NY Times: The Promise of a Better Light Bulb?

New York Times, Leora Broydo Vestel
Published April 9, 2009

The pending extinction of traditional incandescent bulbs in the United States and abroad has created an enormous market opportunity for energy-efficient lighting technologies. The current shortcomings of compact fluorescent lights and pricey LED bulbs show that future dominance of the American socket is still very much up for grabs. Vu1 (that is, “view one”), a company based in Seattle, thinks it has a shot. The company’s tag line, “light without compromise,” suggests that it’s keenly aware of the biggest stumbling block for most next-generation lighting technologies: they don’t behave like incandescent bulbs, which is what most consumers are accustomed to. “We believe that we’ve got something here that will be much more comparable with people’s expectations than what’s been out there until now,” said Vu1’s chief executive officer, David Grieger. Vu1 said it plans to introduce a fully dimmable, mercury-free, instant-on bulb for recessed ceiling fixtures by the end of this year. It will, the company says, last about 6,000 hours – or six times the lifespan of an incandescent – and have a price tag similar to high-end C.F.L. reflector bulbs: about $18 to $22. Vu1’s technology – which it has dubbed “electron stimulated luminescence” – shares some of the same basic science on which cathode ray tubes in older televisions are based. According to the company, E.S.L. creates light without requiring a filament, plasma, coils or mercury vapor. Electrons are sprayed uniformly over a broad area inside the bulb, which is coated with a phosphor mixture. This causes the entire surface of the bulb to glow and create light. In 2007, Vu1 formed a manufacturing subsidiary in the Czech Republic where 50 technicians — all former employees of a shuttered LG Philips plant that made television displays — are currently refining the technology and its production processes. The company says it plans to have a demo that will operate in household sockets ready by June, and to begin high-volume mass production by the end of the year. According to Mr. Grieger, the company chose to produce bulbs for recessed fixtures first because Vu1’s technology is dimmable and does not have the heat-sensitivity problems experienced by LEDs and C.F.L.s when placed in enclosed fixtures. The market for this type of bulb, too, is ample. The United States Department of Energy estimates there are more than 500 million recessed down lights in residential buildings alone, and more than 20 million are sold each year. The question is, will Vu1 ever make it onto store shelves? When asked about the company’s most recent annual report, which notes that Vu1 has an accumulated deficit of $58 million, Mr. Grieger seemed unconcerned. “I’m optimistic we’ll get to market and be wildly successful,” he said. If the bulb does make it to market and works as billed, environmental groups may be the first to do cartwheels. “I’m very excited to see a technology that has all the promise of C.F.L.s without the mercury,” said Sean Gray, a senior analyst with the Environmental Working Group, which has been critical of mercury standards for Energy Star C.F.L.s. “It’s an incredible chance to move forward.” Click here to read this post.