As Cree has released, a new luminous efficacy record of 134 lpW (lumen per Watt) was achieved with a new type of LED called “extreme high power (XHP) LED”, reducing cost by up to 40 % and giving more flexibility to LED lighting manufacturer’s in terms of lamp design.
The new XHP LED is based on Cree’s “SC5 technology”. This technology is best includes best silicone carbide, a new chip architecture, changed epitaxial structure and advanced light conversion resulting at an excellent thermal and optical performance. Thermal efficiency plays a major role in this technology which allows extremely high lumen values at higher operation temperatures without reducing the overall-lifespan of 35.000 hours.

 
Comparing its new XHP series to popular mid-power LEDs as frequently found on the market, Cree described the situation as “saving pennies with mid-power LEDs or saving dollars off your system with Cree XHPLEDs”. According to Cree’s calculation a use of its XHP series will allow savings all over the system due to a reduced size of drivers, PCB, heat sinks, optics and last but not least the number of LEDs. As Cree furthermore calculated, the new XHB LED does the work of 48 mid-power LEDs at a same lumen performance, also dramatically reducing the pick and place-cost (SMT).
As Cree furthermore stated, increased lpW-levels are regularly achieved on the cost of lower light quality, but its new XHP series is aimed to achieve a high luminous flux as well as high light quality at low cost. Cree’s performance was measured at 1587 lumens at 350 mA and junction temperature of 85°C, delivering 134 LPW with a CRI Ra > 90 and R9 > 90 at 2700 K CCT.
Source: www.cree.com/SC5