SBIR-STTR Award

Approximately 0.16 quads of electricity could be saved by adopting more efficient lamp technology in that portion of the accent and commercial spot lighting markets that are presently dominated by inefficient tungsten-halogen lamps. Energy-efficient replacement technologies for incandescent accent/spot lighting already exist but have been slow to gain acceptance because of large variations in lamp color, correlated color temperature (CCT) or, in some cases, high initial cost. This project will create an automated, production-oriented, lamp color modification system for metal halide lamps, in order to reduce their CCT and color variations to equal that of the market-accepted tungsten-halogen lamps.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee:
If successful, the lamp-by-lamp color-correction technology could be incorporated into the manufacturing of other classes of metal halide lamps, improving their quality of light and life.

Color consistency of metal halide lamps must be improved in order to have this high efficiency technology maintain market share in the big-box retail / industrial market and to gain market share in the accent / commercial spot lighting market. Big-box retail stores and industrial space use high wattage metal halide lights today, but the lack of color consistency has been leveraged by Light Emitting Diode fixtures who offer to provide a very consistent color at a higher cost and lower efficiency. The accent and commercial spot lighting markets are dominated by inefficient Tungsten-Halogen lamps. Energy-efficient replacement technologies for incandescent spot lighting do exist but have been slow to gain acceptance because of large variability in lamp color and high initial cost. The proposed project will create an automated color modification system for metal halide lamps to reduce their color variations to equal that of incandescent lamps. Warm color metal halide sources can be made to fall within a single color oval (no perceived color differences). This color correction will enable market acceptance of the unique metal halide systems which outperform incandescent, ceramic metal halide and light emitting diode systems in cost-of-light. Software and programming which demonstrate the feasibility of the color correction algorithm. Real-life manufacturing process and variability were integrated into the simulation. The algorithm enables a metal halide lamp group to have a warm color and very tight color variation. The simulations and programming will be optimized and used to control hardware and coat substrate. The lamps will be manually handled in year one and robotically handled in year two. Cross cutting applications in light emitting diodes and photovoltaics will be explored. Commercial Applications and

Benefits:
The technology allows high efficiency metal halide technology continue to serve its existing market and expand to new commercial applications. Commercial applications include both new construction projects and retrofits which could be driven by a simple desire for energy savings or customers who are pulled by regulations and incentives.