Digital lighting ballast maker MetroLight said Thursday that it has raised $3 million and appointed Zvi Segal, a veteran of Applied Materials and Teledata Communication, as CEO.

The Netanya, Israel-based company raised the money from previous investors Virgin Green Funds, Gemini Israel Funds and Israel Cleantech Ventures, as well as company founders and private angel investors. MetroLight raised $9 million in August 2007.

MetroLight makes ballasts that control high-intensity discharge lights, the big, bright lights that illuminate parking lots, sports fields and warehouse and industrial facilities around the world.

Powering those lights costs the United States about $34 billion a year, according to Antonio Espinosa, CEO of fellow digital ballast maker HID Laboratories. HID lights make up a significant portion of the 22 percent of the country's electricity that the Department of Energy says goes to lighting.

By allowing those HID lights to be dimmed or brightened with more subtle variations than before, ballast makers can cut those costs – a promise that's led to increased investments in the space, along with a wide range of lighting technologies (see Lighting The Way to Efficiency).

HID Laboratories in October raised an undisclosed amount from the California Clean Energy Fund's Clean Energy Angel Fund, American River Ventures, Greenhouse Capital Partners and Big Sky Ventures (see Clean Energy Angel Fund Makes First Investments). And ballast maker Fulham last month raised $10 million from Braemar Energy Ventures.

MetroLight says it can cut HID light power bills by up to 60 percent and double the life of the bulbs it controls, using its ballasts and linked control systems. It does business with four out of five of the largest U.S. and European lighting fixture manufacturers, according to its Web site.