An Ottawa company that designs and manufactures LED light bulbs has received a $150,000 research and development grant from the federal government. Leapfrog Lighting will use the money to further its work in developing LED bulbs that provide improved light quality and at the same time are cheaper to produce.
The bulbs produced by Leapfrog Lighting are reported to provide improved glare control, light distribution and colour consistency. The grant money is intended to help the company lower its production costs so that LED bulbs will be adopted more readily by consumers. It will also help to produce “measurable improvement” in lighting quality that the market now demands.
The company already produces advanced, specification-grade bulbs for architectural and commercial facility applications. Its current line of lamps fits most standard light fixtures so that end users can switch from incandescent bulbs without having to buy new fixtures.
The grant to Leapfrog Lighting is made through the National Research Council of Canada’s Industrial Research Assistance Program. The Minister of State for Science and Technology, Gary Goodyear, said at the announcement ceremony that Leapfrog’s work was the “kind of advanced manufacturing that we should all be very, very excited about because it creates jobs and spurs economic growth.”
The president of Leapfrog Lighting, Steve Naor, said that although his bulbs are the “best on the market today,” his mission is to make them even better and reduce the cost of production. The quality of light and energy usage is “superior,” he said, “as are the thermal dynamics.” The company is already developing the next generation of LED bulbs and hopes to encourage mainstream adoption.
