This past month, the U.S. Department of Energy released a report on its summer workshop on solid-state lighting (SSL), held in Boston in July and co-sponsored by Northeast Energy Partnerships Inc. After a review of the DOE's SSL program and commercialization support plan, a discussion of the 2007 design competition, details on testing programs, an update on the criteria for EnergyStar labeling and an outline of plans for coming technology demonstrations, the workshop attendees separated into five breakout sessions to address five SSL case studies. The breakout groups were tasked with determining how to best market a hypothetical SSL product--four using LEDs, one based on an OLED--and recommending how the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy of the DOE could best help the product to attain commercial success.

The object of the OLED case study is a rather unusual ceiling light fixture for general illumination in the commercial office environment. Intended as a replacement for conventional fluorescent fixtures, this particular OLED lamp doesnt have the "sheet of light" form factor one would expect, a form factor that leverages the OLED's inherent capabilities as a diffuse light source. Rather, this OLED lamp, a "breakthrough" development funded under the DOE's SSL Lighting R&D program, is long and thin, just like a conventional fluorescent bulb. The DOE calls these "tape" light sources, and they might well be called "light strips."

Whatever they're called, these lamps offer all the expected advantages over fluorescent. A 2400-lumen OLED strip (lamp and simple fixture) delivers about 85 lumens per Watt (lm/W) in efficiency, compared to about 60 lm/W for a comparable fluorescent fixture; and it has an expected lifetime of 15 years, compared to 2 years for a fluorescent bulb (15 years for a fluorescent fixture). Color rendition is also superior. But as for pricing, that's a very different story.

An old, mature technology, fluorescent lighting will obviously be far less expensive than OLED lighting when some early-stage OLED-based products start to appear. But OLED strip lighting significantly narrows the gap and that, as the DOE sees things, is where its significance lies. "The tape configuration minimizes the use of relatively expensive OLED material," according to the workshop report, "while still providing a flexible design platform for broad area lighting."

The hypothetical LED-based products, by the way, were a table lamp and recessed ceiling ("can") fixture for the residential segment, a spotlight for retail environments, and an LED outdoor walkway "and streetscape" light.

The OLED breakout group was asked to design a marketing strategy for OLED strip lamps, assuming a cost of $50 for a fixture, compared to $40 for a fluorescent fixture (and $1- $2 for a fluorescent bulb), given that the lamps are "only marginally cost effective on the basis of energy savings alone." How would you go about it. To see what the breakout group came up with, click the Workshop Report and go to page 19.