Future of Lighting (LED)

LED lighting can’t do everything — yet. LED

sources are making headway in some white

light applications as replacements for HID and

linear fluorescent sources, but they still have a

way to go before their widespread adoption for

general illumination applications. Nevertheless,

LED lighting systems today afford a number of

advantages over conventional systems:

LED lighting can be five times more energyefficient

than incandescent and halogen sources,

and comparable in efficacy to CFLs. LED sources

continue to improve and are quickly gaining on

the energy efficiency of fluorescent tubes.

LED lighting fixtures are directional, throwing

light only where it’s needed. LEDs have a much

smaller light source than CFLs, allowing more

efficient optics and better control of light.

The quality of white-light LEDs is now

comparable to CFLs, HIDs, and linear

fluorescents. Recent advances in LED

manufacturing techniques assure consistency in

colour and colour temperature comparable to

or better than traditional sources.

LED sources offer a significantly longer useful

life than conventional light sources. This means

less replacement and maintenance. For instance,

halogen lamps may have to be replaced from

12 to 20 times before a comparable, properly

designed LED alternative must be replaced once.

Unlike conventional sources, LED sources

continue to be useful even after their light

output has decreased significantly. Outright

failure of LED sources is rare. The amount

of light output from LED sources has been

improving by 35% each year since the LED was

invented. At the same time, the cost of LEDs

has been dropping by 20% each year for several

decades. This means the overall performance of

LEDs is doubling about every 18 to 24 months.