A better lightbulb ?
- From: "Pluto" <pluto7@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2006 20:49:11 +0800
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1148248211526&call_pageid=968350072197&col=969048863851
The race to build a better lightbulb
Building a better bulb is Group IV's business goalSolid state lighting could trump LED
market advances
TYLER HAMILTON
In the race to build a better light bulb, Stephen Naor has no problem being the dark
horse. The Ottawa-based company he co-founded four years ago, Group IV Semiconductor
Inc., has
no website. Discussion about investors is kept to a polite minimum.
And unless pushed to talk, the company prefers to stay below the media's radar.
But behind the scenes, Group IV is a glowing example of Canadian innovation that within
five years could far surpass advancements in compact fluorescent and light-emitting
diode (LED) technologies and transform the $12 billion market for general illumination
lighting.
Group IV says it has developed a silicon-based lighting technology that's 80 per cent
more efficient than the average 60-watt light bulb, lasts up to 20 times longer, and is
more affordable and better quality than compact fluorescent bulbs.
In simplest terms, "it's a piece of silicon that we put electricity across and it
glows," explains Naor, also chief executive of Group IV. "Our goal is to make it glow
bright enough so you can replace a light bulb with it."
Like LEDs, Group IV's technology is considered "solid state lighting" because the light
is emitted from a solid semiconductor material that produces virtually no heat and isn't
vulnerable to vibration.
There's no gas required, such as with fluorescent bulbs, or small pieces of tungsten
that can burn out quickly or be easily broken, such as the filaments in a standard
incandescent light bulb. For this reason, solid state lights don't need to be encased in
a glass vacuum tube ? they're more durable, last much longer, and aren't confined to
traditional shapes.
It's estimated that nearly 20 per cent of all electricity that's generated in the world
is consumed by lighting alone, so the environmental benefits are nothing short of
tremendous.
"This is a gold star in my box," says Rick Whittaker, vice-president of investments at
Sustainable Development Technologies Canada, established by the federal government in
2001 to lead funding in so-called clean technologies.
Last July, SDTC invested in a Group IV-led project involving the Canadian Photonics
Fabrication Centre, the engineering departments of Carleton University and McMaster
University, and the Business Development Bank of Canada.
The goal is to manufacture a product prototype by 2008.
"We funded them for two years," adds Whittaker. "Even if technologically they don't get
all the way there, the fact this technology has that potential blows away anything else
that has been done."
Interestingly, Group IV has strong roots in the telecom industry. The company is
building on the same technology used to push pulses of light down a fibre-optic network,
which explains Naor's own career history as an executive at Nortel Networks Corp. and
Newbridge Networks Corp., now owned by France's Alcatel SA.
"Everybody at this company has a background in telecommunications," says Naor.
Our goal is to make it glow bright enough so you can replace a light bulb with it'
- Stephen Naor, CEO at Group IV Semiconductor Inc.
.
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