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A Shift In Lighting As LEDs Fall Below $8.00

There is a confluence of improved engineering and increased demand for greater efficiency and longer lasting technology that has become a significant driver behind the market inroads of Light Emitting Diode (LED) lighting. These developments are continuing to improve the quality and as we see, lower prices.

The original technology behind LED lighting is a two-lead semiconductor light source that converts electrons into electroluminescence (light) where the color of the light is determined by the energy applied to the semiconductor. These actual chips can be as small as 1mm square and typically offer 7 to 10 times the efficiency of traditional incandescent bulbs and at least twice the efficiency of a fluorescent (CFL) bulbs. This measurement is in both energy use and overall lifespan.

A good example is a traditional 60watt incandescent bulb may cost only $.99 each but it has an average lifespan of 750 to 1000 hours and uses every bit of 60watts of power to deliver 860 lumens (brightness). A comparable LED bulb may cost $8.00, but it has an average lifespan of 25,000 hours and uses only 9.5watts of electricity to deliver 800 lumens of brightness.

Another durability factor between these two technologies is the moving parts. Traditional incandescent lights have fine filaments (small fine wires) that glow when electricity is passed through it. These wires are suspended carefully between two posts and are subject to vibration and temperature. Basically, they can break with motion. LED semiconductors are solid chips with no moving parts.

Like all lighting fixtures, light sources generate heat and this can affect the lifespan and surrounding components. Higher temperatures will reduce the life of an LED fixture which is why thermal management within an LED fixture has become critical in the initial design phase. Additionally, an LED can be challenged by electrical surges, typically not the case in a traditional incandescent bulb.

Beyond the temperature issues, LEDs actually deliver a fairly narrow beam of light and either requires multiple LED chips and/or custom molded lenses to disburse the light in a wider pattern. Color is also a factor that must be managed. Like your flat TV, to present full color, a grouping of primary color chips deliver Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow light in various percentages to deliver the final color. In the case of bulbs, this could be cool or warm white.

These management issues mean that the individual LED fixture can have multiple chips, miniature circuitry controlling color balance and monitoring temperature. This is where the increased cost comes from. Actually, more chips operating at lower power consumption means lower accumulated heat and longer overall life.

What started out as a low volume and adoption product a few years ago with individual fixture prices in the $20+ range has now become much more advanced and accepted consumer volumes are now driving the retail costs down below $8.00. As part of the improvements, companies like Philips, GE and Cree have found ways to improve the disbursement of heat without adding expensive aluminum heat sinks.

Another trend coming from the integration of integrated circuitry within an individual bulb is the ability to develop connectivity to where lights can communicate over WiFi, Bluetooth, and ZigBee. This allows wireless app control of the light as well as programmable features that do not require

the rewiring of the entire structure.

Industry reports forecast that LED lighting adoption by 2023 will bring the industry to over $23 billion annually.