Source: earthtechling.com
Published: September 4, 2013
Mark it on your calendars, dear readers, for today is the day when the light bulb became obsolete. For over a century, we’ve illuminated our homes and cities with light bulbs–bulbous luminaries that mimic the vacuum tube packaging of early light bulb inventors almost exactly. Today, however, the industry is going flat in a very inspiring way.
Image via NliteN
Designed and manufactured by NliteN Inc., the 2D Lite LED Disk is something entirely new in energy efficiency lighting: a patent-pending and unique flat design that delivers superior brightness and reduced energy consumption at a price that’s more than 60% less than the average price of dimmable 60W incandescent-replacement LED light bulbs.
Despite the fact that incandescent light bulbs will soon be a thing of the past, many consumers say that the elevated price of CFLs and LEDs are the main reason they haven’t yet made the transition. The unique shape of NliteN’s 2D design enables the light disk to be manufactured on highly-automated electronics assembly systems right here in America, ensuring reliability at the lowest cost and highest lumens per dollar.
According to the company, 2D-Lite LED Disk’s technology looks brighter, and reduces energy consumption by about 80percent over the 60W incandescent light bulbs it’s meant to replace, and by almost 30 percent over the 14W, mercury -containing, non-dimmable CFL bulbs it’s meant to displace.
“The 2D-Light keeps its LEDs cool using a nifty disk-shaped integral heat sink which matches the A19-bulb silhouette and fully meets ANSI-standard specs for overall shape, max size, and light source location,” said Dennis McCarthy, solid state lighting applications guru and one of the experts and writers at the Philips-sponsored, UBM Electronics’ All Led Lighting site, in a press release.
“Few, if any, other energy-saving bulbs deliver this killer combination of capability and features. I’d note that the deceptive, yet clever, smooth plastic cylinder at the bottom is just a guide – the circuit board indentations actually do screw into a standard Edison light socket, making electrical connections.”
NliteN’s goal is to produce a $6, dimmable, 60W-replacement, light disk in 2015 and a “Light Disk for the World” at a $3 price point by 2017.
The 2D light disk launched today through the Philips “Innovation Fellows” competition, being held on the Indiegogo. Check out the product page to find out how you can support its development. By Beth Buczynski