Last month, the U.S. government granted $37 million to 17 projects developing light-emitting diodesfor various applications ranging from lighting systems to screen technologies. All the while, ongoing research and development is finally driving down the costs and increasing the efficiency of LEDs and their organic, increasingly popular cousins. With lifespans exceeding 50,000 hours, LEDs have incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs beat hand down. But so far they have been prohibitively expensive. Most of the work taking place at big companies like Cree and Bridgelux are all about bringing down these costs to make the technology practical for everyday consumers. It’s one thing that Rockefeller Center’s iconic tree was lit with LEDs last year — it’s quite another for average homeowners to be buying LED fixtures at Ikea. Now, a stream of recent news makes this area look even more promising:

Philips sees results: Foreshadowing broader adoption, electronics giant Philips announced that LED-based lighting accounted for more than 10 percent of its lighting sales in the third quarter of 2009. This prompted predictions that LED technology, or solid-state lighting as it is sometimes called, will grow annually at a rate of 24 percent, transforming into a $15 billion business by 2013.

Cree reports strong earnings: Public LED company Cree (CREE) just announced solid earnings for its second fiscal quarter. Following a big deal to supply 650 Wal-Mart Stores with LED lighting systems, the company reported a 35 percent increase in revenue, totaling $199.5 million. Profits also jumped from $10.7 million the previous year to $33.8 million. As a result, its stock price went up 9.7 percent to $59.49 a share. Today, it’s back down to $56.11.

Bridgelux eyes cost drops: LED maker Bridgelux says that prices for LED fixtures designed to replace burnt out incandescents will drop sharply this year. They could even come in under $10 by the end of 2010 — eight times cheaper than they are currently being marketed for. Bridgelux has also recruited a new CEO, former Seagate chief Bill Watkins, signaling a new, more aggressive strategy.

More lumens for your buck: Seoul Semiconductors‘ Ariche brand has unveiled the first LED bulb to hit 100 lumens per watt — said to be 25 percent more efficient than its competitors’ runners up. Ariche’s products don’t require an AC-DC converter. This means that LEDs can be used in shapes that otherwise wouldn’t accomodate solid-state lighting. It also avoids the energy losses inherent in standard power converters. The company also claims that the carbon emitted by its LED systems is 10 percent of that emitted by incandescent bulbs.

Combined, the news coming out of these four companies, and the government’s stimulus investment in LED development could make 2010 the year that LEDs finally invade the home.

In-home lighting has come a long way throughout history, from candles and flames to incandescent light bulbs and then compact fluorescent light bulbs.  Now there is a new contender on the scene – light emitting diodes (LEDs).  However, can the benefits of LEDs outweigh the potential problems associated with them?  While the battle between incandescent and compact fluorescent lighting is over (compact fluorescents being the clear victor), the battle between LED and compact fluorescents has just begun.  Overall, LEDs have a huge potential for the future, but are not necessarily the best choice at the current time.  Here is a quick comparison of the differences between LEDs and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs).

Benefits of LEDs Compared to CFLs

LEDs last about ten times longer than CFLs.  This will save you the time and effort of changing your light bulbs on a frequent basis.  Many LEDs will last for more than ten years of continuous use.

An LED light uses about half the amount of electricity as a CFL with the same lighting capability (sometimes even less).  This is even more important when you are powering your home with solar panels or other sources of alternative energy in an effort to reduce your reliance on the electric grid and fossil fuels.

CFLs contain mercury which can make them harder to recycle or dispose of.  LEDs do not contain mercury.  (LEDs are basically electrons moving along a semiconductor material.)

Drawbacks of LEDs Compared to CFLs

LEDs are directional, which means that they focus light in a single direction.  CFLs, on the other hand, are omni-directional and disperse their light in an array around them.  This means that to have the same effect of lighting a room with LEDs that you would have with CFLs, you would need many LEDs clustered together and pointed in different directions.

Currently, LEDs are more expensive than CFLs for lighting a room.  However, as technology advances, LED prices are projected to drop to more affordable levels for the average consumer.  One potential technological advance is the OLED (organic light emitting diode).  This technology consists of very thin organic materials which are then layered between electrodes.  The electrodes produce light when an electrical charge is applied.  Many people predict that OLEDs can have a significant impact on reducing the price of LED technology and might make it more affordable in the future.

LEDs have a “colder” light appearance than CFLs do.  CFLs tend to produce a more “warm” lighting effect which simulates incandescent and daylight better than LEDs do.  One possible solution to this problem is the use of OLEDs in the future.  The OLED (organic light emitting diode) produces a warmer light than a traditional LED would.

Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) have been the talk of green lighting and display for what feels like ages now. In the last few years, we've started to see the technology applied to consumer electronics like digital photo frames, cell phones, and more recently, televisions. OLEDs are to be the next generation in lighting, in computer monitors, in seemingly anything we can dream up that has a need for light or displays. So, where are we seeing OLEDs turn up, why aren't they common yet, and what technology will beat out this purportedly ultra energy efficient technology that is moving forward at a snail's pace?

What's OLED Technology?

First off, you probably have heard of OLED but might not know quite what it is. Rather than go into detail here, we'll point you to HowStuffWorks, which gives a concise but through explanation.

One of the reasons OLEDs have the eye of the green community is because they're more energy efficient than LCD technology, currently the darling for displays like computer monitors and televisions. They provide exceptional color quality while sipping energy, and can be made so thin that they even hold potential for flexible displays and lighting, making designers chomp at the bit (though that hasn't stopped many from dreaming up uses already). We've heard that OLEDs will start to appear more prominently in the market place around 2015. But why not now? Well, several things hold OLED technology back.

Why Aren't We Seeing OLEDS on the Market?

First, price. It's still very expensive to create OLEDs and therefore the prices of what they're used in go up. Kodak brought out a digital photo frame priced at an astounding $1,000 and LG recently brought a 15" OLED TV to market but that was priced at $2,500...for a 15" TV. With pricing like that, OLEDs have to be brought down to parity with LCDs in order to compete. We're already seeing OLEDs in much smaller scale devices like cell phones, but for anything larger, we have a wait.

Second, somewhat surprisingly, is efficiency. OLED technology is about 15 years behind LED technology, it's big sister. When it comes to electronics like LED-back-lit televisions and computer monitors, OLEDs don't come close to competing in efficiency. At least not yet, and not for a long, long time.

Finally, lifespan is a large hindrance. Currently, OLED displays only last for about 1,000 hours. That means that we'll be replying on LED and LCD displays until they manage to catch up.

However, the potential for low power, flexible displays make OLED technology of great interest for everything from glowing wallpaper to luminescent fabric, let alone for TVs and lighting. The market is set to be huge...just, not quite yet. Here are some of the places we're already seeing OLED technology applied.

OLED Lighting

Lighting designs incorporating OLEDs are already well underway. The fact that they can be made exceptionally thin and flexible - as well as their potential for energy efficiency - makes them a favorite medium among green designers.

As for greater efficiency for lighting, the industry is getting a boost from private companies and the government alike, showing we have a particular impatience when it comes to innovative lighting.

And innovative we'll get. The technology is inspiring everything from reading lights to glowing wall paper. It seems the future is limitless for OLEDs...if we can make them as cost efficient as other lighting technology.

OLED Televisions

This is one of the biggies for the OLED market. Both Sony and LG have already put out OLED televisions, though they're both small (11" and 15" respectively) and very, very expensive, underscoring the point that OLEDs don't yet have a spot in the marketplace except among really early adopters. While LG is working hard on making 40" OLED TVs available by 2012, it's not probable that anyone but the super rich could afford them. However, the market isn't just among individual consumers. Businesses will also have a hand in the TV market as there is the possibility of large-scale displays utilizing high efficiency OLEDs constructed to various shapes and sizes for display walls and billboards.

OLEDs for Hand-held Devices

Unlike the larger size of the TV display, we are already seeing OLED technology pop up all over the place, thanks to the smaller size. The miniature displays of cell phones are perfect for OLED use. This is where the efficiency of OLEDs stands out, especially when color requirements are minimized. Everyone from AT&T to Google with their new Nexus One phone are utilizing OLED technology for displays.

OLED Computer Screens

Computer monitors and notebook screens are the middle ground between TVs and cell phones, and we're going to see OLEDs pop up more often here before they really make it in the TV market. Computer screens are where OLEDs will shine, specifically among notebooks, once they catch up in efficiency and price. Apple is looking at OLEDs for new notebooks, and it was rumored that the iPad might have had an OLED display, should there have been a supplier of 10" screens available soon enough. Alas, there wasn't, but we still got energy-efficiency LED-backlit LCD screens in that device. However, designers are already dreaming up where flexible OLED screens will be useful in laptop design, and it's only a matter of time.


OLEDs in Games

Even games won't be passed up by OLED technology. Innovators are already figuring out how OLEDs can be used in board games, to create video games based on interactive pieces. Whether or not OLED or e-Ink technology is better for this medium is yet to be seen, but the possibility of seeing our board games become much more lively is already here.

OLED...Clothing??

Yep, even clothing isn't left out. There has already been one dress created out of OLEDs - a complete PR stunt, but still... - and as designers start to incorporate lighting into their fashions more and more, OLEDs will indeed play a role.

Other Technologies Competing with OLEDLEDs LEDs are currently more energy efficient and more affordable than OLED and LCDs, and they're a primary focus for lighting and display technology. They have a roughly 15 year lead in research, and researchers are still making leaps and bounds in making them more energy efficient. OLEDs have quite a horse race to run if they want to one day catch up. For now, the real market focus for the big ticket items like light bulbs, computer monitors and televisions is on LEDs.
Photo via Jaymi Heimbuch

LED-Backlit LCDs

This hybrid of LED and LCD technology is starting to come onto the market more strongly. It was talked about quite a bit last year, with electronics companies developing some gadgets and appliances, but this past year we've seen more come onto market. They provide a great image quality for a far smaller wattage requirement, but are still price prohibitive. Nanosys is one company working to make LED-backlit LCDs even better, creating a coating that increases the quality of the LED backlight so that the colors are incredibly rich. This will give OLEDs an even bigger run for their money.

PHOLED

OLEDs, however, aren't at a complete loss. Researchers are working on ways to utilize phosphorescence to make OLEDs even more energy efficient. Called PHOLEDs, the technology promises to increase efficiency by a factor of four. Impressive!

Laser Phosphorescent Displays

One more interesting technology that only just hit our radar is LPD technology. By utilizing lasers to stimulate the phosphors that produce the images on a screen, it claims to cut energy consumption by 75%. We have yet to see this actually pan out and be adopted. But if true, it could also be a strong competitor with OLEDs.

Why LED? The lighting efficiency of the new high power led light bulbs is nearly eight times that of incandescent lights, and twice as high as compact fluorescent lights. Led bulbs also emit a much higher percentage of light in the desired direction. This makes them even more efficient compared to either incandescent or fluorescent for task lighting, desk lamps, reading lights, spotlights, flood lights, and track lighting.     

Led light bulbs also generate very little unwanted heat. The energy savings may be doubled in air-conditioned environments where each watt of incandescent lighting can add another watt or more to the power needed for air conditioning.

Led bulbs can operate for 30,000 hours or more. One led light bulb can easily outlast 30 incandescent bulbs, or 6 compact fluorescents! Led bulbs cost less than the bulbs they replace. Operating 12 hours per day, led light bulbs can last 7 years or more!

Led light bulbs are not sensitive to shock, vibration, or the extreme temperature changes that can quickly ruin fragile incandescent bulbs. And unlike fluorescent bulbs which wear out much faster if they are frequently turned on and off, led bulbs are not affected by frequent on-off switching.   

Environmentally Friendly You’ll never again have to choose between inefficient incandescents and fluorescents that contain mercury. LED lighting is safe, environmentally friendly and contains no toxic mercury.

LED lights use 90% less energy than conventional incandescent bulbs and less than half the energy of compact fluorescent lamps. Consuming less energy results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions being released into our environment.

Also, because each LED products is designed to last for 50,000 or more hours, there is less landfill waste from burned-out incandescent bulbs and no dangerous mercury waste from fluorescents. 

Ultra Efficient Lighting The light output is comparable to that of a 40 to 100 watt incandescent light. Our LED lighting provides efficiency and enables consumers to save over the life of the light, without compromising beauty or the environment.

LED Lights uses only 10% on average of power. That’s 90% less energy spent per incandescent light, and 50% less than a CFL.

On average in the running a 60-watt light for 50,000 hours would cost R2,100 in electricity alone. Because the LED lights uses only an average of 10 watts, running the light for 50,000 hours will cost only R420 under the same scenario. In addition, you will no longer spend time or money replacing lights. Over the lifetime of one led light, you will save R1,680  or more on your electricity cost alone.