The obstacles to the mass acceptance of LED (light-emitting diode) lighting into the mainstream market are coming down! What are these obstacles, you ask? Well, we've discussed them before, but here they are again:

• Expense: Right now, bulbs for, say, an outdoor application, cost about $80 each, which is quite a bit more than the $35 you'd spend on a CFL (compact fluorescent) bulb, and even more than traditional incandescent bulbs (which cost about $15). As you can imagine, consumers are reluctant to fork over that kind of cash. Right now, LEDs are used largely for commercial applications where savings are significant and bulb life is appreciated greatly. But as technology improves and their popularity increases, economies of scale should help to expand the market and lower the price.
• Brightness: Getting LEDs to shine as brightly as incandescents was a little tricky historically as developers tried to boost brightness without increasing energy consumption. But today, with technological advances, new LED bulbs are performing as well as regular incandescents with only a fraction of energy consumption (they use about 85 percent less energy and last about 30 times longer).
• Quality: Right now, the range of product quality on the consumer market varies greatly. Apparently, according to the US Department of Energy, of the 140 products tested, half are really poor quality. But the US Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR program has just released an LED standard (similar to the one for other bulbs and light fixtures), which should make a consumer's choice easier and the quality more consistent.

Some really great developments are happening in the LED lighting sector. Although LEDs make up only $330 million of the $15 billion lighting market, some are predicting that it will grow 40 percent this year, and continue along the same lines in the next few years.

And big commercial ventures are jumping on board. Wal-Mart, for instance, is working to install LEDs into all of their fridges and freezers, and they're testing LEDs in overhead lights in an Arkansas store. The US Department of Energy estimates that Americans can save $280 billion in energy over the next 20 years through LED lighting, so the future is bright!