A Boost for LED Lighting Development

By Leora Broydo Vestel in the New York Times, January 18 2010

As part of the government’s aggressive push for more energy efficient lighting options, the Department of Energy announced Friday it had awarded more than $37 million in stimulus funds for research and development projects that will help advance the market for products that use light-emitting diodes, or LEDs.

A significant portion of the 17 projects selected to receive money were proposed by well-known lighting companies, including General Electric, Osram Sylvania, Philips and Cree. The awardees have promised to pony up an additional $28.5 million in private-industry matching funds for the projects, and to spend the money in the United States.