With all these utilities doing mass LED changeovers I think they are in for a rude awakening. When these start failing the replacement cost will be very high, you can't just change a bad bulb or ballast which would be less expensive, you have to replace the entire fixture which will cost a lot more--- bad idea!
You don't have to replace the entire fixture, I own 3 LED fixtures and the drivers and LEDs can easily be replaced. Geoff (gmercury2000) has mentioned before that he has replaced LED strips in the LED fixtures in his area.
We need to let these prove themselves before we can truly start bashing them. These fixtures have only been up a year, not 20 yet. If these in 5 years begin to have a mass failure rate, then let's start trashing them but until we truly see what happens, we really don't have an argument. Besides, the cost of these in 10-15 years will drastically cheaper making replacement cheaper.
I work for the local utility here and trust me, we replace HPS and MH halide fixtures just after a few years of service. There is already grumbling going on at work about bringing in LED fixtures for replacements.
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We need to let these prove themselves before we can truly start bashing them. These fixtures have only been up a year, not 20 yet. If these in 5 years begin to have a mass failure rate, then let's start trashing them but until we truly see what happens, we really don't have an argument. Besides, the cost of these in 10-15 years will drastically cheaper making replacement cheaper.
I work for the local utility here and trust me, we replace HPS and MH halide fixtures just after a few years of service. There is already grumbling going on at work about bringing in LED fixtures for replacements.