This 13 watt bulb, the Evolux by EarthLED, is said to be first LED light to be able to replace a 100 watt incandescent. The lifetime of this bulb is rated at over 50,000 hours — which is five times longer than a compact fluorescent bulb. Other advantages of LED bulbs is their ability to brighten instantly, and be switched off and on rapidly without problems. They also contain no mercury. LED-based bulbs do, however, require more energy to manufacture that CFL or incandescents.

The Evolux uses a CREE light engine, and it contains a small fan to cool the circuit board. EarthLED has a video of the bulb in action, and also some photos showing the type of the light it renders. The Evolux bulb sells about $90 right now. If you are serious about energy efficiency, or if you’re using solar power, this might be the bulb for you.

Via: EcoGeek

OLEDs are thin, organic materials sandwiched between two electrodes, which illuminate when an electrical charge is applied. They’re so thin, that they could be applied to rooms as a type of wall paper to glow at the touch of a finger or when someone enters the room. Like LEDs they produce light very efficiently. But OLEDs also have to potential to be made at a very low cost, because they can be printed “roll-to-roll” like a newspaper. GE recently demonstrated the first OLEDs to be made in this manner — the researchers worked for four years on this project. See more at the GE Blog.

Via: Groovy Green

We just wrote about the new LED streelights in Ann Arbor. Now we find these self-contained streetlights that generate 100% of their power from the sun and the wind. During the day, solar power is stored in a battery at the base of the light pole. At night, they illuminate while continuing to generate power via a small vertical-axis wind turbine. The streetlights, dubbed “seagulls”, were spotted in Tokyo outside the Panasonic Center by Hyperexperience. Here’s a video clip of the wind turbine in action:

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This “Rotondo” rechargeable lamp uses LEDs for illumination — it will run for about eight hours before it needs a recharge. The lamp is also water resistant and is made with mouth-blown parnaterraglas with a frosted finish. It will cycle through a spectrum of colors, and can be stopped when the hue you desire is reached. It’s available from Lightology for $131.

This is a great innovation — the streets of Europe could soon be lit by "solar trees". These self-contained streetlights could save cities energy and money too. Unlike regular streetlights, they do not require costly underground wiring to install, and they are immune to blackouts. Designed by Ross Lovegrove, the lights have 10 solar panels arrayed at the top of tree-like branches, which charge built-in batteries. The batteries then power LEDs for illumination. Compared to conventional streetlights, they emit much less light pollution, because LEDs generate a very directed light. The trees also incorporate light detectors! So the lights automatically turn on sunset and off at sunrise.

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A handful of buildings in California are beginning to try a new kind of indoor lighting: sunlight without windows. It’s called hybrid solar lighting, and it is being marketed by a company called Sunlight Direct. During the day, sunlight is captured and channeled into lighting fixtures, then at night, the fluorescent bulb takes over. On the roof, sunlight is captured using a large dish that tracks the sun. The concentrated light is channeled through the building with bundles of optical fibers. (more…)

A start-up company is offering mercury-free, energy efficient, high-brightness LED lights to replace typical light bulbs in homes and offices. The EcoLED lights use 1/10th the electricity of incandescent light bulbs, and are estimated to last 50,000 hours before burning out (approximately a decade of normal use). Unlike compact fluorescent bulbs, these bulbs contain no mercury. Note that these bulbs produce a directional light, so they may not work in every place in your home.

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It’s a 1 watt LED lamp called the Havaleena by Tayo Design Studio. These lights only require three AAA batteries to run, and fully charged batteries provide 20 hours of illumination. Each light comes with four colored filters and they are priced at $59.

Even in these modern times, LED floor lamps are tricky to find. We, however, found one by Adesso, the Eternity Floor Lamp, which incorporates 20 white LEDs. So what can you expect from an LED floor lamp? Well, white LEDs will emit a concentrated, bluish-white light. So these lamps are great for accent lighting, but not so great for creating a warm ambiance. As far as energy goes, these lamps use about 2 watts or 90% less power than an equivalent incandescent.

These lamps are available here at Amazon for $80.

Most modern buildings don’t take full advantage of daylight. Here, in the Plaza at PPL Center, a dramatic eight-story central glass atrium brings natural light deep into the core of the building, while extensive perimeter glazing provides abundant daylight.

Here’s a new LED Desk Lamp from Koncept. It features 66 “super bright” LEDs. The IceLight is about as bright as a 40–60 watt incandescent bulb. A single bright white LED puts out about 1.7 lumens of light, so 66 of them produce about 112 lumens. This 112 lumens is focused in a 50-degree viewing angle, compared to an incandescent which emits 500–800 lumens in a 360-degree viewing angle, thereby wasting much of the light backwards and sideways.

It comes in three colors and is priced at $139.95.

Icelight

Dimmable compact fluorescents are available, they are usually made with “cold cathode” technology. You can find dimmable bulbs here on Amazon. There’s a 12 pack available here, and a dimmable compact fluorescent spotlight here.

1000 Bulbs also sells a wide range of dimmable compact fluorescent bulbs

Not bad! Good marks on efficiency and portability. This spotlight has 20 LEDs on a rotating head. It runs up to 200 hours continuously on 3 D-size batteries.You can also plug it into a 12V DC lighter socket if you wish. It’s available from Amazon for $29.97

Who knew that compact fluorescents came in colored bulbs too? The yellow ones can be used as bug lights.

They also come in other colors too.

Available from: Save on Lighting ($9-$11)

LEDs are close to becoming metaefficient alternatives to regular light bulbs, but they are not quite there. Right now the brightest LED bulb is equivalent to a 25W incandescent bulb.

The bulb seen here has 36 LEDs and runs on 1W. That means it could run 10 hours a day for a whole year for less than two dollars. It will also last for at least 10 years. The drawback is the price: $18.95 each. The expense can be justified if they are used outdoors, in boats, or in off-grid homes.

Available from: Super Bright LEDS

Enlux, a company in Arizona, has created floodlights built from LEDs. They did this by removing the diodes from their individual plastic housings and clustering them on a heat-dissipating circuit board, known as a light engine. They also created finned aluminum housing that spreads the heat across its surface. The 22-watt floodlight ($80) gives off about as much brightness as a 45- to 65-watt incandescent bulb.

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Compact fluorescents are an efficient lighting
source, but the bulbs do contain mercury (usually around 5 mg) and should
be disposed of properly. To find a place to dispose of them, search
for locations by zipcode here.
The amount of mercury contained in them is much
less than
the amount of mercury released during the production electricity needed
to run incandescent bulbs. Philips makes low-mercury
compact fluorescents, and other low-mercury
bulbs using their "Alto"
technology.

CFLs provide the same amount of light (lumens) as standard
incandescent bulbs, but have lower wattage ratings.

A standard incandescent light is very inefficient because much of the energy
it uses is turned into heat instead of light. A compact fluorescent bulb turns
more of its energy into light and less into heat. It uses 75 percent less energy
than standard incandescent bulbs. A 15-watt compact fluorescent system can
supply the same amount of light as a 60-watt incandescent bulb.

The following provides examples of wattage ratings for comparable light output:

Quality of Light

The quality of light produced by a compact fluorescent is comparable to that
of the incandescent bulb. There is no flicker or hum with a compact fluorescent
– characteristics that are generally associated with fluorescent lights.

Lifetime

Compact fluorescent bulbs last 10 times longer than standard incandescent
bulbs. Compact fluorescents are rated for 10,000 hours and incandescents are
typically rated for 1,000 hours. If you have a bulb that is on eight hours
a day, a compact fluorescent will last 3.4 years. If a standard incandescent
were used, it would have to be replaced 10 times.

This is a meta-efficient bulb because it is a 12V compact fluorescent.

Available in 15-watts, equal to a 60-watt incandescent (880 lumens), or 23-watts, equal to a 100-watt incandescent (1350 lumens).

These lights have a warm color (2700K), operate at 14° to 130°, and measure 5.2"L x 2.1" diameter.

The equivalent of 60W incandescent bulb, with the same warm glow, uses only 11W. Available from: Gaiam.Com ($8) or for around $2 on Ebay.