NOBEL PRIZE FOR “TRANSFORMATIVE” BLUE LEDS

Blue LED Innovation Enabled Transformative Change in Lighting Efficiency

The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to three Japanese scientists for their work on developing efficient blue light-emitting diodes (LED) in the early 1990’s. Their discovery enabled the development of low-energy white light sources, effectively, LED lamps. Before this period only green and red LEDs were commercially available; when blue LEDs are added to green and red LEDS they produce the impression of white light. The three new Nobel laureates are Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano, and Shuji Nakamura. According to a press release from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the institute that awards the Nobel prize, the development of blue LEDs represents a “fundamental transformation of lighting technology.”

LEDs use less energy than both incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL) and are brighter, they produce 83 lumens per watt (the amount of light output per unit of power), as against 67 for a similar CFL bulb or 16 for an incandescent. The price of LEDs has been steadily decreasing in recent years, making them more affordable and has led to an increase in the diversification of their use. LEDs are often found at concerts and live entertainment events. They are also used for decorative displays and information displays in shops, etc., and increasingly in street lighting worldwide with a market that is “expected to grow from 13.2 million bulbs in 2014 to more than 116 million in 2023.” Solar powered LEDs are just one of the strategies being discussed to improve the lives of those 1.5 billion people around the world who live off-the-grid, as in not served by an electricity grid.