News Article
Veeco awarded $4 million to boost LED manufacturing
The US DOE has awarded a total of $14.8 million to accelerate the adoption of technologies that reduce costs and enhance product quality in SSL lighting. Other recipients include Cree, Lumileds, Soraa, Moser Baer and three US universities.
US Energy Secretary Steven Chu has awarded nearly $15 million to support eight new research and development projects that will accelerate the development and deployment of high-efficiency solid-state lighting (SSL) technologies like LEDs and OLEDs. Both technologies have the potential to be ten times more energy-efficient than conventional incandescent lighting and can last up to 25 times as long.
The projects selected are located in four states across the country and are focused on advancing core R&D goals, developing new products, and expanding domestic manufacturing capacity to help the U.S. remain competitive in this growing technology market.
"These investments in cutting-edge lighting technologies will support American innovation, create new manufacturing jobs for U.S. workers, and help ensure that the United States leads the world in this rapidly evolving industry," said Secretary Chu. "These next-generation lighting technologies have the potential to transform the way we light our homes and businesses and generate enormous energy and cost savings for families and businesses across the country."
The projects selected address the full spectrum of research, development, and deployment for SSL technologies and will leverage an additional $4 million in private sector funding.
In order to achieve significant cost reductions and enhanced quality by improving manufacturing equipment, processes, or monitoring techniques, Veeco Instruments has been awarded $4 million. Moser Baer Technologies has been given nearly $3 million.
To enhance product development, Cree has been awarded $1.6 million and Philips Lumileds almost $2 million.
Recipients to perform core technology research are Arizona State University, Research Triangle Institute, Soraa and the University of Rochester who have been awarded a total of $4.3 million. These projects will focus on filling key technology gaps in LED and OLED development, improving scientific knowledge, and providing performance data for these technologies, which are all critical to the widespread deployment of solid-state lighting for general lighting purposes.
This is the seventh round of DOE funding for solid-state lighting core technology research and product development, and the second time that DOE has funded solid-state lighting manufacturing projects. These efforts are part of DOE's initiative to accelerate the adoption of SSL technology through improvements that reduce costs and enhance product quality and performance. They will also play an important role in encouraging U.S.-based manufacturing of SSL technologies, creating jobs, and promoting America's role as a global leader in energy efficiency.
The projects announced today are award selections and final details are subject to negotiations.
