In 5000 BC, fireflies were captured and enclosed in a small jar and used as a lamp. In 300 BC, candles made of plant oil and beeswax were first used in China. In 1801, the incandescent bulb was invented by Sir Joseph Swan, alongside Thomas Edison. Together they formed the Edison & Swan United Electric Company and gave the World its first mass produced light bulb…
Quebec. Paris. Beijing. Oslo. Jakarta. Dublin. The street scenes vary, but cities worldwide share an imperative to improve the efficiency, costs, and operations of their streetlights…
Noah Goldstein, a research director at Navigant Research*, talks with Echalon about some drivers for LED lighting, the emergence of lighting as a service…
By taking advantage of novel design patterns, researchers from National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan have developed a highly flexible white light LED that uses cheap, readily accessible components. Potential uses include wearable displays and non-flat surfaces, such as curved and flexible television screens…
The adoption of LED lighting continues at a rapid pace. Although the extended life of LEDs is beneficial, it also presents a compatibility challenge with older technology controls, especially with outdoor photocontrols….
Research from the University of Copenhagen shows that LEDs made from nanowires will use less energy and provide better light.
Organic LEDs (OLEDs) are an interesting and promising new display technology. They provide a number of major technology enhancements for displays and televisions, such as high contrast ratio, wide viewing angle, and very fast response time.
Although a relatively new technology, organic light-emitting diodes, OLEDs, are labelled today’s most promising display technology. As its name suggests, OLED is an advancement upon LED or light-emitting diode that allows for even thinner and brighter displays…
LED keeps evolving. Six or seven years ago no one thought that LED was bright enough or cost-effective enough for general purpose lighting. Then efficacies improved, colour got more consistent, costs came down, and nowspecifiers and end-users want LED first, everything else as a second option. LED has arrived and there’s really no questioning it now.
You may soon be able to add “growing space vegetables” to the list of uses for LEDs. Researchers at the University of Guelph’s Controlled Environment Systems Research Facility (CERF) are looking at ways that LEDs can help grow plants on other planets, specifically the moon and Mars. The project, called InTICE (Innovative Technologies in Challenging Environments), also has applications right here in Canada for remote Northern regions where fresh food is scarce.
LED’s Part 2
The benefits of LEDs almost seem too good to be true, and in some cases may be. Rapid growth in LED technology has led to equal growth in the number of manufacturers and suppliers, with sometimes questionable results. To get the greatest value out of your LED retrofit, integrate these considerations into your purchasing process.
Mention LEDs in a conversation, and what first springs to mind is low energy use. But LEDs offer plenty of other benefits, including less waste, less use of materials and resources, and greater recyclability. As facilities across Canada seek to lower energy costs, solid state lighting can help give every building a sustainable future. The rapid development of LED technologies are accelerating this change. Architects and building owners strive for a balance of sustainable practices that allow aesthetics and functionality to live together, while ensuring the quality of light, energy savings and long service life provide the return they want.
This project is funded [in part] by the Government of Canada.
Ce projet est financé [en partie] par le gouvernement du Canada.
