Cockpit lighting getting boost from UK solid-state light source project
The UK Government has announced that they will contribute £3.3 million toward NoveLELS, a high efficiency and high brightness solid-state light source research project. This development project will initially test the new light source in aircraft cockpits, exterior lighting and consumer LCD devices.
The project, which started in March 2007, is being developed by a consortium of 9 companies and universities: Airbus, AgustaWestland, GE Aviation, IQE plc, Exxelis Limited, Mesophotonics Limited, Enfis Limited, University of Bath and Brunel University. The consortium hopes to stimulate the commercialization of advanced GaN epitaxy and LED chip manufacturing along with advanced phosphors and thermally efficient packaging to create novel LED arrays and light engines for solid-state lighting applications. The benefits of this research, according to NoveLELS, are increased energy efficiency, optical coupling efficiency, and reduced cost per lumen of solid-state lights.
This move by the UK Government is being seen as a means for the UK to propel itself toward the global forefront of LED research and IP generation in the light source space.
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!