Context

Considered the oldest electronics industry, the lighting industry began its rise in the second half of the 19th century with Thomas Edison's invention of the incandescent light bulb. Almost 150 years later, this device is still widely used in most homes, despite the energy inefficiency of this type of technology.

The incandescent process converts into light only 5% of the electrical energy consumed to heat a metal filament within the bulb; this process gives an efficiency of between 15 and 20 lm/W, the rest being lost as heat. This efficiency is increased up to 40% for halogen lamps, in which the use of a halogen gas extends the life of the filament.

In this century driven by a global drive to save energy and preserve the planet, this lighting system no longer seems to have a place, given that the lighting sector accounts for 20% of the...