LEDs to Replace Light Bulbs in Two Years
Light-emitting diodes or LEDs can replace conventional light bulbs in just two years. They are now getting cheaper and in just two years can match or exceed the cost-effectiveness of incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs.
This is the assessment of Steven DenBaars, a professor of material science at the University of California Santa Barbara. Even more important, LEDs last about 100,000 hours, far longer than the filament bulb.
He said in about two years the cost of LEDs that can perform the equivalent lighting of one bulb will be about $20. “At $20 the payback in energy occurs in about a year,” DenBaars said. The rapid return on investment will occur in places such as stores and warehouses, where the light is on through much of the day. A year after that, LEDs will be even more economical for more places as costs continue to decline.
An LED is a solid-state semiconductor device that converts electrical energy directly into light. Unlike a light bulb which converts only 5% of energy into light and 95% as heat, the LED produces light without much thermal radiation, resulting in a very efficient “cold� light.
LED lighting has been adopted in many cities throughout the world, the most visible applications of which are the new traffic lights at road intersections and the tail lights and front lights of new cars.
Aside from the economic advantage of LEDs, environmental benefits are also cited because worldwide adoption of LEDs to replace ordinary light bulbs will alleviate the need to build coal-burning power stations.
In home applications, they can provide decorative lighting that can be varied according to one’s liking, aside from the capability to provide normal white light.
[Via: CNET.com]
LED, light-emitting diode, electricity, semiconductor, diode
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