Time magazine Lauds Philips' LED as One of the "Best Inventions of 2009"

Philips Electronics announced on Nov. 13 that its recently revealed LED replacement for the common household bulb was named one of the "best inventions of 2009" by TIME magazine.

Under the heading "The $10 Million Lightbulb," the editors declared "with the flick of a switch, Philips Electronics may have just dramatically lowered America's electric bill," noting "Philips' LED bulb emits the same amount of light as its incandescent equivalent but uses less than 10W and lasts for 25,000 hours -- or 25 times as long."

More important to the electrical industry is the fact that this lamps it the first entrant into the Department of Energy's Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize (L Prize) competition, which offers a $10 million prize. Following this testing and assessment, Philips intends to bring the LED replacement to market, at which time the lamp is expected to use 20% of the energy of an incandescent, while providing the same quality of light consumers have come to know and expect.

Learn more about the L Prize competition from DOE's LED guru Jim Brodrick on a great podcast that aired Nov. 6 on National Public Radio's "Science Friday," hosted by Ira Flatow.