The Outsides of Boxes

The design flexibility enabled by LEDs continues to rise as solid-state lighting moves beyond imitating century-old technology.

LEDs in general, and white LEDs in particular, offer tremendous new opportunities to think outside the box. These solid-state light sources are radically different than all their predecessors. LEDs have a different radiation pattern and footprint, they are available in color as well as white, and they are generally much smaller than traditional light sources.

Until the advent of the LED, the lighting world was sleepy. Incandescent lamps ushered in the electric light before the turn of the last century. Fluorescent lamps debuted in the late 1930s. Neither of these sources has evolved in their basic forms since then. Their fragility, large and unusual shapes, heat dissipation, high-touch temperature, and operating voltage didn't leave much room for creativity in the fixtures. What elegant fixture can you create with four-foot glass tubes? Most fixtures designs acquiesced to lead a functional if not mundane life. They haven't changed much over the decades.

Now the lighting world is turned on its ear and brims with excitement. The nature of LED permits new concepts as wild as the imagination. Consider that LEDs have enabled flexible strip lights and automotive accent lights (à la Audi and BMW). They mate well with optics and can yield radically different desk and pendant lamps, such as the examples shown here.

LEDs lend themselves particularly well to fiber optic applications.

So far, we haven't begun to scratch the surface in terms of what's ultimately possible. As LEDs become ever more efficient, the opportunities broaden for unique and novel fixtures. Today, most of the LED-based products on the shelf look and feel like traditional lights. Oh, they might have a slightly different shape and look different than the standard A-19, PAR30, or MR-16, but by and large they have the same mechanical interface. They are designed to be a form, fit, and function replacement for the legacy products, fitting into the same tired old fixtures.

Side-emitting fiber optics and color-changing LEDs are making way for new applications in decorative lighting. These fiber-optic systems can operate effectively and safely even in wet environments such as around swimming pools and fountains. Light pipes can transport light from LEDs to inaccessible and hard-to-reach remote locations, such as in the lighted tip of the mast of a ship.

Another big opportunity couples LEDs with batteries and solar arrays for off-grid applications (we have written about a few of these). Such combinations are already in widespread use today, and that will only increase with growing efficiency of LEDs, batteries, and photovoltaic systems. After a stagnant half century, this is a fun time to be in the lighting business.

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