Solid State $2.85 Light Bulb Lasts 60 Years

It may be possible to get six decades worth of light out of a three dollar lightbulb.

In June of 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE) announced the L Prize - a $20 million contest geared towards making longer-lasting, more efficient lighting. Now, a research team involved in the contest may have the answer to the DoE's prayers.

According to DailyTech, a team of researchers at Cambridge University announced that it is close to finalizing a solid state-based light bulb that can use less electricity than incandescent lighting. What's better is that the new "super" bulb can last for up to 60 years. The flicker-free, LED-based bulb is smaller than a penny, but produces the same amount of light as a traditional florescent bulb and last four times longer, or around 100,000 hours. To top it all off, the super-bulb has a production cost of less than three dollars - $2.85 to be exact.

"This could well be the holy grail in terms of providing our lighting needs for the future," said research team leader Colin Humphreys. "We are very close to achieving highly efficient, low-cost white LEDs. That won't just be good news for the environment. It will also benefit consumers by cutting their electricity bills.   It is our belief they will render current energy-efficiency bulbs redundant."

According to the Cambridge team, the new LED bulbs could reduce the amount of money Great Britain spends on lighting by 75 percent, and would have similar effects in the U.S. The bulb would also cut Britain's carbon emissions by about 40 million tons.

Announced in 2008, The Department of Energy's $20 million "L Prize" is part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, a "wide reaching bill seeking to help reduce America's dependence on foreign energy sources by promoting greater energy efficiency." The contest's objectives are to eliminate the use of both 60W incandescent bulbs and "PAR 38" halogen lighting.