We seem to recall a time when we were very impressed when consumer light emitting diodes had achieved 100 lumens per watt. Engineering LEDs to output twice that power was only a hoop dream except within certain conditions in laboratory settings. Well the future is here because this week Bridgelux announced that their new EB Series of LEDs doubles the standard of high efficiency light output with 200 lumens per watt!
This is the third generation of Bridgelux’s EB Series and are available now in a range of products and form factors for general lighting applications. Before you get too excited, keep in mind that luminous efficacy is only for broad spectrum white LEDs ranging from warm white 2,700 Kelvin to cool white 5,000K and a decent but average color rendition of 90 CRI.
At 200 lumens per watt the new 3rd Gen EB Series LEDs from Bridgelux are around 30% efficient and scratching the theoretical ceiling of 260 to 300 lumens per watt or around 44% efficient. To be clear, very highly developed LEDs are now reaching 300 lumens per watt in the lab, mostly as proof of concepts, and plenty of discrete LEDs are in the 170 to 185 lumen per watt range already.
However the EB Series of products are strips and squares of multiple medium output diodes that are much easier and cheaper to incorporate into consumer products, including aquarium lights, and raises the bar for commercially available solid state lighting technology. [Bridgelux]
