Low-energy lighting

Researchers at the University of Manchester have joined forces with Dialight Lumidrives - founded by a successful former student - to develop powerful low-cost LED lighting modules that could be used in buildings and on roads.

Academics in The School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering will draw on their expertise to investigate how tightly packed groups of LEDs can be made to work safely and reliably.

Lighting solutions that use LEDs have the potential to reduce energy consumption by between 25 and 50 per cent, depending on the application. But thermal and electrical issues at lighting levels of 12,000 lumens and above - a typical 60W household light bulb produces about 800 lumens - are barriers to the wider adoption of LED technology.

Engineers will be working with York-based Dialight Lumidrives to tackle tough issues such as the amount of heat generated by LEDs packed closely together.

As the LED modules will be used outside, academics will also need to consider environmental factors, such as the possibility of a bird nesting over a vital heatsink.