LED lights in Australia have become very common in recent years to such an extent that you may think this technology was developed in the past few years. In fact, early LED lights were developed as far back as the 1920‘s, though not in their current form as we know them today.
In any case, the LED story goes back many years with a number of different scientists from all over the world taking part in the development of this technology. Let’s take a look at the main important dates throughout the history of the development of LED lights.
Early Discoveries
LED lighting utilizes a phenomena known as electroluminescence, which was discovered in 1907 by a British scientist. This lay the foundation of knowledge which was essential for the invention of LED lights.
In 1927, the first LED light was assembled by a Russian inventor by the name of Oleg Losev. His findings were published in various scientific journals in Europe. Interestingly, his discovery was not followed by additional research into the technology until much later, after his death.
Various discoveries were made throughout the 1950s, including those of Rubin Braunstein, who demonstrated the technology’s potential as a means of communication.
First Commercialization
Interestingly, a form of LED lights had some commerciality from the 1960s. These lights would act as replacements lights in various appliances and even cars. They were however very expensive and weren’t all that successful commerciality viable just yet.
At this time, LED lights were not at all bright, making them useful only for signal lights and indicators for instance. They were not used as a main light source at this time. However, technology was improving and prices for LED lights dropped significantly in the early 1970s.
The creation of Blue LED was a significant step as it allowed for a much brighter light source. While Blue LED lights were built in the past, it was Japanese visionary Shuji Nakamura who perfected it in 1994, earning a Nobel Prize in the process. This is said to be the missing link that started it all.
Modern Breakthrough
The Blue LED light saw improvements over the years and finally led to technology that would allow for an LED globe to produce white light, a key reason it has become so commercial successful today. We discovered that with the use of fluorescent materials called phosphors, various other colours could be produced as well.
Again, early white LED lights were quite inefficient and expensive to build, hence why they didn’t start dominating the market in the late 1990s. But technology was improving quite rapidly.
In 2001, the first LED flashlight was developed and sold commercially by Arc Flashlight LLC. While the company itself wasn’t all that successful and went out of business in 2004, this was a milestone as it was one of the first practical uses where LED technology was used to produce a large quantity of light.
In 2007, a number of countries pledged to phase out inefficient incandescent lights within 7 years. If nothing else, this marked the recognition that LED lighting was changing the market and was here to stay.
As you can see, the LED history is long and has involved many different people through the years. But at the same time, this technology has improved and continues to improve at a very rapid rate. It is estimated that the amount of light produced by an LED has doubled every two and a half years since 1960 up until today, which is an amazing statistic! It’s fair to say that LED technology really has changed everything being far more efficient and environmentally friendly than the alternative lighting fixtures. LED lighting has actually brought a revolution especially regarding the commercial led lighting solutions and more innovative business owners are implementing this environment friendly option.
