Lighting
GRAND CHALLENGE:
A $1 LED light bulb 20 times more efficient than incandescent
Illumination and information displays account for 22% of domestic energy consumption. Incandescent lighting is only 4% efficient, at best, in converting electricity to light. Fluorescent lighting is better, but still only 25% energy-efficient. Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) already top 50% efficiency, and have the potential to reach 80%.
At UC Santa Barbara, the Institute for Energy Efficiency has developed a 150 lumen/watt LED white light source—that’s the efficiency level considered the threshold for commercialization. When scaled up to provide as much light as a 60W incandescent bulb, and then commercialized to replace incandescent bulbs, the United States alone could realize $115 billion cumulative savings by 2025. This would also eliminate the need for 133 new power stations, save 258 million metric tons of carbon, and save 273 trillion watt-hours per year in energy. The Institute's challenge is to double this efficiency with production methods that scale to allow costs similar to incandescent light bulbs.
Projects
The 150 Lm/W LED white light source is just one example of how the Institute's world-leading research in lighting and displays will impact domestic and global energy consumption and economics. The Institute's global leadership in this area is widely recognized, and is reflected in the award of the 2006 Millennium Technology Prize to Prof. Shuji Nakamura, co-director of the Institute's Solid State Lighting and Energy Center, for his invention of revolutionary new light sources: blue, green, and white LEDs and the blue laser diode. The Center is continuing to develop new LED technologies and to work with companies to commercialize them. Under the aegis of the Institute for Energy Efficiency, and with the research synergies made possible by the Institute, the impact of the lighting and displays research at UC Santa Barbara will be realized far sooner than it could be otherwise.
Affiliations
The Solid-State Lighting and Energy Center (SSLEC)
Center for Energy Efficient Materials (CEEM)
Faculty
See listing of faculty in the Lighting Solutions Group.
