Cree breaks LED lumens per watt record
Cree has demonstrated a single high-power LED delivering nearly 1,600 lumens at 134 lumens-per-watt (LPW) which it says has similar colour quality as an incandescent light bulb.
The R&D LED performance was measured at 1587 lumens at 350mA and junction temperature of 85degC, delivering 134 LPW with a CRI Ra > 90 and R9 > 90 at 2700K CCT.
With this result, the company says it has achieved a breakthrough 25 percent increase in lumens per watt (LPW) over production LEDs of similar colour quality under operating conditions found in real-world LED lighting applications.
"Today, advancing LED technology goes beyond just increasing LPW," said John Edmond, Cree co-founder and director of advanced optoelectronics. "Cree is also focused on improving spectral content and the efficacy of warmer colour temperatures while pursuing tremendous opportunities to increase LPW at real-world operating conditions. This R&D result continues Cree's high power LED technology innovation and provides a path to better lighting experiences at the lowest overall system cost."
As an example of what Cree's technology could achieve, a current 60W LED replacement lamp with average light quality (3000K CCT and 80 CRI) could be upgraded to incandescent-like light quality (2700K CCT, 90+ CRI & 90+ R9) with the same light output and power consumption levels at no additional cost.
The recently approved California Title 20 appliance standard for LED bulbs highlights the importance of this type of performance without cost and energy savings compromises.
