After 18 months of product testing, Philips Lighting North America has won the $10 million L-Prize, the federal government’s contest seeking an efficient replacement for the common 60W light bulb.
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, the L Prize is the first government-sponsored technology competition designed to spur lighting manufacturers to develop high-quality, high-efficiency solid-state lighting products to replace the common light bulb.
The US Department of Energy said yesterday that if every 60-watt incandescent light bulb in the country was replaced with the L-Prize winner, the nation would save $3.9 billion each year in energy costs.
The 35 terawatt-hours of electricity that would be saved would also avoid 20 million metric tons of carbon emissions being pumped into the atmosphere.
The Philips L-Prize Lamp uses LED technology to provide the equivalent light to a 60W bulb using only 10 watts.
Philips submitted 2,000 of its bulbs for consideration by the L-Prize in late 2009.
Testing included examination of lighting performance, stress tests and testing in the field at various locations, including a supermarket in Sacramento, California, and a McDonalds restaurant in Jackson, Wisconsin, as well as a theatre in Skokie, Illinois, and a hospital in Orlando, Florida, among others.
As well as winning the $10 million prize, as the first L-Prize winner Philips will receive the support of 31 utilities and energy efficiency program partners who have pledged to promote the winning light bulb to more than 100 million consumers.
The L-Prize Lamp looks set to hit stores in early 2012.
“The L Prize challenges the best and brightest minds in the U.S. lighting industry to make the technological leaps forward that can greatly reduce the money we spend to light our homes and businesses each year,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
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