Less than a year after showcasing the 152 lumens-per-watt concept LED bulb, Cree Inc of Durham, NC, USA has unveiled a 170 lumens-per-watt (LPW) prototype LED light bulb. The firm says that the 170LPW LED bulb enables much higher efficacy and lower cost for its luminaire portfolio, as it aims to accelerate the adoption of LED lighting by addressing the key barriers of initial cost and payback.
Cree says that LED lighting at this level of performance is only enabled by advances across all elements of the LED lighting system – lighting-class LEDs, optics, drivers and thermal management. The firm says its latest R&D lighting result has been enabled by its SC3 Technology Platform, which is based on Cree's silicon carbide (SiC) technology as well as advances in the LED chip architecture and phosphor.
"Optimizing each LED design element was critical in achieving the performance reached by Cree's new prototype LED bulb," says Nick Medendorp, VP of research and development, Cree lighting. "The technology embodied in the new 170LPW concept LED bulb is enabling us to develop higher-performance and lower-cost Cree LED luminaires," he adds.
Third-party testing by independent lab OnSpeX confirmed that the new 170LPW prototype LED bulb delivered more than 1250 lumens and consumes just 7.3W. The bulb uses Cree TrueWhite Technology to deliver a colo rendering index (CRI) of 90+. As an efficiency comparison, a traditional 75W incandescent light bulb produces 1100 lumens, i.e. just 14.6 lumens per watt.
