DOE Announces Phillips Wins L Prize Competition To Develop Efficient Replacement For 60W Normal Light Bulb

The Department of Energy (DOE) held a competition to get companies to design a replacement for the typical 60W incandescent light bulb that was more energy efficient. The prize for winning the competition was $10 million. There was only one entry to the competition and that was Phillips. The bulb you see in the photo below is the 75W Phillips LED replacement bulb, which looks just like the 60W bulb that won the contest.

Philips submitted the bulb to the DOE for testing in 2009 and it was tested for 18 months in the lab and in the field. The testing exposed the light to extreme humidity, temperatures, vibration, and voltage changes. The Phillips bulb uses only 10W to produce the same brightness as a 60W normal bulb for an 83% energy savings per bulb. The catch is each bulb is expected to cost $18 when they hit stores next year.

The DOE figures that if everyone in the US changed the 60W normal bulbs to the new Phillips bulbs we would save 35 terawatt-hours of electricity in a year. That is enough juice to power the lights in 18-million homes. The win also brings some other perks for Phillips. The DOE is looking into lowering the price of the bulbs. The price lowering tactics might include things like national retail partnerships to product incentives paid to electric companies.

[via FastCompany]