Light, life, and LEDs: Taking LEDs beyond lighting

Avnet's Cary Eskow discusses the physiological benefits brought on by emerging uses of LED that could change the game for solid state lighting and make LEDs more than just a light source.

By Suzanne Deffree, Managing editor, news -- EDN, May 4, 2011

San Jose--The future for LEDs is a bright one, but not only in the aspect of lighting.  When applied properly, these components can provide additional benefits beyond lighting up a room, including health advantages, according to Cary Eskow, Avnet Electronics Marketing's global director of lighting business development.

Back by popular demand, Eskow returned to keynote Wednesday's EDN Designing with LEDs Seminar and Hands-on Workshop, hosted at the San Jose Marriott.

His presentation, "Light, Life, and LEDs," acknowledged the tremendous impact of high-brightness LEDs as clean, safe, and energy-efficient sources for lighting. However, throughout the opening keynote, Eskow pointed to a multitude of new applications that may be enabled by this technology, well beyond basic interior and exterior lighting.

"If I were to ask you what the most significant benefit of LEDs are, what would you say? I imagine most people would say energy conservation, maybe total cost of ownership," Eskow told the crowd of engineers and design managers. "All of these are great advantages, but here we are, almost half way through 2011, and how many LED lights do you see in this room? Not one."

Eskow gave two possible reasons for the absence of advanced lighting in the large hotel conference room. "The second reason is that there are some challenges in developing the system-level knowledge of a high-brightness application -- thermal issues, dimming, all those things." Indeed, this has been a design chain opportunity for distributors within the electronics supply chain, including Avnet, that have stepped in to help engineers and lighting professionals iron out questions in this relatively new design category.

Eskow continued: "But I believe the fundamental reason is that the value proposition is not compelling enough. Why would someone go out and spend more money for a product that does what an existing product does. Mathematically, it's undeniable that there are savings and other benefits, but proof positive is what we see in this room."


He noted that people who are traditionally making luminaries are craftsman who may not be aware of what can be done with an LED. "They may not be aware of the physiological impacts of doing things with an LED or light in general that can change it from just a light source to a health benefit."

Controlling light through such techniques as dimming and pulse modulation will advance this process. Yet Eskow pointed out that luminary craftsman can only do what they can know is possible. He used Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon to illuminate his point. Verne, a father of science fiction, applied a train launched by a canon in his book as a vehicle to the moon, as these were the speediest forms of transportation and force available in 1865 when the book was published.  

"What if something was leveraged that people may not be aware of, just like Jules Vern may not have been aware of because he was confined to 1865?," Eskow asked. "[These luminary craftsman] may not be aware of the physiological impacts of doing things with an LED or light in general that can change it from just a light source to a health benefit."

Controlling light temperatures offers not only revenue benefits, but physiological benefits such as enhance concentration, more desirable perceptions of food or a room, and medical advantages.

"By adding a few dollars of components to a sconce for a wall, you can sell it at basic market price and then contact the user and say, 'if you are interested, I'll tell you how to enable this digital feature for a fee.' This allows for a revenue stream that not only incorporates the source but also has the continuation that sometime later that customer could provide more revenue," Eskow said.

The physiological and health benefits include use of light for vitamin D synthesis in humans, light-induced polyphenol production in plants, and enhanced attentiveness.

Eskow made specific note of blue and ultra violet light ranges. He was clear in pointing out that if these ranges are not utilized properly, affects can be dangerous or harmful.

For example, melatonin, a naturally occurring compound found in animals, plants, and microbes, is influenced by light and impacts many things, including sleep/wakefulness cycles.

"Amongst other things, melatonin appears to have anticarcinogenic qualities, such as by changing the molecular adhesion characteristics of blood cells," Eskow said. "Recent published research suggests a linkage between workers exposed to a lot of very cool, blue light, such as night shift nurses, and elevated cancer risks.*

"These are things that can really change the game for solid state lighting -- a little bit of blue, knowledgeably, carefully put in there, can make it more than just a light source," he said.

Eskow noted that we are just at the beginning of realizing these benefits. Just as Verne was unaware of potential new propulsion technologies, the future is full of possibilities for new lighting applications that we cannot conceive of yet.

 

 

*Editor's note: This quote was updated on May 5, 2011, at 3:45pm pacific time.