Win $10 million prize for building a best power saving bulb

The US Energy Department has declared a contest in which the company that makes the best power saving bulb will get a prize of $10 million. The contest winner will also receive consideration for federal purchasing agreements and will have a head start at cracking a vast consumer marketplace. The Energy Department will also award $5 million to the creator of an LED reflector lamp.

The L Prize has attracted significant attention in the lighting industry. Currently, 60 watt incandescent lamps represent 50 percent of all the lighting in the United States, with 425 million sold each year. The Energy Department says that if all those lamps were LED equivalents, enough power would be saved to light 17.4 million American households and cut carbon emissions by 5.6 million metric tons annually.

So far, Philips is the only company which has submitted its entry. The company has developed a led based bulb which uses one-sixth energy of a 60 watt incandescent bulb. "Philips is confident that the product submitted meets or exceeds all of the criteria for the L Prize," Rudy Provoost, Chief of Philips Lighting, said in a statement to New York Times. Philips has delivered 2,000 prototypes of its bulb to the Energy Department for testing.

Apart from few changes, the incandescent bulb continues to be similar to the Thomas Edison creation. But now the incandescent bulbs will be outlawed by new energy standards that go into effect in 2012. LED bulbs are now available but they have limited output and high prices.

The energy department has made certain criteria for the competition. All bulbs must be able to provide as much light as 60 watt incandescent bulb in 10 watt. The bulb must also last for more than 25,000 hours - about 25 times longer than a standard light bulb. Also, at least 75 percent of the bulb must be made or assembled in the United States. Philip's prototypes currently meet up in all criteria.

Speaking about the contest, James R. Brodrick, Manager of the Solid State Lighting Program of the Energy Department says that these will be the most publicly tested bulb ever. "We've probably eliminated almost 25 products that were horrible," said James R. Brodrick, manager of the Solid State Lighting Program of the Energy Department. "We test LED bulbs today that claim on the package that they're equivalent to 40 watts, but are really like 20-watt bulbs."

Kevin Dowling, Vice President for innovation at Philips Solid State Lighting Solutions, is confident that the LED light bulb can become an affordable option. "Over the long term, we can absolutely get the cost down to the $20 to $25 range," he said.

Agencies