News

Posted On: 12/23/2004

More LEDs coming to industrial apps

The age of LEDs for cost-effective general illumination is rapidly approaching. The Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory has recently made five funding commitments to corporations that are creating LED lighting technologies.

The development of LEDs that can replace traditional lighting technologies will lead to reduced energy expenditure and maintenance.

The DOE supports research, development, and demonstration of promising solid-state lighting (SSL) technologies. According to the DOE, breakthroughs in light emitting diode (LED) technology are key to accelerating the replacement of conventional technologies in such applications as traffic lights, exit signs, and airplane taxiway edge-lights. The further development of white-light LED and organic light emitting diode (OLED) sources will make significant strides towards replacing low-efficiency incandescent and even fluorescent lamps for general lighting.

The DOE is extremely selective. It chooses these funded companies based on such factors as energy savings potential, likelihood of success, and ability to develop into a technological leader.

The five companies are:

• Advance, a division of Phillips Electronics, and its development of an “Efficient LED System-in-Module for General Lighting Applications.”
• Cree, Inc. and its project - “Small-Area Array Based LED design.”
• Dow Corning Corp. and its development of “Thin Film Packaging Solutions for High Efficiency LED Products.”
• General Electric and its development of “High Efficiency, Illumination Quality White OLEDs for Lighting.”
• Light Prescriptions Innovators, LLC and its project - “Scaling Up: Kilo-Lumen Solid State Lighting Exceeding 100 LPW via Remote Phosphor.”

“We are honored to have been selected for funding by the Department of Energy and are very excited to be contributing to advancements in this rapidly-evolving and beneficial field,” said Adan Hernandez, Director of Business Development – LED Drivers for Advance. “We are delighted that the DOE shares our view of the central importance of systems integration in helping to accelerate the commercial acceptance of LEDs.”