Having worked with a client leading the way in high-brightness, high-performance LEDs, we know a little about the challenges of these breakthrough solid-state light sources. Namely, heat! For all the environmental benefits that accompany innovations in LED lighting, one challenge remains – keeping the applications cool and performance hot.
Today, start-up Progressive Cooling Solutions (based in Berkeley CA) announced that it has raised $1.5 million in seed finding to support a new initiative that takes a Russian technology for keeping satellite electronics cool and applies it to LEDs. The funding is from Siemens Technology-to-Business division, which according to its web site “discovers promising innovators, incubates their ideas, and launches spin-in products that and start-up companies.”
According to CEO Tom Griffin, “the idea is to transfer a device’s heat to a liquid, turning it to vapor, then carry it in a tiny pipe up to a couple of meters away to a condenser that turns it back to liquid. The process would usually require a pump, but the “silicon wick” that (Progressive Cooling) has made passively powers the process through capillary action. In short, it’s a no-power heat-transfer device.”
As more and more industries look to utilize solid state light sources for high performance applications, this could be a game-changer – allowing maximum lumens and output from minimal space and with less cost and power requirements. Progressive Cooling Solutions – definitely a hot one to watch!