LED or light-emitting diode,is a type of solid-state lighting that uses a semiconductor to convert electricity into light. Today’s LED bulbs can be six-seven times more energy efficient than conventional incandescent lights and cut energy use by more than 80 percent, are often small in area (less than 1 square millimeter) and emit light in a specific direction, reducing the need for reflectors and diffusers that can trap light.
They are also the most efficient lights on the market. Also called luminous efficacy, a light bulb’s efficiency is a measure of emitted light (lumens) divided by power it draws (watts). A bulb that is 100 percent efficient at converting energy into light would have an efficacy of 683 lm/W. To put this in context, a 60- to 100-watt incandescent bulb has an efficacy of 15 lm/W, an equivalent CFL has an efficacy of 73 lm/W, and current LED-based replacement bulbs on the market range from 70-120 lm/W with an average efficacy of 85 lm/W.
In 1962 while working for General Electric, Nick Holonyak, Jr., invented the first visible-spectrum LED in the form of red diodes. Pale yellow and green diodes were invented next. The invention of the blue diode in the 1990s quickly led to the discovery of white LEDs -- researchers simply coated the blue diodes with a phosphor to make it appear white.
To make LEDs an option for general lighting, researchers next had to focus on improving the efficiency of LEDs -- which in the beginning were no more efficient than incandescent bulbs. In 2000, the Energy Department partnered with private industry to push white LED technology forward by creating a high-efficiency device that packaged LEDs together.
Today’s LED bulbs are also six to seven times more energy efficient than conventional incandescent lights, cut energy use by more than 80 percent and can last more than 25 times longer. Taken together, these advancements have led to rapid deployment in the past of couple years in both commercial and residential applications.
What are the key facts?
LED is a highly energy efficient lighting technology, and has the potential to fundamentally change the future of lighting in the United States.
Unlike incandescent bulbs -- which release 90 percent of their energy as heat -- LEDs use energy far more efficiently with little wasted heat.
LEDs contain no mercury, and a recent Energy Department study determined that LEDs have a much smaller environmental impact than incandescent bulbs. They also have an edge over compact fluorescent lights (CFLs).
LEDs are directional, focusing light in a single direction that are useful in homes and commercial settings, instead of having it go every which way.
LEDs are used in a wide range of applications because of their unique characteristics, which include compact size, ease of maintenance and resistance to breakage.
LEDs emit very little heat. In comparison, incandescent bulbs release 90% of their energy as heat and CFLs release about 80% of their energy as heat.
Widespread use of LED lighting has the greatest potential impact on energy savings in the United States. By 2027, widespread use of LEDs could save about 348 TWh (compared to no LED use) of electricity: This is the equivalent annual electrical output of 44 large electric power plants (1000 megawatts each), and a total savings of more than $30 billion at today's electricity prices.
What Is induction?
Induction lighting is one of the best kept secrets
in energy-efficient lighting. Simply stated, induction lighting is essentially
a fluorescent light without electrodes or filaments, the items that frequently
cause other bulbs to burn out quickly. Thus, many induction lighting units have
an extremely long life of up to 100,000 hours. To put this in perspective, an
induction lighting system lasting 100,000 hours will last more than 11 years in
continuous 24/7 operation, and 25 years if operated 10 hours a day.
The technology, however, is far from new. Nikola
Tesla demonstrated induction lighting in the late 1890s around the same time
that his rival, Thomas Edison, was working to improve the incandescent light
bulb. In the early 1990s, several major lighting manufacturers introduced
induction lighting into the marketplace.
Induction lighting has many superior
characteristics, including the following:
Virtually maintenance-free operation
High efficacy—in many cases, 60+ or 70+ lumens per watt
Long life
Excellent color rendering index (CRI)—80+
and in some cases 90+
Choice of warm white to cool white (2,700–6,500 K) color
temperature
Instant start and restrike operation
No flickering, strobing, or noise
Low-temperature operation
Dimmable capability with some units
High power factor: .90+
Long Lifespan
Experience with using induction lighting at the U.S. Department of Energy's
Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, New Mexico, has demonstrated the long life in actual usage.
WIPP's first induction lighting system was installed in 1998, replacing
high-pressure sodium (HPS) lights. More than 10 years later, all but three of
the original 36 induction units are still operating after more than 88,000
hours of continuous, 24/7 operation. Additional systems were installed in 2002
and succeeding years, both indoors and outside, with excellent results.
Applications with High Potential for Induction
Lighting
In hard-to-reach locations that make maintenance costs high, such
as street lighting and tunnels, or in high ceilings where there is
continuous operation, such as hotel rotundas
Cold environments, such as supermarket walk-in coolers and
freezers
Parking garages
Where high-quality lighting is required or highly desirable
Where reliability is highly valued
Where high lumen output is required
In areas that require lamps to reach full illumination
immediately.
Induction Lamps are the best Lighting Products available for business’s when completing a lighting project, since it can bring customers many benefits and a very high ROI with less than 3 years. Induction Lamps are an exceptional cost –effective lighting solution that can replace the conventional lights sources.
Without flicker and glare Induction Lamps can dramatically improve
productivity, readability, eyesight and headaches when comparing with
conventional light sources including HID and Fluorescent Lamps that generate
much flicker.