Additively Manufactured Solid-State Luminaire

Lead Performer: Eaton Corporation – Menomonee Falls, WI
Partners:

• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute – Troy, NY
• Xerox Research Centre of Canada – Mississauga, ON

DOE Total Funding: $1,500,000
Project Term: May 24, 2019 – August 31, 2021
Funding Type: SSL R&D Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) (DE-FOA-0001823)

Project Objective

This project will address the main barriers to widespread adoption of additive manufacturing technology as applied to solid-state lighting, by expanding on newly developed approaches for integrating structure with thermal management solutions, electronic functionality, and optics. Components of a solid-state luminaire will be fabricated using additive manufacturing methods, including mechanical and thermal management structures, electrical and electronic structures (on three-dimensional representative substrates), and optical and light reflector structures. The team will assemble a complete, additively manufactured, LED-integrated luminaire comprised of these fully integrated components and measure the performance, cost, and manufacturing process impacts relative to a baseline commercial product. The research focuses on addressing the dominant luminaire subsystem cost elements, identified by DOE as the housing, heat sinking elements, electrical connectors, and mechanical fasteners. Cost reduction will be achieved by focusing on optimization of the complete system rather than focusing on any specific cost element.

Project Impact

Eaton, along with project partners Xerox and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, will conduct material science, electronics, optics, and advanced manufacturing research to investigate the transformational potential of a fully additively manufactured, LED integrated luminaire. Background research in additive manufacturing, printed electronics, and optics has established the feasibility of the project goals of reducing luminaire material usage and cost by 50% and cutting the number of manufacturing process steps in half, while improving application efficacy by as much as 140%. The project objectives support DOE’s goals related to maximizing energy-efficiency and reducing costs and advance the state of the art in additive manufacturing, and will create a sustainable U.S. competitive advantage in solid-state lighting and additive manufacturing.

Contacts

DOE Technology Manager: Brian Walker, [email protected]
Lead Performer: John Trublowski, Eaton Corporation