It seems the age-old light bulb may have met its match: Light-emitting
diodes, commonly referred to as LEDs, have been dubbed as the likely
replacement for the light bulb, paving the way for a minor revolution
in the way people think about lighting.
LED lamps have previously been considered unthinkable, that is
until technology surpassed a major obstacle just a dozen years ago.
Since then, however, LEDs have made their way to the forefront and
are being adapted for a number of uses, including pool illumination
and reading lights.
Jumping a Hurdle
LEDs have mostly been relegated to showing the time on alarm clocks
or the battery level in video cameras. They certainly have not been
utilized as a source of illumination because they could not produce
white light; however, that all changed in 1993 when a Japanese company
started producing blue LEDs -- which combined with red and green
to emit white light. Clearing this vital hurdle opened up a whole
new field for the future of LEDs and lighting technology.
Based on semiconductor technology, the
efficiency of LEDs has grown by leaps and bounds. In fact, one New
York company announced it had boosted the output of a white LED
bulb by a factor of six, surpassing the efficiency of even a compact
fluorescent bulb.
One major drawback: At this time, the energy savings aren't enough
to overcome the downside of the high initial cost of the bulbs.
Chances are, though, that people will soon overlook the price, as
the Department of Energy has estimated:
Still, current white LEDs last as much as 50,000 hours, which translates
to 50 times the life of the
average incandescent light bulb. That means constant use for an
amazing six years.
USA
Today April 15, 2005
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