Laser Diode Light Bulbs?
Consider: Some commercially available high power laser diodes have an overall conversion efficiency – electrical power in to optical power out – of over 50 percent. Current research is attempting to boost this past 80 percent. Now, if all the light bulbs in the World were replaced with these high efficiency laser diodes mass produced in visible wavelengths, the the energy crisis – at least with respect to electrical generating and transmission capacity – would be over (or at least greatly reduced as a here and now crisis), since it’s been estimated that 50 percent of electricity usage goes into lighting and most of this is presently highly inefficient. Incandescent lamps are only about 5 percent efficient; halogen lamps around 7 to 10 percent; and fluorescents, about 15 to 20 percent. High brightness LEDS suitable for lighting applications are advancing but are currently somewhere around halogen lamps in efficiency (though under some conditions, LEDs at low power may exceed 25 percent
