The U.S. Department of Energy is accepting applications for funding from energy-saving lighting technology developers until December 15, 2011. The Obama administration has approved up to 10 million US dollars in solid-state lighting (such as LED and organic LED) manufacturing R & D funding support.

Solid-state lighting is more than 10 times more efficient than incandescent lighting. The U.S. Department of Energy hopes that by adopting solid-state lighting, U.S. lighting electricity will be reduced by a quarter by 2030, which will save US$15 billion, which is equivalent to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of 21 million cars.

Funding applicants should focus on using better manufacturing equipment, processes, and process controls to reduce the cost of LEDs and organic LEDs. About 2 to 4 projects will receive funding. These projects will address the technical challenges faced by solid-state lighting in the mainstream lighting market, especially cost considerations.

This is the third round of financial support for solid-state lighting R&D projects. Solid-state lighting manufacturing R&D has received 28.2 million U.S. dollars in federal funds.