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SkywlkrSnd
10-07-2009, 12:36 PM
For those who haven't heard, the US government (US Dept. of Energy) is sponsoring a technology competition to promote solid state lighting (aka LEDs). There are two categories: a 60-watt incandescent replacement lamp and a PAR 38 halogen replacement lamp. Prize awarded is up to $10 million.

There are quite a few requirements that must be followed, but the general idea is to create QUALITY & EFFICIENT lighting units that can truly replace the common bulbs in use by most Americans. There are LED bulbs in the marketplace now, but they all suffer from a number of problems, such as light output, light spread, or color rendition, that prevent them from going mainstream and being used as the primary light source for general illumination. (LEDs already excel for accent lighting purposes.) The purpose of this competition is to find the answer to all the problems that have plagued LED bulbs to date.

The L-Prize Competition (http://lightingprize.org/)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.

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 light bulb.

SkywlkrSnd
10-11-2009, 09:19 AM
Here is a more detailed list of some of the requirements that have to be met:

For all products


Color Spacial Uniformity: Variation of color quality at different viewing angles shall be within 0.004 from weighted average point on CIE 1976 (u',v') diagram (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIELUV_color_space)
Color Maintenance: The change of color over the lifetime of the product shall be within 0.007 on the CIE 1976 (u’,v’) diagram
Color Rendering Index (CRI): 90 or greater
No off-state power
Dimming: Must be compatible with three widely available residential dimmers and must be continuously dimmable down to at least 20% of maximum light output without visible flickering
Controls: Included documentation must clearly state any known incompatibility with photo-controls, dimmers or timing devices
Starting Time: Light source shall illuminate within 0.5 seconds after power is applied.
Operating Voltage: 120v
Minimum Operating Temperature: -20°C or below for outdoor products


For 60-watt incandescent replacement


Light Output: Luminous flux greater than 900 lumens
Wattage: Less than or equal to 10 watts
Luminous Efficacy: Greater than 90 lumens per watt
Luminous Intensity Distribution: Products shall have an even distribution of luminous intensity within the 0° to 150° zone (axially symmetrical). Luminous intensity at any angle within this zone shall not differ from the mean luminous intensity for the entire 0° to 150° zone by more than 10%.
Color Temperature: 2700K-3000K
Dimensions: Shall fit within the maximum dimensions and form factor of an A19 bulb
Base Type: Single contact medium screw base E26/24
Lifetime: Greater than 25,000 hours


For PAR 38 halogen replacement


Light Output: Luminous flux greater than 1,350 lumens
Wattage: Less than or equal to 11 watts
Luminous Efficacy: Greater than 123 lumens per watt
Luminous Intensity Distribution: Products shall provide an even distribution of light without irregular spikes and be axially symmetrical. The ratio of maximum to minimum luminous intensity in any 10° section of the intended beam angle shall not exceed 2:1.
Allowable Beam Angles: Spot: 10° to 20°; Flood: 25° to 40°
Color Temperature: 2700K-3000K
Dimensions: Shall fit within the maximum dimensions and form factor of a PAR 38 lamp
Base Type: Single contact medium screw base E26/24
Lifetime: Greater than 25,000 hours

maxkone
10-12-2009, 02:15 PM
This is huge! I'm really looking forward to seeing what comes out of this competition. LEDs have had pretty specs behind them, but their real world applications left a little to be desired...as far a general illumnation purposes go. If they can figure out a way around that problem, and litterally "build a better light bulb", this is a true game changer. The official site quotes a 34 terawatts-hours electrical savings per year for the 60 watt incandescent replacement. Wow.

Now imagine if the same thing happened for halogen and commercial fluoresent tubes. I say again: this is huge.

And it looks like Philips submitted the first entry in the competition at the end of last month. Now it's on! Ah, the beauty of innovation and the competive spirit at work! :)