KOREA: LED has a bright future in our homes

A huge commotion in the lighting market is on the horizon: LED, which is typically used for mobile phones, displays, and signal lights, is expected to replace the traditional fluorescent and halogen lamps in building and homes.



According to South Korea’s Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, the size of the overall lighting market worldwide is about $100 billion – of which the LED lighting segment is expected to increase from $4 billion in 2005 to $12 billion in 2010. The size of Korea’s entire lighting market is about $2.18 billion, of which $654 million is from the LED segment.



“The LED developed in the 1960’s has continued to evolve and is now a popular choice for next-generation lighting source,” said Won-gook Sohn, a researcher at the R&D Center of Seoul Semiconductor, a top-ranked LED manufacturer. “Continued efforts in LED technology development have led to performance and features that are far superior from previous products. Due to the improved light efficiency of LEDs, their applications areas have broadened from traditional signal lamps and art lights to various lighting functions.”

HIGH-OUTPUT LED

In order for LEDs to replace fluorescent or incandescent electric lamps in residential lighting, the price needs to be reduced by more than 50 percent, and brightness per watt has to be greater than 120 lumens. In the future, LEDs will be used for lighting sports and leisure facilities, as well as parking lots, public places, and lightscapes where factors such as long lifespan and reduced power consumption are needed.



Most of the LEDs available for lighting are high-output products. Aside from improved radiation intensity, these LEDs feature the same color rendering index (CRI) and correlated color temperature (CCT) as traditional lighting sources. Radiation intensity of traditional incandescent electric lamps is 10-20lumen/W, and that of small fluorescent lamps is 50-60lumen/W.



Seoul Semiconductor recently launched a 420-lumen version of its high-output semiconductor lighting source, Acriche. It is environment-friendly, offers reduction in material costs, and is easy to maintain. Since it does not require a DC converter, it is highly power-effective. It is easy to install as well.



“We expect the Acriche to lead new trends distinct from regular lighting equipment in the LED market,” said Sohn. “Eventually the price of LED will decrease by ten times the current price, and its performance will greatly improve as high as 20 times in accordance with Haitz’s law. Many countries are now working on the standardization of LED lighting,” he added.



Some industry analysts estimate that in five years all lighting products will have LED if the current rate of technology development will continue. Market research firm Strategies Unlimited predicts the global high-output LED market to increase from $4.2 billion in 2006 to $9.4 billion in 2011, with annual growth rate of 17.6 percent.

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