures around its outside, those lights could burn as much as 20,000 watts per day -- translating to hefty electric bills.
"So what we're proposing is that, with a solar-powered pack, you would save that money."
Besides Ohio, Energy Focus has offices in California and the U.K. It employs about 70 companywide, with about 30 in Ohio.
Source: Julia Dolsen, Energy Focus
Writer: Gene Monteith