Improvements in High Power LEDs Leading To A Bright Future

Who doesn't want the most powerful option for their hardware? High power LEDs are, of course, the stronger cousins of common LED lights. Because they are brighter and more powerful they are also more expensive. In the past, high intensity LEDs were used sparingly and mainly in industrial settings. They needed massive heat sinks and brought up plenty of frustrating thermal management issues. Recently, developments have been made in LED technology that makes high power LEDs more practical and efficient, cutting out bothersome "hot spots" while managing brightness levels more effectively.

Competing technology, such as HID (high intensity discharge) lighting for headlights, has argued that high power LEDs can be beat out in brightness with modern tech. The LED advantage is that they last 10 times longer than HID options, and high intensity LEDs take it even farther. They're so efficient that they need essentially no maintenance for their long lives, and still allow businesses to stretch for steadily strengthening environmental standards. All this makes them especially convenient for roadway lighting, which areas like Virginia Beach have taken advantage of in the past five or so years.

Specific advantages that come with high power LED technology includes:

• Silicone lens technology, used in conjunction with LEDs to make more durable and inexpensive security cameras.
• Saturated color spectrum, which has come a long way from the red-only LEDs of yore. Many bright colors mean more room for creative applications.
• Widely customizable secondary optics, which means higher control over color mixing and beam angle.
• Low thermal resistance, harkening back to the past issue of overheating and constant thermal management
• More eco-friendly than most popular electric lighting options, and easily compatible with solar technology in particular.

While high-power LEDs of the past have traditionally been used solely on large-scale uses like streetlights, car headlights, and large warehouses, today they are easier to scale down for practical commercial uses. Outdoor lighting for homes such as on stairways and in backyards can take advantage of durable, dimmable intense LEDs. Flashlights and security lighting have started to rely more on them. High intensity LEDs have also lent their power to "grow lights" that nurture indoor gardening projects such as herbs and citruses that would otherwise be impossible to grow in certain climates and indoor conditions. While the streamlining of high power LED tech continues, the possibilities are virtually endless.