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September 5, 2008 8:39:07 PM CDT

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LEDs Light Up Europe, As Bulb Makers Switch

Posted Dec 1, 07 2:10 PM CST in Business,  Technology 

(Newser) – Europe is going low-e with LEDs, presaging a trend about to spread worldwide. The Italian village Torraca, for example, just switched all of its streetlights for light-emitting diode fixtures, and Dutch electronics giant Philips has snapped up an American firm in a plan to push similar changes in the states. LEDs use an eighth of the power of incandescent bulbs, the Economist reports, stay cool, and can last for ten years.

The company Philips bought for $2.7 billion, Genlyte, is its 5th major acquisition recently in the lighting business, and moves it to no. 1 in sales of illumination products in the U.S. Clean, increasingly powerful LEDs are bringing revolutionary changes to interior design, since they can be implanted directly into walls and furniture, allowing the integration of lighting into decoration, reports the Economist.

Source Economist

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Visitors walk by the latest street lamps using the energy efficient LED, or Light Emitting Diodes, during an exhibition about energy saving technologies in Beijing Sunday, June 10, 2007. (AP Photo/Ng...   (Associated Press)
This $50 LED floodlight from Lighting Science Group Corp. is shown Thursday, May 10, 2007 in New York. The bulb fits into a standard socket and uses 5.8 watts to produce a cold light with a total output...   (Associated Press)
Light emitting diodes illuminate the underside of a hotel bed in the Osram Sylvania exhibit at the Lightfair International trade show Tuesday, May 8, 2007 in New York. The light bulb, the symbol of bright...   (Associated Press)
Colored lamps, illuminated by LED's, are displayed by Winona Lighting at the Lightfair International trade show Tuesday, May 8, 2007 in New York. The light bulb, the symbol of bright ideas, doesn't look...   (Associated Press)
Wall-mounted LED's from Boston-based Color Kinetics are displayed at the Lightfair International trade show Tuesday, May 8, 2007 in New York. The light bulb, the symbol of bright ideas, doesn't look like...   (Associated Press)
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LEDs  • Philips  • interior design  • incandescent bulbs


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