LEG Lights

It looks like there is a new lighting technology on the horizon. Just when we thought LED was the next generation of lighting, now LEG comes along. Light Emitting Glass (LEG) is anticipated to be more readily available within the next three years. It does seem like a very interesting technology. It is described as

“two glass sheets that form an internally sealed airspace inside of which is a mixture of rarefied gas that are subject to a constant pressure of between 0.1 and 0.6 bar and spacers to prevent any deformation. Light is produced by an alternating, high-frequency electric field generated by two electrodes produced by the deposit of an ultra-thin conductor layer covering each of the external surfaces of both glass sheets. The electrodes are powered by a specific device which provides the mixture of rarefied gas with the necessary voltage and frequency for its excitation and ionisation. Thus excited, the gaseous mixture emits UV radiation which is transformed into visible light by phosphor elements.”

Excerpt from Reed Business Article (pdf)

SAAZS has partnered with Saint Gobain to develop an exclusive lighting collection using the technology. SAAZS describes their lights as having 4 layers of glass and is referred to as planilum technology. The technology is unique because the light source is the material and offers a wide variety of configuration and uses. I have not found any information about using the technology outdoors. Because it is made of glass, they say it is 90% recyclable. Each light is 100W and is estimated to last 50,000 hours. Inhabit describes the energy efficiency as being “halfway between a conventional bulb and a neon light.” I would like to review the photometrics to see if this is just decorative or it can be more useful for effectively illuminating spaces. SAAZS' lights do look promising. Of course, I have no ideas what the cost are for the lights which may be another barrier to wide adoption. It will be interesting to see where this goes. At the moment, I am still betting on LED.