My Essay
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19 Nov 2010, 03:55
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Journals
Keith Miller
R. McDowell
Grad Project
2 November 2010
Light Emitting Diodes: The Future Of Lighting
In today's world, saving money is something that is important to everyone. One way for people to save money is to cut down on their electrical bill. “Electric lighting burns up to 25% of the average home energy budget” (Eartheasy). One way to plug the hole that an electric bill can burn into ones wallet is to use more efficient lighting methods. Light emitting diodes, or LED's, is the most efficient method of lighting available today. They are durable, will never go bad, are environmentally friendly compared to any other lighting options that are used today. LED's save money, save power, and are the future of lighting systems in today’s world.
The light emitting diode, just like most other diodes, uses a semiconductor to work. The semiconductor that is used in the LED is mixed with a few impurities in order to give it a “p-side” and an “n-side”. When current is applied, it flows easily from the p-side to the n-side of the semiconductor, but not the other way around. The current flows through two parts of the atoms that form the semiconductor: the electrons, and the electron-holes. When an electron meets an electron-hole energy is released in the form of a photon (a particle of light). This phenomenon was first discovered in 1962 by Nick Holonyak Jr..
Soon after Nick's discovery LED's were being put to use. The first practical use for LED's were in seven segment displays (the numbers on most digital alarm clocks). LED's then began to merge with other electronic devices such as radios, televisions, and hand-held calculators. At this point in time however, LED's were not bright enough to be used for anything else. In 1995 Shuji Nakamura was able to develop an LED capable of producing a greater number of lumens (the unit for measuring brightness). Since his discovery, and up until today the number of lumens that LED's were capable of producing grew at an alarming rate. In February 2008 Bilkent University in Turkey reported creating an LED capable of 300 lumens per watt. Today LED's are available as a means of safer, and more efficient way of lighting.
Incandescent light bulbs have been dominating the lighting scene for about a century. When more efficient florescent lights became available, large amounts of people quickly upgraded. The LED light is the next advancement in lighting technology. Incandescent lights are extremely inefficient, the filament that the light bulb relies on to make light uses 97% of the total energy it draws on heat and only 3% towards light. The filaments in incandescent lights also do not last long which means they require frequent replacing. Fluorescent lights eliminated the problem of having a filament by using a gas within the bulb to produce light, which uses less power as well. Fluorescent bulbs still put used energy towards heat which is where they fall short. LED's do not have a filament or a gas like incandescent and fluorescent bulbs, so there is no energy wasted by producing heat. LED's do not burn out and are manufactured with an epoxy resin, making them very durable compared to incandescent fluorescent light bulbs. Since they are solid state devices, there are no parts within an LED that can malfunction or break, making them more reliable. LED's are more expensive than fluorescent and incandescent lights, but in the long run save the consumer money because of the lack of energy that is wasted, and the extremely long life that LED's possess.
LED's will not only benefit their user, but the rest of the world as well. Too much energy is wasted on today’s standard light bulbs. If everybody switched to LED's today, massive amounts of energy would be saved rather than wasted in the form of unwanted and unnecessary heat. LED's is one major step that must be taken in order for the conservation of energy to be successful.
LED lights will soon be the lighting method of choice. The price of LED's are continuously dropping while their efficiency and capabilities are continuously growing. The year 1962 was the year of birth for this new technology, and since then its number practical uses as well as its overall availability public have grown in staggering amounts. Not only will they save the consumer money by never having to be replaced, and producing only light instead of heat and light, but they will help the conservation of energy, and the world as a whole. First there were candles, then there were incandescent light bulbs, followed by fluorescent lights, and now and tomorrow there is the far superior LED.
R. McDowell
Grad Project
2 November 2010
Light Emitting Diodes: The Future Of Lighting
In today's world, saving money is something that is important to everyone. One way for people to save money is to cut down on their electrical bill. “Electric lighting burns up to 25% of the average home energy budget” (Eartheasy). One way to plug the hole that an electric bill can burn into ones wallet is to use more efficient lighting methods. Light emitting diodes, or LED's, is the most efficient method of lighting available today. They are durable, will never go bad, are environmentally friendly compared to any other lighting options that are used today. LED's save money, save power, and are the future of lighting systems in today’s world.
The light emitting diode, just like most other diodes, uses a semiconductor to work. The semiconductor that is used in the LED is mixed with a few impurities in order to give it a “p-side” and an “n-side”. When current is applied, it flows easily from the p-side to the n-side of the semiconductor, but not the other way around. The current flows through two parts of the atoms that form the semiconductor: the electrons, and the electron-holes. When an electron meets an electron-hole energy is released in the form of a photon (a particle of light). This phenomenon was first discovered in 1962 by Nick Holonyak Jr..
Soon after Nick's discovery LED's were being put to use. The first practical use for LED's were in seven segment displays (the numbers on most digital alarm clocks). LED's then began to merge with other electronic devices such as radios, televisions, and hand-held calculators. At this point in time however, LED's were not bright enough to be used for anything else. In 1995 Shuji Nakamura was able to develop an LED capable of producing a greater number of lumens (the unit for measuring brightness). Since his discovery, and up until today the number of lumens that LED's were capable of producing grew at an alarming rate. In February 2008 Bilkent University in Turkey reported creating an LED capable of 300 lumens per watt. Today LED's are available as a means of safer, and more efficient way of lighting.
Incandescent light bulbs have been dominating the lighting scene for about a century. When more efficient florescent lights became available, large amounts of people quickly upgraded. The LED light is the next advancement in lighting technology. Incandescent lights are extremely inefficient, the filament that the light bulb relies on to make light uses 97% of the total energy it draws on heat and only 3% towards light. The filaments in incandescent lights also do not last long which means they require frequent replacing. Fluorescent lights eliminated the problem of having a filament by using a gas within the bulb to produce light, which uses less power as well. Fluorescent bulbs still put used energy towards heat which is where they fall short. LED's do not have a filament or a gas like incandescent and fluorescent bulbs, so there is no energy wasted by producing heat. LED's do not burn out and are manufactured with an epoxy resin, making them very durable compared to incandescent fluorescent light bulbs. Since they are solid state devices, there are no parts within an LED that can malfunction or break, making them more reliable. LED's are more expensive than fluorescent and incandescent lights, but in the long run save the consumer money because of the lack of energy that is wasted, and the extremely long life that LED's possess.
LED's will not only benefit their user, but the rest of the world as well. Too much energy is wasted on today’s standard light bulbs. If everybody switched to LED's today, massive amounts of energy would be saved rather than wasted in the form of unwanted and unnecessary heat. LED's is one major step that must be taken in order for the conservation of energy to be successful.
LED lights will soon be the lighting method of choice. The price of LED's are continuously dropping while their efficiency and capabilities are continuously growing. The year 1962 was the year of birth for this new technology, and since then its number practical uses as well as its overall availability public have grown in staggering amounts. Not only will they save the consumer money by never having to be replaced, and producing only light instead of heat and light, but they will help the conservation of energy, and the world as a whole. First there were candles, then there were incandescent light bulbs, followed by fluorescent lights, and now and tomorrow there is the far superior LED.
sick intro :D
too much to read.
Other than that I didn't really read it. I'm sure it's awesome!