Lighting brighter: why Toronto is a world-class hub for energy efficient lighting
Published: August 18, 2014
Doing more with less is both the future of lighting and a trend that鈥檚 already flipped the switch in homes and businesses around the world, as 'smart sustainable' lighting like LEDs use less energy to shine brighter than ever before.
It's known as smart sustainable lighting and . Now, the University of Toronto鈥檚 Smart Sustainable Lighting Network (SSLNet) is bringing together key players in the field for a dynamic conference connecting researchers, industry, entrepreneurs and more from August 18-20.
鈥淪mart sustainable lighting is important because energy-efficient products are the easiest and cheapest way to combat climate change, rising energy costs and increasing energy demand,鈥 said Elyse Henderson, SSLNet's special initiatives coordinator.
Henderson says the conference is meant to catalyze Canada鈥檚 smart sustainable lighting interests around the future of LED devices, lead to even more innovation, and "take advantage of this growing industry to make Canada a key player."
Over the next few weeks, 老司机直播 News will build on our introduction to 鈥榮mart sustainable lighting鈥 (SSL) by featuring just a few of the alumni turning SSL research into growing startups.
Writer Brianna Goldberg learned more about 老司机直播's role in the field from SSLNet founder, Venkat Venkataramanan. Venkataramanan is also founder of , a 老司机直播-nurtured startup focusing on improved thermal management in LEDs, and he serves as director of scientific operations at 老司机直播鈥檚 physical sciences entrepreneurship hub, .
What鈥檚 the most exciting 鈥榮mart sustainable lighting鈥 research going on at 老司机直播?
老司机直播 researchers are at the forefront of solid state lighting technologies. Professor Zheng Hong Lu鈥檚 group at Materials Science & Engineering has set the world record efficiency in lighting devices under laboratory conditions and are developing next-generation devices such as flexible lighting. Professor Timothy Bender at Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, and Professor Cynthia Goh at Chemistry are developing novel materials for enriched lighting. Professor Olivier Trescases at Electrical & Computer Engineering is leading efforts on smart power supplies for LED lighting. My own research focuses on improving the colour quality of LED lighting and efficient thermal management in lighting, besides lighting metrology.
How does this research expertise end up affecting everyday life for consumers?
The Impact Centre鈥檚 lighting lab is the home of the Smart Sustainable Lighting Network. Through its collaborative research and development efforts, the lab has helped Canadian manufacturers create better lighting products for automotive, architectural, display, industrial automation, medical and mining lighting products. The Impact Centre鈥檚 SSLNet has helped establish Toronto as a major world-class hub at the forefront of energy efficient lighting.
What are some of the ways we might see this lighting research being championed by 老司机直播 entrepreneurs?
Professor Lu鈥檚 technologies for improving Organic Light Emitting Diodes are being commercialized by a 老司机直播 spin off, . Another spin off, , is developing efficient thermal management methods for LED lighting. A group of former 老司机直播 students now manufacture and sell energy efficient, cost effective LED bulbs under the label of .
Topics
