The U.S. Department of Energy has selected nine solid-state lighting projects to receive funding, in response to the funding opportunity announcement DE-FOA-0001171. The one- to two-year projects, which received funding, will focus on all three existing DOE SSL R&D program areas: Core Technology Research (the application of fundamental scientific concepts to SSL technology); Product Development (using the knowledge gained from basic or applied research to develop or improve commercially viable SSL materials, devices, or systems); and U.S. Manufacturing (accelerating SSL technology adoption through manufacturing innovations and improvements that reduce costs and enhance quality and consistency).
DOE funding for the nine projects is more than $8.2 million. The funding leverages a cost-share contribution from each recipient. So the total public-private investment is over $11.5 million. The DOE pointed out that it is the tenth round of funding for the DOE’s SSL core technology research and product development, and it is the sixth round for DOE’s project of U.S. SSL manufacturing research and development. The funding is part of the DOE’s initiative to accelerate the adoption of SSL technology through improvements that reduce costs while maintaining performance and product quality. The selections are listed below (final details are subject to negotiations):
Acuity Brands Lighting of Berkeley, Califronia received funding for a proposed project to develop an OLED luminaire that features DC current drivers integrated with each panel. The proposal includes a base station that interfaces with user control input that provides power to the OLED panels, and translates the control input to desired functionalities of the panels. The project’s goal is to demonstrate a luminaire with an efficacy of 65 lm/W and a luminous output of 4000 lm. For Acuity’s OLED R & D project the DOE granted the company $455,131, and the company will share $151,710 of the cost.
Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona, received funding for developing efficient and stable phosphorescent material, quick-screening it, and incorporating it into a state-of-the-art OLED. The project’s goal is to develop efficient and stable white OLEDs using a single emissive material. The DOE funding is $700,000 and the University’s cost share is $175,000.
Cree, Inc. was awarded $1,499,971 in funding to focus on developing high-efficacy, cost-effective LED light engines for next-generation luminaires. The goal is to create a demonstration luminaire that incorporates novel chip, down converter, and package geometries. The luminaire should exhibit a steady-state efficacy of >150 lm/W at 3000K and 90 CRI. Cree’s cost share for the project is $374,993.
Los Alamos National Laboratory of Los Alamos, New Mexico USA, was awarded $1 million to develop quantum-dot down-converters to be used in LED lighting. The project’s focus will be on synthesizing red-emitting quantum dots, revealing their failure mechanisms, and conducting accelerated lifetime testing on them. The goal is to demonstrate a phosphor replacement that enabling high-performance LED luminaires. The laboratory’s cost share is $250,000.
Philips Research North America, LLC, was awarded $499,131 to develop an LED-based office lighting system solution that integrates light delivery, optics, and controls. The project is intended to maximize efficiency while also improving occupant health and well-being through the use of spectral tuning and control functionality. The company’s cost share for the project is $166,377.
RTI International based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina USA, was awarded $450,000 to develop and demonstrate the advantages of the novel luminaire designs that make up next-generation integrated classroom lighting system (NICLS) technology. The project intends to demonstrate the benefits of dynamic lighting, and collect feedback from educators, administrators, and other key stakeholders on the potential benefits of dynamic lighting systems in education. RTI’s cost share is $150,000.
Sinovia Technologies of Foster City, California, was awarded $1,326,170 for a project that will combine a barrier film technology with a nanowire transparent conduction film to make a single substrate product to improve light extraction and lower the cost of OLEDs. The goal is to demonstrate a substrate/encapsulation technology that is less than 1 ohm/sq. resistivity, greater than 50% light extraction, and under the target cost of $95/m2. Sinovia will match the DOE funding with $1,327,310.
University of California in Santa Barbara, received $1 million for a project that focuses on identifying the fundamental causes of current droop in state-of-the-art commercial LEDs. The project intends to develop a electroemission spectroscopy tool wto identify the dominant electrical and thermal droop mechanisms and then to optimize non-polar and semi-polar LEDs, obtain conclusive determination of the origin of the green gap, and assess the origin of thermal droop. UC Santa Barbara’s cost share for the project is $250,000.
University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, was awarded $1,314,240 to develop new strategies for increasing the lifetime of blue phosphorescent OLEDs (PHOLEDs). The project intends to employ a computationally directed approach to efficiently identify robust blue phosphorescent dopant and host molecular pairs. The goals will be to fabricate a white PHOLED on a size-scalable platform with 70 lm/W efficacy, at a color rendering index of 85 and a color temperature of 2750K. The University of Michigan’s cost share is $433,398.
