The competition
The L Prize competition is the first government-sponsored technology program designed to spur development of ultra-efficient solid-state lighting products to replace the common light bulb. The challenge was to develop a 60W incandescent replacement lamp using LEDs. LUXEON Rebel LEDs are at the heart of the winning L-Prize light bulb.
The L-Prize requirements
The DOE’s stringent requirements for the L Prize included:
* Efficacy of more than 90 lumens per watt, which exceeds the efficiency of all incandescent and most compact fluorescent sources today, which range from 10 to 60 lumens per watt
* Energy consumption of less than 10W as compared to a 60W incandescent
* Output of more than 900 lumens, equivalent to a 60W incandescent light bulb
* A lifetime of more than 25,000 hours, which is 25 times greater than a typical incandescent bulb
* A Color Rendering Index (CRI) greater than 90, which is a high measure of lighting quality
* A color temperature between 2700 and 3000 Kelvin, which is warm white light, comparable to that of incandescent sources.