The Department of Energy’s Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize (L Prize) competition has received its first entrant: a product from Philips Electronics.
Philips has developed, manufactured and will bring to market an LED replacement for the common 60W incandescent light bulb. Philips developed this product in response to DOE’s industry-wide challenge, and was today recognized by DOE as the first company to submit an entry.
Established through the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, the L Prize offers substantial rewards for the first manufacturer to meet its very demanding requirements—ensuring that performance, quality, lifetime, cost and availability meet expectations for widespread adoption and mass manufacturing. Required metrics for the 60W incandescent LED replacement, as laid out by DOE, include:
* Efficacy of more than 90 lumens/W, which exceeds the efficiency of all incandescent and most compact fluorescent sources today, which range from 10 to 60 lumens/W
* Energy consumption of less than 10 watts as compared to a 60 Watt incandescent.
* Output of more than 900 lumens, equivalent to a 60 Watt incandescent light bulb
* Lifetime of more than 25,000 hours, which is 25X greater than a typical incandescent bulb
* Color Rendering Index (CRI) greater than 90, which is a high measure of lighting quality
* Color Temperature between 2700-3000K, (“warm” white light)
The Philips submission will now undergo comprehensive evaluation, including performance testing conducted by independent laboratories, field assessments conducted with utilities and other partners, long-term lumen maintenance testing and stress testing under extreme conditions. Consumer pricing and retail availability have yet to be determined. In addition to the 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.
Every year, it is estimated that more than 425 million 60W incandescent light bulbs are sold in the United States alone, representing approximately 50% of the domestic incandescent light bulb market.
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