Advanced Sustainable Lighting Solutions

 In LED Lighting, News

Technology Foundation STW and Philips has officially launched its “Advanced Sustainable Lighting Solutions” partnership to meet the growing demand for sustainable lighting with the approval of eight research projects.

Mega LEDs. Source: RobotGrrl

Mega LEDs. Source: RobotGrrl

By 2050, the world’s lighting consumption is expected to have increased threefold.

The five-year program, which has a budget of three million euros (close to four million US dollars), aims to develop innovative, more efficient lighting that will also be available for new applications. The initial results are due in 2014.

Five projects are related to the exploration of new materials, the improvement of efficiency and the optimization of sustainable production of LED lights. The three remaining projects will examine how LED lighting can be used for health and energy savings and will look into the concept of more efficient algae growth for biomass production and improved fruit quality.

The research includes several components.

‘Mega-LED’, by the Electrical Engineering Department at Eindhoven University of Technology, aims to make powerful 100 watt lamps possible.

The ‘Green NanoLED’ development aims to contribute to the development of white LED light without the need to use phosphor, which degrades and loses efficiency over time, and of LEDs that can be set in RGB colors.

LED Grow Lights used as Interlighting in Greenhouse Tomatoes. Source: Hortamericas Blogspot

LED Grow Lights used as Interlighting in Greenhouse Tomatoes.
Source: Hortamericas Blogspot

The research also calls for “a new ray-trace method for optical design,” which will make the design of optical systems better, faster and cheaper. This will give rise to shorter development times for new prototypes of lamps and light sources that use LEDs.

Recent research has shown that using LED light on growing tomatoes doubles their vitamin C content. The “healthy fruits by localized LED lights on fruits” project looks to understand exactly how that happens and to develop a practical lighting strategy for increasing the vitamin C content in fruits.

“Dynamic LED lighting, thermal comfort, health, and energy savings in buildings” will examine the interaction between light incidence, thermal comfort and the energy consumption of the human body. Experiencing a pleasant temperature does not depend on temperature alone, as light is also an important factor. LED lighting makes it possible to manipulate the color, intensity and dynamics of the light.

Algae are becoming more important as a future source of biomass and animal feed. The process of converting energy from sunlight by algae and plants is not particularly efficient; some 93 to 99 per cent of the energy captured is lost. The electrons excited by light are only processed slowly in the reaction centers for photosynthesis. A research project under the Advanced Sustainable Lighting Solutions umbrella examines whether pulsed LED lighting can bring about improved processing of excited electrons and therefore increase the efficiency of photosynthesis.

By Justin McGar