White LED lighting will become the mainstream of future lamps

In many home, institutional, government, and industrial applications, high-brightness (HB) white LEDs (light emitting diodes) are rapidly replacing incandescent lamps. In the past year, white LED lighting systems accounted for more than 50% of the total lighting applications, and eventually exceeded the color LED applications. Color LED applications are mainly driven by the aesthetic needs of color lighting.

The new driving force for the growth of white LED lighting is quite simple: lower energy consumption leads to much lower electricity bills. In many cases, the higher efficiency of LEDs can reduce power consumption by as much as 88%. They also greatly reduce the carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the generation of electricity for lighting and the transmission of electrical energy. According to a study by StrategiesUnlimited, the total high-brightness white LED lighting market is expected to exceed US$5 billion by 2012, corresponding to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 28% from 2009 to 2012. This is just the beginning, as LED's luminous efficiency continues to accelerate the transition from incandescent, fluorescent and high-pressure sodium lamps to high-brightness white LEDs in the commercial/residential lighting market. At the same time, LEDs will even become more commercialized. Cost-effectiveness.

According to some calculations, switching from traditional incandescent and fluorescent lamps to LED lighting can save up to 10% of the current global total energy consumption. As people accelerate their efforts to reduce total carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation, the potential to reduce global lighting energy demand by 10% has contributed greatly to this shift.

What factors support such a huge growth potential? First, the current generation of LEDs has a luminous efficiency that is 10 times higher than that of incandescent lamps and more than twice that of fluorescent lamps and high pressure sodium lamps (HPS), thereby greatly reducing the power necessary to provide the required light output (measured in lumens). With the further development of LEDs, their efficiency in relying on electric light will continue to increase, and they are expected to double within the next few years.

Second, in a world that is very environmentally friendly, LED lighting does not require the handling, exposure, and removal of toxic mercury vapors that are common in fluorescent lamps. The cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) used today for most residential lighting systems contains up to 5 mg of mercury, while larger lamps contain much more mercury!