By Deb Lovig

In a meeting recently I was asked what I thought is the “killer app” for LED lighting. Or rather, what needs to happen to get an LED in every grocery cart?

Glad they asked because my 11-year-old had just asked for a project idea. Something that would require him to do research, create a 3D drawing and write a report. Once I recovered from the shock of hearing the word “write” coming from his mouth (he occasionally writes more than three words at a time and isn’t much concerned with punctuation…), I got serious.

All I could think at that moment was, “What would it take to get my mom, our neighbor’s aunt and most high school band instructors to switch to LED lighting?” No hesitation – an LED bulb that screws into a typical Edison socket and provides the same type and amount of light as a 60-watt incandescent bulb.

You can buy LED bulbs in the store and on the Web that at least look like a 60-watt light bulb. Unfortunately, except for a few, they are mostly too dim or bluish, or worse, flicker and then go out for good. I blew one out pretty quickly in a desk lamp belonging to our accommodating CFO.

Lots of companies and inventors are working on this, so my son has plenty of competition. The Department of Energy is so hyped on this task that it is offering up some heavy change in the form the L-Prize competition. The winner comes away with $10 million in awards and purchasing agreements and massive bragging rights. http://www.lightingprize.org/

As for my son? That’s a whole lot of cash so he’s thinking, drawing and making 3D LEGO models just as fast as he can. I’m just glad the LED light bulb has replaced his frustrated attempts to make hovercraft the new Prius.