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Solid-state lighting isn’t just about decreasing energy consumption (MAGAZINE)

Sept. 20, 2010

More-efficient, lower-cost lighting could cause people to consume more light in the future, so overall energy consumption may not decrease, says Jeff Tsao of Sandia National Laboratories and his colleagues.

Content Dam Leds En Articles 2010 09 Solid State Lighting Isn T Just About Decreasing Energy Consumption Magazine Leftcolumn Article Thumbnailimage File

When, in the late 1990s, the idea of solid-state lighting was first articulated, there was a lot of excitement over the possibility that it would enable a reduction in worldwide energy consumption.

The simple math was that if the efficiency of solid-state lighting was, say, 4x higher than that of traditional lighting, then you’d decrease the consumption of energy for lighting by the same factor, 4x. And, because the percentage of the world’s primary energy consumption that is due to lighting is significant (6.5% or so), the macroeconomic impact would also be significant. This was exciting stuff!

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This article was published in the September/October 2010 issue of LEDs Magazine. To read the full version of this article, please visit our magazine page, where you can download FREE electronic PDF versions of all issues of LEDs Magazine. You can also request a print copy of LEDs Magazine (available by paid subscription) and sign up for our free weekly email newsletter.