More Than a Million Cree LEDs Illuminate China’s First Major Highway LED Lighting Project

Helping to further drive the LED lighting revolution, China recently completed its largest highway lighting upgrade with more than 10,000 street lights featuring more than a million Cree (Nasdaq: CREE) XLamp^® XP-G and XP-E High Efficiency White (HEW) LEDs. The Shenzhen highway project includes nearly 75 miles of roadways, with LED fixtures installed along one tunnel and four highways.

Yanba Highway is illuminated by streetlights featuring Cree XLamp® XP-G and XP-E High Efficiency White (HEW) LEDs as part of the longest LED-lit highway in China. (Photo: Business Wire)

The LED street lighting installation was a key component of the 2011 Summer Universidade, an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), hosted by Shenzhen in August.

In compliance with China’s stringent roadway lighting requirements for light efficacy, brightness, luminance, heat dissipation and service lifespan, Kingsun Optoelectronic Co. Ltd., a leading LED lighting company in China, selected Cree XLamp LEDs to illuminate Jihe highway number G15, Nanguang highway number G9411, Longda highway number S318, Yanba highway as well as the Dameisha Tunnel.

Kingsun installed 270-watt and 300-watt RL2R Apollo LED luminaires alongside the highways, including three traffic lanes and an emergency lane in each direction. The installation was designed to average more than 20lux, the national standard for main roads illumination.

In utilizing the combination of Cree XLamp XP-G and XP-E HEW LEDs, which provide high lumen output, unmatched efficacy and compact package size, Kingsun anticipates a 60 percent reduction in energy consumption compared to the replaced, high pressure sodium fixtures. According to the Energy Management Contract (EMC) business model implemented by Kingsun, the energy savings associated with the Shenzhen project can be put toward the installation’s upfront costs for an estimated return on investment of four years.

"Cree’s XLamp LEDs proved to be the perfect solution for our modular lighting system, providing the illumination performance required by our light distribution scheme for this major roadway installation,” said Mr. Li Xuliang, president of Kingsun Optoelectronic Co. Ltd.

"In large-scale lighting deployments like the Shenzhen Highway Project, where lumen output and efficacy are both essential and required, LED lighting is the ideal solution,” said Mr. Tang Guoqing, General Manager of Cree China Sales. "Cree’s broad portfolio of XLamp LEDs was selected for this demanding project because they are highly efficient and have been proven to reduce overall system 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 solutions for wireless and power 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 radio-frequency/wireless devices. Cree solutions are driving improvements in applications such as general illumination, electronic signs and signals, variable-speed motors, and wireless communications.

For additional product and company information, please refer to www.cree.com. To learn more about the LED Lighting Revolution, please visit www.creeledrevolution.com.

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 may vary from expectations; 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 26, 2011, and subsequent filings.

Cree and XLamp are registered trademarks of Cree, Inc.

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