Group IV Semiconductor Accelerates Development Of Energy-Efficient Solid State Lighting

News release -- Group IV Semiconductor, Inc., a developer of energy efficient, solid-state lighting technology, on August 1 announced that it received a substantial new round of investment led by Garage Technology Ventures Canada with Applied Ventures, LLC, a subsidiary of Applied Materials Inc., and with existing investors including Khosla Ventures and BDC Venture Capital. These investments will further expand Group IV's aggressive program to use its revolutionary silicon-based nanofilm technology to dramatically reduce the cost of solid-state lighting and enable its widespread global adoption.

"The race is on to create energy-efficient lighting alternatives as awareness grows of the enormous waste of energy caused by conventional technologies," said Stephen Naor, CEO of Group IV. "Our vision is to create silicon-based light engines - many times more efficient than conventional bulbs and much more economical than today's LED alternatives - to provide the world with a brighter, more sustainable future. We are delighted that Garage Canada, Applied Ventures and our existing investors share this vision and recognize this unique opportunity to transform a $12 billion market."

Group IV will also collaborate with Applied Materials to develop a low cost manufacturing process that will enable Group IV to accelerate its technology towards product commercialization and production.

Group IV's solid-state light engines use a single-chip, AC-powered, silicon-based process that can deliver dramatic cost savings relative to conventional LED technologies. Since production cost is generally considered to be the last remaining hurdle for mass adoption of solid-state lighting, Group IV projects that its unique materials system will provide a crucial competitive advantage in creating high efficiency, long-life lighting products that outperform incandescent, compact fluorescent and fluorescent lighting.

From their website:

While compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) have caught on lately with their promise of energy savings, they’re still only about 20 to 25 percent efficient.

Lamps that use solid-state lighting (SSL) technology, by comparison, can achieve efficiency levels as high as 80 percent. Unfortunately, up to now they have been too expensive to mass produce.

The goal of Group IV's silicon-based technology is to dramatically reduce the cost of solid-state lighting—overcoming the critical price barrier and enabling widespread adoption.

In solid-state lamps, semiconductors such as LEDs (light-emitting diodes) convert electricity directly into light without having to activate a gas (as in fluorescents) or heat a filament (as in incandescent bulbs). This conserves a great deal of energy. SSL lamps also last far longer than conventional lamps. But LEDs have not achieved the brightness levels people are accustomed to with conventional lights, and the compound semiconductor materials on which LEDs are based remain stubbornly expensive to manufacture.

Silicon has proved its versatility and cost-effectiveness time and again in semiconductors used for computing, mobile communications and other areas of technology. Group IV is working rapidly to put those advantages to use in a solid-state light engine that will enable the creation of lamps as bright as their conventional counterparts—and more efficient than fluorescents. These silicon-based SSL products will be designed for use with today’s standard bulb-and-socket fixtures, making them open to rapid adoption by end-users.

Where do we get all the silicon? Wide adoption must require vast amounts.

Comments

[Mike]

Real interesting except from a business perspective. Turns that when you dope a tungsten filament with a few quantum dots it does not emit in the infrared. Thus no heat, very efficient, and cheap. Same factories, same tech. I'm not investing there for certain.

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[donb]

Where do we get all the silicon? Wide adoption must require vast amounts.

Silicon is about 100 times more abundant than tungsten in the earth's crust. The question is rather how we can continue to make conventional light bulbs.

[Paul Dietz]

Silicon is about 100 times more abundant than tungsten in the earth's crust.

The ratio there is too low by several orders of magnitude. Tungsten is rather rare. Silicon, on the other hand, is the second most abundant element in the Earth, by mass (after oxygen).

[David R.]

Don't worry about silicon - the amount being developed for solar use will drawf any demand for lighting.

[James]

Mike, could you offer a source on the doping of tungsten with quantum dots? I haven't seen that, and I'd like to learn more.

[Mike]

It's been way to long for true cite. It probably came from Nanotechnology News but that is a guess, and I've only seen the one reference. The way it works is the doping sets up a band-gap that excludes IR from the spectrum. Thus no heat, and little power required. For obvious reasons the light bulb folks don't want to ship these types of bulbs. Notice that GE has announced a 'new' high efficiency technology that is just good enough to keep market dominance.

Mike

[JohnBo]

The micro dot on the filament concept sounds a little like the 500 mile per gallon carburetor. Ha-ha. Oh sure the filament dot was invented but just like the carburetor, some space alien saw it when cutting circles in a corn field and decided to take the technology back to their world. Of course they erased the minds of those who knew about both. Now it’s all gone.

[scott]

This is likely the story behind the quantum dot light bulb

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/05/020509074556.htm

nanoscale fab of the tungsten. Could boost incandescent filament bulbs to 60% efficiency or more. Making them inexpensive enough could be a challenge.

[Susanne McAllister]

On a related energy front--I'm an expat based in Dublin and a friend sent me the the following links about work some bright sparks in Dublin have been doing in the field of magnetic energy for endless 'free energy' supply for myriad applications. Not that we should stop looking at improvement of energy efficiency & lifespan issues. But these guys have put a completely different spin on things. Take a look--I guanantee you'll be fascinated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNDIWY19gqA&mode=related&search=
Steorn Sky News cover
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV4Ja5Cjtvc&NR=1
Steorn Fox News cover
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbNBYnqDfBQ&mode=related&search=
BBC interview with inventor Sean McCarthy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hht2ho5d8p4&mode=related&search=
UCD lecture - part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lynmMNUEAZA&mode=related&search=
UCD lecture - part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie-uKKBCybA&mode=related&search=
UCD lecture - part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SY5XRF6lvUU&mode=related&search=
UCD lecture - part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O94Gqd-NrDU&mode=related&search=
UCD lecture - part 5
I also like that these guys are completely moral--intending to make their technology available to 3rd world nations for free.
Kudo's to them. Slan, Susanne.

[mds]

Susanne McAllister,
Free energy would be great, but Steorn is another one of these companies that could do the impossible if somebody would just fund them. Simpler explanation would be that they can't really do what they say, like cold fusion or hydrogen from water would any energy input. Steorn has been around for at least a few years. How come their prototypes aren't blowing potential investors away, anabling them to steadily expand their financing? It's blarney lass!

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[LED Mini Christmas Lights]

I recommend using of LED lightning because it's last longer than the light that we are using before and it's conserve the consumption of the energy.