Consumer Lighting as a Service (CLasS)

Traditionally light bulbs have been thrown away at the end of their life. The advent of LED technology enables products that use dramatically less energy and have lifetimes that are orders of magnitude longer, thus imposing a new model on the industry. However, even with this longer life there will be millions of lamps that will reach end of life and require disposal, creating a substantial Electronic Waste (WEEE) issue. Current rates of recycling have reached 39.5% by weight, almost all from commercial lighting.
This project will create and test the supply on a lease basis a range of attractive ultra efficient light bulbs to the consumer market where the lease cost will be on average lower than the energy saving, thus reducing the consumer’s cost of lighting while overcoming the current high cost barrier to the latest LED technology. Connectivity within the lamp will not only enable wireless control but also signal near end of life allowing the lamp to be returned, remanufactured and reused, enabling over 95% of the materials to be returned to productive use in a product with the latest specification and fashion.