Ewing, N.J.-based Universal Display Corp. along with Moser Baer Technologies, a U.S. subsidiary of Moser Baer, New Delhi, India, has been awarded $4 million for a two-year program from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for the creation of a U.S. phosphorescent organic light-emitting diode (OLED) lighting panel manufacturing facility.
Under terms of the funding, Universal Display will demonstrate the scalability of its proprietary UniversalPHOLED technology and materials for the manufacture of white OLED lighting panels that meet commercial lighting targets. Moser Baer Technologies will design and build the U.S.-based pilot facility during this program.
Demonstrated to provide up to a four times improvement in energy efficiency, UniversalPHOLED technology and materials have become a key element for OLED displays and lighting products in the market and those under development. Through their use, power-efficient white PHOLEDs have the potential to significantly reduce energy consumption, environmental impacts, and white-lighting costs.
"This new DOE program represents a very important step toward the establishment of high-volume manufacturing of white OLED lighting panels in the U.S.,” states Steven V. Abramson, president and CEO of Universal Display. "We are delighted to have this opportunity to team with Moser Baer Technologies, with its experienced leadership in manufacturing thin-film, high-volume products. By combining our highly efficient UniversalPHOLED technology and materials with Moser Baer Technologies' proprietary manufacturing technology, we believe that the new pilot facility can demonstrate a cost-effective route to high-volume production of energy-efficient and environmentally friendly white OLED lighting products, which in turn can serve as a basis for new manufacturing investment and job growth in the United States."
The two-year program is part of the DOE's long-term commitment to advancing the development and introduction of energy-efficient white OLED lighting sources for general illumination. White OLED lighting is viewed as a technology that can introduce highly efficient, innovative lighting solutions to reduce the global carbon footprint of residential and commercial lighting. According to industry estimates, electric bills for lighting alone are more than $200 billion per year on a worldwide basis. It has been estimated that by 2016, white OLEDs could generate more than $20 billion in worldwide savings of electricity costs and could save over nine million metric tons of carbon emissions from the United States alone.
