Professor Soo-Young Park and his team at the Seoul National University in Korea successfully developed a white LED with a color rendering index (CRI) closer to daylight than current white LEDs.
The development parallels the ongoing efforts by LED manufacturers who continue investing in the improvement of luminous efficiency, lifetime and the quality of light as measured by the CRI.
An important step for Prof. Park’s LED, like all new technologies, is large scale manufacturing. Just like OLEDs that are finding their way into broader adoption today, lifetime and other effects like burn-in will be addressed to drive mass adoption.
LED lifetime is a key advantage today, driving the adoption of LED lighting in areas where maintenance cost severely impacts total cost of ownership (TCO). E.g. LED-based street and industrial lights. Using today’s technologies, municipalities recover the investment in LED street lights in three years or less. The combination of lower energy consumption and longer maintenance cycles makes these returns on investments (ROIs) possible.
The semiconductor industry is playing its part in the drive toward better and more efficient lighting. A modern power supply can achieve efficiencies of ~90%. A power factor of 90% is also possible.
The overall efficiency of a light fixture (i.e. the light engine plus the power supply) is shifting more and more into focus. California Title 24 is a good example of measuring efficiency from the plug to the net light output.
The adoption of LED lighting is also bringing a change of the lighting infrastructure. Lights that previously switched between on and off will now dim automatically. Lights that previously were just white will now add color. Users will start paying attention to the quality of a light (i.e. the CRI). These applications will need additional semiconductors enabling the advanced functionality described. As LEDs continue to improve their luminous output and CRI, semiconductors controlling and communicating with light fixtures will continue to evolve.
All of the above are the drivers behind the market growth Databeans is predicting in its recent June 2009 newsletter. The demand for non-LED semiconductors will increase in parallel to the demand for LEDs.
The result will be energy-savings for corporations and households as well as better light at work and at home.
The future for LEDs is bright. Not only will LEDs make light more personal - think about the color of a light or a room changing with your music or current mood - they will also illuminate your work and personal environment much more efficiently. What do you think the future holds for LEDs?
Chris Link
Energy Business Development Manager
