The Future of Lighting is OLED Shaped

The Future of Lighting is OLED Shaped

Since its invention over a hundred and thirty years ago, the humble light bulb has seen a number of different incarnations, from the original tungsten model to the compact fluorescents and LED bulbs of today.

However, all these will be consigned to the history books once OLED - standing for Organic Light Emitting Diode - lights become a viable mass market product. Although they may seem a little like science fiction, they really exist, and you can buy one today, although they are not exactly cheap at the moment!

OLED lights are basically thin pieces of flexible material that emit a brilliant white light when connected to an electricity supply, converting virtually all the electrical energy into light and little or nothing of it into heat. The fact that they can be made so thin, and run so cool, means that whole walls, ceilings, pieces of furniture or items of clothing could be covered with them.

The fact that they do not emit anything in the way of heat energy is one of the reasons why these panels can be made to last longer than any other light source, such as compact fluorescents or incandescents.

The light that they produce is also much more like natural, outdoor day light than the more artificial tones of other lights, so if you had a few of them on a wall together, it could replicate the light levels and tones of having a window, even in a windowless basement room.

The environmental advantages of this type of light over other types such as compact fluorescents are huge, in that they are far more efficient, last far longer, and are made out of sustainable and non-toxic materials.

Although these devices are already very energy efficient, it is believed that, with further development, they could be made to be 100% efficient, meaning that all the electrical energy would be turned into light energy, with no loss through heat.

The first mass market OLED light has been manufactured by European electronics giant Philips under the LumiBlade banner. Although these expensive devices are not really bright enough to light a whole room with, unless you have a lot of them, they do at least demonstrate the immense potential of the technology.

For more information on energy saving, and environmentally friendly appliances, visit British Gas, where you can buy greener brands including Baxi central heating.