Forum: New Products |
Lighting Science Group Corp. of Satellite Beach hopes to help reshape consumer habits and the marketplace with its first 60-watt LED bulb that, according to the company, will last 20 years or more, cost less than $30 and use 75 percent less electricity.
And it's made in Satellite Beach, not China.
Four years after opening a plant in Satellite Beach, the company celebrated the production of its 1 millionth LED bulb -- one of its new 60-watt ones -- in just the past seven months, a testament both to rising demand and increasing production.
The LSG bulb will go on sale in January at Home Depot.
At less than $30, the newest LSG bulb is cheaper than its competitor, Philips, which put a 60-watt LED bulb on store shelves starting last month priced at $39.95. GE introduced a 40-watt bulb this month, which costs $49.95.
Lighting Science's LED bulb has fewer parts and requires less material and labor than the competing bulbs, which are made in China. Gibler thinks subtle differences, and price, give the LSG bulb an advantage over the competition.
With a team of 40 engineers, LSG developed 70 new products, including the 60-watt-LED, this year, ranging from street lights to lights for gas stations in Europe. In addition to mass market light bulbs, the company develops lighting for special situations, such as the International Space Station and the Times Square light ball that is lowered at midnight on New Year's Eve. The company also has begun a program of selling lighting systems to governments and letting the cities or counties pay for the lighting from savings of 60 to 70 percent on their electric bills over several years.