Graphene Light Bulb Hitting The UK Market Soon

July 5th, 2015 by James Ayre

The first commercially available consumer product using graphene will soon be available in the UK — in the form of a light bulb coated in the much-hyped material.

The graphene light bulb — which reportedly will reduce electricity use by around 10%, and will last longer than a conventional LED bulb — is currently expected to go on sale later this year for around £15 a pop.

The improved performance of the dimmable bulb is reportedly due to the increased conductivity (electricity + heat) accompanying the use of graphene. The design was the work of a company dubbed Graphene Lighting — which has as one of its directors the deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Manchester, Professor Colin Bailey.

Professor Bailey noted in an interview with the BBC: “The graphene light bulb will use less energy. We expect it to last longer. The manufacturing costs are lower and it uses more and more sustainable components.”

Considering that graphene was first “discovered” by researchers at the University of Manchester — researchers (and Nobel Prize winners) Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov, back in 2004 — the launch by a company associated with those at the university makes sense.

As it stands, over 35 different companies (from all over the world) currently have development partnerships with the university concerning technologies/products utilizing graphene — from use insolar PV cells, to electric vehicles, to energy storage. While there’s a great deal of hype surrounding the use of graphene, economical use of the technology is still something of an open question — as it is somewhat expensive for the time being and challenging tomanufacture. Though, improvements in that regard are reportedly fast approaching.

Image Credit: University of Manchester

Thanks to Offgridman for the tip.

Keep up to date with all the hottest cleantech news by subscribing to our (free) cleantech newsletter, or keep an eye on sector-specific news by getting our (also free) solar energy newsletter, electric vehicle newsletter, or wind energy newsletter.

Tags: graphene, graphene light bulb, University of Manchester

About the Author

James Ayre 's background is predominantly in geopolitics and history, but he has an obsessive interest in pretty much everything. After an early life spent in the Imperial Free City of Dortmund, James followed the river Ruhr to Cofbuokheim, where he attended the University of Astnide. And where he also briefly considered entering the coal mining business. He currently writes for a living, on a broad variety of subjects, ranging from science, to politics, to military history, to renewable energy. You can follow his work on Google+.