Who Invented the LED Bulb? History of the LED Light

LED lights these days are essential at personal, public and professional levels.

October 2020 marked the 58^th anniversary of its invention. However, the history of LED lighting dates back to older times and does not involve just one person.

One might say that its origin and development is one of the joint creations by humankind that has been achieved by professionals across generations, even without the certainty of how far the next person would go in evolving this discovery.

More than a century has actually passed by since one simple theory evolved into the LED lighting services offered today by Televes as efficient technology. Nowadays, it can be applicable to any professional and industrial environment, both outdoors and indoors.

Origin and development of LED bulbs

To be fair, LED technology clearly owes a lot to the discovery of the light bulb – officially attributed to Thomas Edison in 1879. However, the first theoretical base was to be found 30 years later. 

At this point, it is worth mentioning Henry Joseph Round, who discovered a very interesting phenomenon while manipulating silicon-carbide crystals in 1907: electroluminescence, the cornerstone of LED bulbs.

We would have to wait another 20 years for the inventor Oleg Losev to take advantage of this theory to create the first ever LED to be officially acknowledged as such. Back then, even if nobody could imagine its possibilities, the invention was announced in specialized media around the world.

It received recognition for its great potential and many scientists and inventors devoted themselves into taking the most of its possibilities. Finally, in 1962, Nick Holonyak managed to develop the first LED able to radiate within the visible spectrum with red light.

It took ten more years for the yellow LED to be invented – although this new breakthrough brought in 10 times more luminosity. In 1976, LEDs were already being manufactured for telecommunication systems.

At first, such LED bulbs were used as performance light signals in electronic devices – like, for example, the classic “stand-by” light in TVs. Little by little, their production costs were getting more economical and could be applied to more solutions.

The evolution of LED bulbs and their prospective future

The next-to-last remarkable step in the evolution of LED bulbs took place in 1994. Shuji Nakamura, Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano succeeded in creating the first high-luminosity blue LED. Twenty years later, they were awarded with the Nobel Prize in Physics for 2014.

They opened the door to the luminous power that today’s LED bulbs offer. In fact, it wasn’t long until the first white LED made its appearance.

The approach to this creation was based on a phosphorescent material able to absorb part of the blue light to produce yellow one. Funnily enough, the human being’s eyes perceive this combination as a white light. Thanks to techniques such as fluorescence, the possibility to create colors of better quality was also discovered.

LED luminosity has been gradually increasing along with its energy efficiency and also with the applications of this technological product.

At Televes, we capture this diversification in the services we offer. Our LED lighting installations range from sports areas to public lighting. Our solutions can also control biological colonization on the facades with high heritage value and on monuments (Cromalux project) – we have obtained significant results in every field.

Science is, of course, allocating resources for the evolution of LED technology, and it has a promising future. Some research works bring up the possibility of using this technology inside the human body in order to activate some biotherapeutical drugs that treat tumors.

This is another example of the countless applications of LED bulbs, and there are still a great deal of practical solutions waiting to be discovered.

Benefits of LED bulbs consolidating its position in the market

If we take a look at the future, it is quite logical to acknowledge the dominance of LED bulbs in their industry. They feature significant advantages as compared to any other technology, which makes them the most favorable solution.

Some of the benefits of using LED bulbs over any other option are:

• Low consumption: a domestic LED light can consume up to 90% less energy as compared with halogen bulbs, which will definitely have an impact on your electricity bill.
• Long lifespan: LED bulbs can last up to 15 000 hours, as opposed to halogen’s 2 000 hours.
• Eco-friendly technology: its energy efficiency makes it a sustainable technological solution. This product actually emits less CO2, does not include materials such as mercury, and is recyclable.
• Enhanced performance: LED lighting offers immediate bright and clear light without flickering.
• More resistance: LED bulbs don’t feature filaments, unlike incandescent or halogen lights. In addition, they are dust and water resistant.
• Enhanced light: light produced by this technology is more powerful and improves visibility. It allows for full color and temperature customization.
• Simple integration: LED bulbs have proven to be easy to install, anywhere, anytime, hence its expansion across the world.

Do you want to know more about LED lighting or read the latest news about this technology? You will find all the information about this products – more present in our lives than ever – on the blog of Televes.

Here’s also some information about innovative technological solutions for any professional industry, such as professional LED lighting, hospitality, TV and telecommunication infrastructures, social and health installations, and much more.