Better Bulb Brighter Future ... LED 2 Go

The Light Bulb of The Future ?

You bet !! Saving Energy is upon us. The ubiquitous but highly inefficient 60-watt light bulb badly needs a makeover. And it could be worth 10 millions in government prize money plus government contracts - to the first company that figures out how to do it. The L Prize is the first government-sponsored technology competition designed to spur lighting manufacturers to develop high-quality, high-efficiency solid-state lighting products to replace the common 60-watt light bulb. Among the criteria: The lamp can use no more than 10 watts to create the equivalent light of a 60-watt incandescent bulb; the color of the light output must mimic that of today’s incandescents; and the bulbs must last at least 25,000 hours, as much as 25 times as long as today’s standard bulbs.

The L Prize competition will substantially accelerate America's shift from inefficient, dated lighting products to innovative, high-performance products. Just as Thomas Edison transformed illumination over a century ago, the L Prize will drive innovation and market adoption. And here we go .... Mr. Phillips is the first contestant for this competition. Recently, Philips has shipped 2,000 prototype samples to the Department of Energy, plus around 100 pages and a CD of supporting documents. The tests will take close to 1 year to complete nevertheless the life span test of the lamp would take close to three years of continuous lighting, so the Department of Energy will make sure that the lamps last at least 6,000 hours (approximate 8 months).

Phillips Transforming the Lighting Landscape

Philips Master LED bulb has the same form factor as the old-fashioned kind, making it "simple for people to use and feel good about using." The bulb draws just 7 watts but gives off light equivalent to 40 watts' worth, and lasts 45,000 hours, as opposed to the 1,500 of its incandescent predecessors.

Phillips Living Colors

Another interesting Philips product is their LivingColors LED lamp, which contains just four LED bulbs; two red, one blue and one green, that can be controlled to produce 16 million different colors. Dragging your finger around the iPod-like touch wheel on the remote produces different hues.

Today’s LED-based lamps cost up to $100 each. To get the cost down, US-Department Of Energy has enlisted 27 utility companies around the country as L Prize partners. Once a winner is chosen, the utilities will help promote and possibly subsidize the cost of the lamp. Over the long term, we can absolutely get the cost down to the $20-25 range.