Bridgelux silicon LED could mean bright future for solid state lighting

While Democrats and Republicans squabble over the future of the incandescent light bulb , a Livermore-based company has produced an LED that they claim could lead to brighter, more affordable solid state lighting. By growing gallium nitride on low-cost silicon wafers, as opposed to the typical sapphire and silicon carbide substrates, the company has achieved an output of 135lm/W (lumens per watt) with a color correlated temperature of 4730K– brighter than any affordable LED lighting solution we’ve ever seen. Of course, this isn’t the first time efficacy of this level has been achieved, and we’ve yet to see a practical application, but if Bridgelux’s numbers are right, this could mean a 75 percent cut in LED production costs. The company expects the technology to make its way to real world lights in the next two to three years — perhaps by then the furor over pigtail light bulbs will have settled a bit. Enlightening PR after the break. Continue reading Bridgelux silicon LED could mean bright future for solid state lighting Bridgelux silicon LED could mean bright future for solid state lighting originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Mar 2011 00:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

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