Lighting Science Group Pursues Prestigious L Prize With Revolutionary New LED
Bulb
SATELLITE BEACH, Fla., March 7, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Lighting Science
Group Corporation (LSCG), a leading American maker of LED lighting, today
notified the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) that it has developed with Light
Prescriptions Innovators, LLC (LPI) a highly efficient, high output and low cost
60-watt replacement LED bulb, and will submit it for testing to win the Bright
Tomorrow Lighting Prize (L Prize) competition. The bulb design is based on
patented and patent-pending technologies developed by both companies.
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 established the L Prize to
promote the development of a highly efficient, high quality LED replacements for
the traditional 60-watt light bulb--the most widely used light bulb in America.
Incandescent lights are wasteful and energy-hungry--DOE estimated that lighting
accounted for 25% of all electric energy use in the U.S. in 2009--offering a
rapid and practical path for significant energy savings from LED lighting.
The L Prize criteria seemed futuristic when first announced, requiring a light
bulb that works in current sockets and gets six times the energy efficiency
(measured in lumens of light produced per watt of electricity used) of an
incandescent and almost double the efficiency of a compact florescent lamp, while
meeting other high standards for color rendering, life, quality, cost and
availability.
"This bulb is yet another example of how Lighting Science Group is
revolutionizing the science of light to produce LED products that deliver on the
promise of LED technology and further it's widespread adoption, right here in
America," said Fred Maxik, founder and chief technology officer of Lighting
Science Group. "We are confident that our LED bulb developed in partnership with
LPI meets or exceeds all of the criteria for the L Prize, making it a strong
contender to win the competition, but we also believe that developing this
product will further accelerate the transformation of the lighting industry to
highly efficient LED technology."
"This LED bulb will help accelerate America's shift away from inefficient, dated
lighting products to innovative, high-performance products," said Roberto
Alvarez, chief executive officer and president of LPI. "We applaud the U.S.
government for challenging the industry through this contest to develop
affordable and ultra-efficient LED bulbs that meet real-world user demands."
It also means more American jobs.
Lighting Science Group is an American success story--a U.S.-based company that
last year created 465 jobs making LED light bulbs in its Satellite Beach, Florida
headquarters facility, and was the first lighting company to receive an ENERGY
STAR approval for an LED light bulb. With the manufacture of more than one
million units during the second half of 2010 alone, the company believes it is
one of the largest worldwide suppliers of LED retrofit lamps. The company is
already producing advanced 60-watt replacement A19 LED light bulbs that are
affordable, ultra-efficient and omni-directional; and sees strong commercial
potential for it's new bulb: "About half of all residential light sockets have a
60-watt bulb in them today, and our new bulb uses only about a sixth of the
energy and last about 50 times longer than the incandescent bulb that is in there
now," said Rich Weinberg, chairman and chief executive officer of Lighting
Science Group. "And because they are affordable, people will save money
immediately through significant electricity savings, quickly paying for the cost
of the bulb. We expect this to be a significant product for us." Importantly, the
bulb is made without any of the toxic mercury that is in every florescent light
including the popular compact florescent lamp (CFL).
In addition to a significant cash prize, the first manufacturer to fully meet the
competition's requirements will also be in consideration for federal purchasing
agreements, utility programs and other incentives. However, the stakes are much
higher than that. Energy efficiency means cost savings for the consumer, but on a
national scale it also means less reliance on imported fossil fuels, greater
national energy security, reduced pollution, and more innovation-driven
clean-tech American jobs. According to DOE, an LED replacement for the
approximately 425 million 60-watt incandescent bulbs sold each year could save 34
terawatt-hours of electricity in one year, enough to power the lights of 17.4
million U.S. households and avoid 5.6 million metric tons of carbon emissions
annually.
The L Prize's stringent requirements and targets for the 60-watt incandescent LED
replacement, as laid out by the U.S. Department of Energy, include:
Efficacy of more than 90 lumens (light output) per watt (exceeds the efficiency
of all incandescent and most compact fluorescent sources today, which range from
10 to 60 lumens per watt);
Energy consumption of less than 10 watts;
Output of more than 900 lumens;
Lifetime of more than 25,000 hours (25 times greater than a typical incandescent
bulb);
Color Rendering Index (CRI) greater than 90 (a high measure of lighting quality);
Color Temperature between 2700 - 3000 degrees Kelvin;
An even omni-directional light distribution; and
A consumer retail price starting at $22.
Additional details about the L Prize competition are available at
lightingprize.org.
About Light Prescriptions Innovators
Light Prescriptions Innovators (LPI) is a world leader in the field of nonimaging
optics. A One-Stop design, prototype fabrication and manufacturing firm, LPI is
making a positive difference in saving energy. LPI specializes in
state-of-the-art optical solutions in both Solid State Lighting and Concentrated
Photovoltiacs solar. Its advanced designs employ the latest and best principles
in the fields of both nonimaging and imaging optics. LPI's extensive portfolio of
patented optical inventions includes many new optical design methods such as the
2D and 3D Simultaneous Multiple Surface (SMS) design methods and their related
family of optics, the most advanced optical design method available today The
company has R&D and design offices in Altadena, California and Madrid, Spain and
a prototyping and manufacturing subsidiary in Hong Kong. More information about
LPI is available at lpi-llc.us.
About Lighting Science Group
Lighting Science Group Corporation (LSCG) designs, develops, manufactures and
markets LED lighting solutions that are environmentally friendlier and more
energy efficient than traditional lighting products. Lighting Science Group
offers retrofit LED lamps in form factors that match the form factor of
traditional lamps or bulbs and LED luminaires for a range of applications
including public and private infrastructure for both indoor and outdoor
applications. Lighting Science Group Design Works business unit designs, develops
and manufactures custom LED lighting solutions for architectural and artistic
projects. Lighting Science Group is headquartered in Satellite Beach, Florida;
the Company's European operations are based in Goes, The Netherlands; and, the
Company has a sales office in Sydney, Australia. Lighting Science Group employs
approximately 600 workers building lighting products from domestic and imported
parts. Lighting Science Group is a Pegasus Capital Advisors portfolio company.
More information about Lighting Science Group is available at
lsgc.com. |
