Lighting panels based on OLED materials have been available to order from manufacturers such as Osram and Lumiotec for some time, but improvements in systems to control OLED lighting and optimise panel performance will help ensure the technology's commercial appeal.
The lack of test data to prove reliability, as opposed to cost of the lighting panels, is the main issue for early adopters, such as lighting designers interested in using OLED panels for decorative and other niche applications.
Variation
OLED lighting volumes are very small and the cost of panels is high. This means that procedures used in LED manufacturing to manage variation in the colours of white LEDs during mass production - known as bin matching - are uneconomical for OLEDs.
To overcome this challenge UK start-up E2M Technology, which supplies OLED design kits and works with lighting designers using solid-state lighting, is developing a technique to optimise the performance of OLED panels in a customised installation.
Testing
The system, based on voltage field principles, enables an individual OLED panel to adjust its performance, based on real-time optical feedback, against that of the other panels in the lamp or installation.
This would ensure even light emission throughout the lamp or installation's lifetime and avoid the need to replace all panels if one dims sooner than the rest. The technology could be ready for testing later in 2011.
In June 2010 E2M launched two OLED lighting kits based on panels from Philips and Osram. The kits consisted of a driver for the panel and software to alter luminosity.
The company is also investigating the impact that different electronic controlling, such as pulsing, has on the lifetime of OLED lighting panels. Company founder Stephen Clemmet discovered during a recent lighting design show that electronics for controlling solid-state lighting, especially OLEDs, could be made smarter and systems designed to be more user-friendly.
Documents and links
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Subscribe to +Plastic Electronics magazine
Subscribe to +Plastic Electronics magazine, published six times a year, for just £100/€110/$160. Find out more here
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E2M Technology
The UK start-up is working on a system to adjust OLED performance to ensure even lighting in an installation
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Lumiotec ships OLED lighting for commercial applications
This month Japanese company Lumiotec begins shipping mass production-ready OLED lighting panels
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Laser processing for plastic electronics
Oxford Lasers, the UK university's original spin-out, is developing a laser processing tool specifically for organic electronics
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Philips enhances OLED lighting range
Next month Philips Lighting will revamp its online store www.lumiblade.com with new offerings and lower prices to spark a second wave of demand for its OLED lamps
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The Future of Energy Efficient Lighting
Click here to find out more about IntertechPira's market report on energy efficient lighting including forecasts for organic and inorganic LEDs
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