Energy Department Announces Investments to Accelerate U.S. Manufacturing of Energy Efficient Lighting Technologies

Energy Department Announces Investments to Accelerate U.S. Manufacturing of Energy Efficient Lighting Technologies | Department of Energy Skip to main content Energy.gov Find information about your town or city. Search form Search Energy.gov Public ServicesTax Credits, Rebates & SavingsHomesVehiclesBuilding DesignManufacturingNational Security & SafetyEnergy EconomyFunding OpportunitiesState & Local GovernmentScience & InnovationScience & TechnologyScience EducationInnovationEnergy SourcesEnergy UsageEnergy EfficiencyMissionNews & BlogMaps & DataAbout UsFor Staff & ContractorsOfficesAll OfficesProgram OfficesStaff OfficesLabs & Technology CentersField SitesPower Marketing AdministrationOther Agencies You are hereHome Energy Department Announces Investments to Accelerate U.S. Manufacturing of Energy Efficient Lighting Technologies June 7, 2012 - 1:44pm Addthis News Media Contact(202) 586-4940

WASHINGTON -- As part of the Obama Administration’s all-of-the-above energy strategy to help reduce energy costs for America’s homes and businesses, the Energy Department today announced more than $7 million for three innovative lighting projects at companies in California, Michigan and North Carolina that aim to lower the cost of manufacturing high-efficiency solid-state lighting (SSL) technologies like light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).  LEDs and OLEDs are generally ten times more energy-efficient than conventional incandescent lighting and can last up to 25 times as long, and by 2030, these technologies have the potential to reduce national lighting electricity use by nearly one half, which could save up to $30 billion a year. 

"Partnering with private industry, the Energy Department is driving innovation in new, more efficient lighting products and boosting our national competiveness in manufacturing,” said U.S, Energy Secretary Steven Chu. “The investments announced today will help expand lighting choices for consumers, reduce the nation’s energy use, and drive down costs for American lighting manufacturers and the families and businesses that buy their products.”

The two-year projects selected today will focus on significantly reducing manufacturing costs while continuing to improve the quality and performance of solid state lighting technologies.  These investments, which will leverage an additional $5 million in private sector funding, will focus on improving manufacturing equipment, processes, or monitoring techniques that will help make LEDs and OLEDs cost-competitive with other lighting options.

The awards selected for negotiation include:

Cree Inc. (Durham, North Carolina) – This project will develop an optimized, cost-competitive LED fixture design that can be readily integrated into buildings and applications and uses fewer raw materials – all without compromising performance. The project builds on Cree’s existing LED technology and aims to provide warm-white light over a minimum lifetime of 50,000 hours, while reducing the cost of manufacturing the major components and assembled products. (DOE Award: $2,344,000; Total Project: $3,044,000)KLA-Tencor (Milpitas, California) -  This project aims to develop a measurement tool that will help reduce variation in LED production quality, helping to improve performance, reduce manufacturing costs and provide white light that has consistent color quality and brightness. (DOE Award: $3,995,000; Total Project: $7,989,500)k-Space Associates (Dexter, Michigan) - This project plans to create a more efficient manufacturing process by building on k-Space’s existing optical monitoring technology to enable high-precision measurements of OLED layers during mass production. The tool will measure layer thickness and composition to ultimately improve the efficiency, color, and lifetime of OLEDs. This development, a first for the industry, will serve as a platform for future large-scale OLED production facilities, paving the way for a strong U.S. presence in OLED manufacturing. (DOE Award: $800,000; Total Project: $1,200,000)

The announcement made today represents the third round of Energy Department investments in solid-state lighting manufacturing projects since 2010 and supports broader Department efforts to accelerate domestic manufacturing and technical leadership in SSL technologies, helping to create jobs, boost exports and strengthen America’s role as a global leader in energy efficiency and clean energy technologies.

Additional information on the awards announced today is available HERE.

To learn more about energy efficient lighting efforts at DOE, visit the Solid-State Lighting Program website.

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Mobile Technologies In Healthcare

The union of mobile technologies and applications is a growing opportunity for healthcare. There is no denying the innate factor of modern mobile technology. Morgan Stanley Research reports that mobile Internet usage is growing faster than desktop Internet usage, and will reach parity in late 2013. The basis for this expansion in mobile Internet usage may seem evident at first. Among computing technologies, mobile computing devices are typically only an arm's reach away, making them easy to get to and extremely handy. The abundance of specialized downloadable applications, often available at low or no cost, increases the efficacy of devices over time.

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Few years ago, this would have sounded more like science fiction but today it stands as a reality that has changed the way people perceive healthcare. Mobile technology has brought a revolution into the lives of those patients who were forced to visit their doctors' everyday by skipping a few important meetings. We now have mobile applications that record your daily blood pressure and other data and directly send it to your doctor's or physician's smartphone. It allows your doctor to have a daily check on your physical fitness while you absorb yourself in those important meetings that you otherwise had to skip. This technology also gives the patients a peace of mind as their doctors can monitor their condition on a daily basis.

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However, there are known challenges in developing mobile technologies. It involves conducting research with end-users, understanding their psychology and then designing applications that overcome their challenges by providing solutions that enable them to remain fit. Mobile technology is a part of the thread that connects patients, care providers and individuals in several ways while also having access to endless information to promote wellness and good health. For today's innovators - mobile is not just a part of the thread, it is their cornerstone!

About The Author

Bansi Raja is a poet by passion and a content writer by profession. She has had a brief experience with professional content writing as well as seo content writing. She has also extended her skills to copy writing for a couple of ad campaigns.

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