LED lighting: the future and present of illumination

LED lighting, and therefore LED (lighti-emitting diode), is based on silicium semiconductor mixed with certain pollutants (Al, As, Ge, etc) which, when being crossed by a low electric current, gets exciting, and thus emiting light. The characteritics of said light, as its color, will depend on that kind of pollutants.

Advantages of LED illumination over conventional lighting are, among others:

• • LIFESPAN: up to 50.000 hours.
  • REGULATION, which allows to control variations in its luminosity.
  • It DOESN'T emit UV or IR radiation.
  • It DOESN'T include dangerous and contaminating elements as mercury.
  • EXTREMELY LOW CONSUMPTION when compared with other systems.
  • WORK PERFECTLY at low temperature.
  • INMEDIATE REPONSE.
  • NO FLICKERING, and less eye fatigue.
  • ADEQUATION both for low (domestic and commercial illumination) and high power (roads, tunnels, industry, etc).
  • APPLICATIONS like RGB color changes.

Thanks to its compact design,LED lightinghcan be used in almost every purpose and context. Among all the other kinds of high power illumination, LED have a very short start-up time, which is a reason why it's use is continuingly increasing, as its benefits are much superior if compared to incandescent and fluorescent bulbs.

It's also remarkable that many studies developed by important organisms have concluded that LED energy saving varies between a 70 and an 80% over traditional illumination. All this manifests the advantages of LED when used in public lighting.

Nowadays there are LED bulbs which consume 92% less than incandescent lamps, and 30% less than fluorescent lamps. Even more, these LEDs can last up to 20 years and have a 200% less total cost when compared to other technology bulbs. These characteristics make LED the present and future of illumination.

Equivalences between different illumination systems