Improve the Light Bulb — Win Up to $10 Million in Prize Money

First, the Netflix Prize offered a $1 million to anyone who could improve the DVD-rental service’s recommendations by 10 percent. It was hailed as a brilliant idea. Now, the government is getting into the act by offering cash prizes up to $10 million — that’s right, $10 million - for improvements to the much-maligned light bulb. The contest is called the L Prize, which is:

“… the first government-sponsored technology competition designed to spur lighting manufacturers to develop high-quality, high-efficiency solid-state lighting products to replace the common light bulb.”

Criteria include:

• bulb must provide same amount and color of light made by a 60-watt incandescent bulb, but uses only 10 watts of power
• bulb must also last for more than 25,000 hours — about 25 times longer than a standard light bulb
• at least 75 percent of the bulb must be made or assembled in the United States.

So far, Dutch company Philips is the first to submit its entry and others are sure to follow since the stakes are high. The winner could gain lucrative federal purchasing agreements as well as insert itself as the energy leader in the consumer marketplace.

In 2012, the availability of certain wattages of incandescent bulbs will no longer be available for purchase, so this contest goes hand-in-hand with the U.S. Energy Department’s strong push to alter lighting technology.