Cree Introduces Industry’s First $99 LED Street Light as a Direct Replacement for Residential Street Lights

DURHAM, NC -- 

Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) announces an industry-changing technology breakthrough for the LED street lighting market. The XSPR™ LED Residential Street Light delivers better lighting while consuming over 65 percent less energy at an initial cost as low as $99 for common applications. The new Cree® XSPR street light is the ideal replacement for municipalities and cities using outdated high-pressure sodium fixtures up to 100 watts and can deliver payback in less than one year.* 

“With the low initial price of the XSPR street light and the dramatic energy savings, wholesale replacement of existing street lights becomes a simple choice,” said Al Ruud, Cree vice-chairman, lighting. “Utilities and city managers can now improve the lighting in their neighborhoods, save energy and see payback in less than a year. Why would anyone choose otherwise?”

Extending the technical breakthroughs of the XSP Series LED Street Light portfolio, the 25-watt and 42-watt XSPR street light is designed to replace up to 100-watt high-pressure sodium street lights, reducing energy consumption while improving lighting performance. Cree’s NanoOptic® Precision Delivery Grid™ optic technology achieves better optical control than traditional street lighting fixtures and efficiently delivers white uniform light for safer-feeling communities. In addition to a low initial cost and significant energy savings, the XSPR street light is backed by Cree’s 10-year industry-leading warranty.

“Street lighting is our city’s largest single energy-related cost, and the XSPR street light appears to dramatically change the economics of LED relative to traditional lighting technologies,” said Dan Howe, assistant city manager, City of Raleigh, N.C. “This breakthrough technology can change the total cost of ownership equation, encouraging municipalities to transition sooner to LED with less risk, and redirect resources to other important community needs.” 

The XSPR LED Residential Street Light is sold through Cree lighting sales channels. Please visit www.cree.com/lighting/XSPR to learn more.

*Payback calculated against high-pressure sodium and based on municipal usage of 12 hours per-day and the national average of $0.11 per kWh electric costs.

About Cree
Cree is leading the LED lighting revolution and making energy-wasting traditional lighting technologies obsolete through the use of energy-efficient, mercury-free LED lighting. Cree is a market-leading innovator of lighting-class LEDs, LED lighting and semiconductor products for power and radio-frequency (RF) applications.

Cree's product families include LED fixtures and bulbs, blue and green LED chips, high-brightness LEDs, lighting-class power LEDs, power-switching devices and RF devices. Cree® products are driving improvements in applications such as general illumination, electronic signs and signals, power supplies and solar inverters.

For additional product and company information, please refer to www.cree.com/lighting.

This press release contains forward-looking statements involving risks and uncertainties, both known and unknown, that may cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated. Actual results may differ materially due to a number of factors, including the risk that actual savings will vary from expectations; the risk that we may be unable to manufacture these new products with sufficiently low cost to offer them at competitive prices or with acceptable margins; the risk we may encounter delays or other difficulties in ramping up production of our new products; customer acceptance of LED products; the rapid development of new technology and competing products that may impair demand or render Cree’s products obsolete; and other factors discussed in Cree’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 24, 2012, and subsequent filings.

Cree® and NanoOptic® are registered trademarks, and XSPR™ and Precision Delivery Grid™ are trademarks, of Cree, Inc.