ping from an electronics engineer, to read later...
Can I get a Tech ping?
“...lighting bills reduced by up to 75 percent within five years.”
I am all for energy savings and reduced cost of lighting. But can any FReepers advise me of ANYTHING that we have now that was predicted to happen five years ago? Hopefully this is not another “flying car” that will soon (5 years?) be appearing in your neighbors drive way.
This is good news because CFLs are are flop and I won’t buy them.
And none of that pesky mercury (GASP! Did I say the M word) that CFL proponents bother to tell anyone about...
Very nice.
I’d love to see LEDs lighting reach a point where it’s on par with incandescents in price.
Since florescent lights give me headaches, LEDs are one of the last remaining electric option.
Geezer Geek ping.
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The Telegraph says they may be available in two years. Snip... [ Manufacturers have already begun work on production prototypes and the first units could hit shelves within two years.]
Aren’t those CFGs or whatever they are already mandated in UK and soon in the US?
He has retired form HP and it derivatives and is now working for Phillips Luminance working on LED lighting yet to come...
I would vote and approve of billions of dollars to build factories IN THE US to make low cost LED replacement lamps for everything from streetlights to nightlights.
And ban CFLs in America.
They are built with miniature internal reflectors, so their light is more directional, unlike incandescent or fluorescent lights, which tend to give off light in almost all directions.
So when tested with a light meter, if the LED light is directed at the meter, they seem to give off more light per watt than an incandescent, which they do, in the direction of the meter. But for room lighting, where one wants dispersed light in many directions, LEDs are less efficient than those darn fluorescent lights.
This makes LEDs useful in spotlights, flashlights and recessed lighting, for which strongly directional lighting is appropriate. But it makes them a poor fit for room lamps.
Heat is also a problem with LEDs. They aren't as good at heating a room as halogens or incandescents, but they do tend to have a hot spot right at the LED. That heat has to be dispersed, or else the LED will not last long. This is why the higher power LED flashlights have a big metal heat sink around the head of the light.
The combination of excellent shock resistance and a big fat metal head and long life does make them a good choice for a flashlight that doubles as a baton weapon.
New Near-Production “Super” Lightbulb Lasts 60 Years, Costs $2.85
Jason Mick (Blog) - January 29, 2009 4:00 PM
Cambridge University professor Colin Humphreys shows off his team’s new LED which is near to production. It will cost around $2.85 to produce, and will last 60 years. (Source: Matthew Power MASONS)
The new lightbulbs are bright and more efficient than traditional designs. And unlike other green bulbs they contain no toxic mercury, they turn on instantly, and they do not flicker. (Source: Matthew Power MASONS)
Future of lighting looks bright with new invention
The race towards better, more affordable solid state lighting is heating up quickly. The U.S. government has sponsored a $20M USD prize for the first team of researchers to come up with solid state lighting that meets a strict set of standards. New research has finally helped to eliminate the LED droop typically associated with the higher currents needed to provide greater efficiencies.
Now a team at Cambridge University may be close to having a winning design on their hands, perhaps for the L Prize, if they’re eligible, and for the consumer market. The university has produced a new design which costs a mere $2.85 USD and despite being the size of a penny, produces similar light to a fluorescent bulb while lasting over four times as long with a lifetime of 60 years.
The new design triples fluorescent bulb efficiency and is 12 times more efficient than incandescent designs. Also, it’s capable of instantaneous illumination, so the light lag associated with fluorescent bulbs may soon be a thing of the past.
If installed across all of Britain, the researchers estimate that it could cut the country’s lighting portion of the energy budget from 20 percent to 5 percent a year. The U.S. could muster a similar 10 percent drop with the design, according to recent DOE estimates. The new bulbs last 100,000 hours and unlike other “eco” bulbs, they contain no mercury, a substance that can cause brain damage in humans. They also don’t flicker, while other green designs do, something that’s been blamed for triggering epileptic fits.
Officials say the new design could cut 40 million tons of carbon emissions in Britain alone. Britain recently stopped restocking certain incandescent bulbs in stores. The new design relies on a specially formulated gallium nitride semiconductor, which builds on previous LED work. It is brighter than traditional designs and relatively cheap from a chemical perspective, compared to more exotic chemistries.
The British researchers managed to make the LEDs even more affordable by growing them on silicon wafers instead of on sapphire wafers, the traditional method of production. This makes them at last cheap enough for the consumer market. Growing the LEDs on silicon was assisted by a number of advances at other U.S. and European research institutions.
While some designs take decades to reach the market, Cambridge’s design is already being prototyped and readied for production. RFMD in County Durham, England is the first manufacturer to jump at the opportunity to mass produce and ship the high-performing LED bulbs.
Professor Colin Humphreys, head of the team at Cambridge states, “This could well be the holy grail in terms of providing our lighting needs for the future. We are very close to achieving highly efficient, low-cost white LEDs. That won’t just be good news for the environment. It will also benefit consumers by cutting their electricity bills. It is our belief they will render current energy-efficiency bulbs redundant.”