Researchers have discovered a new Light Emitting Diode (LED) technology which could revolutionize the way these lights are produced.
A team at the Florida State University (FSU) has discovered a new kind of LED light that is both more efficient and easier to produce than those currently on the market.
“It can potentially revolutionize lighting technology,” said Assistant Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Zhibin Yu.
“In general, the cost of LED lighting has been a big concern thus far. Energy savings have not balanced out high costs. This could change that.”
The new LED technology itself makes use of a combination of organic and inorganic materials. The material, which dissolves and can be applied like paint, shines a blue, green or red light when electrified and can be used to make a light bulb.
Current LED technologies make use of four to five layers of this material in order to have the desired effect.
Yu’s team has managed to develop their technology so that it functions correctly with just a single layer.
“In the future, to do manufacturing, it’s a big challenge if you have to deal with multiple layers,” he said.
Due to this, individual LED’s manufactured with this new technology will take much less time to be produced and will likely be significantly cheaper.
LED proliferation
The hope is that a wide scale deployment of this technology will lead to a speedier proliferation of LED lights across the world
LED lights hold a number of advantages over traditional light technologies, such as brightness and energy efficiency.
This being said, the FSU researchers pointed out that the major barrier to the uptake of these lights is their cost, and perceived reliability.
In the past governments have subsidized or used other means to encourage the purchase of LED lights, in an effort to bring down overall energy use and help reduce carbon emissions.
Cheaper LEDs should go some way to solving this cost problem, and make their widespread adoption only a matter of time.
