The LEDs shall lead them

Tree Hugger:

The incandescent lightbulb that wastes 90% of the electricity as heat is dying, we all know that. But a new breakthrough in solid state lighting might also kill compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) faster than some expected. Scientists at Purdue University have figured out how to manufacture LED solid-state lights on regular metal-coated silicon wafers (more details below). What this means is: much lower costs.

And since about 1/3 of U.S. electricity is used to produce light, this is major. "If you replaced existing lighting with solid-state lighting, following some reasonable estimates for the penetration of that technology based on economics and other factors, it could reduce the amount of energy we consume for lighting by about one-third. That represents a 10 percent reduction of electricity consumption and a comparable reduction of related carbon emissions," said Timothy D. Sands, professor of Materials Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering states at Purdue.

...
I have several LED flash lights that I really like. Some are over three years old and the batteries are still running strong because the lights sip so little power. I also have a four solar LED garden lights that are still working after over two years. One of the things you notice about LED lighting is how white it is. Normal bulbs are very yellow by comparison and florescent tend to be blue.

I think LEDs use so little power that it would be easy to set them up off the grid with a relatively small solar panel and a deep cycle battery.

I am not excited about these because I am a tree hugger. What excites me is efficiency. When one can accomplish the same objective in a more efficient manner I am all for it. I also prefer to reallocate the resources going to the power company to other things I desire.

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