Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe

2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges
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industry and material suppliers, so as to ensure
that the essential requirements for speed, cost and
flexibility can be met.
Low-energy LED lighting
in an office installation.
© Philips Lighting B.V.
OPV offers significant advantages over Si-PV for the
direct integration of energy generation into building
components, and it is expected to play a major
role in facilitating the creation of urban systems
around solar energy. Close collaboration with the
building industry must be established to maximise
the exploitation of this market opportunity.
Breakthrough innovations in Flexible Electronics will
result from close collaboration with system integrators
and product designers. The development of
3D display systems will be closely dependent on
the rollout of ubiquitous high-bandwidth access
infrastructure. As a result of its proximity to world
leading companies in relevant application fields,
such as automotive, avionics, space technology
and medical science, the European display industry
will be able to make the transition from components
towards supplying full visualisation systems.
The massive market uptake of intelligent display
systems will also depend strongly on the industry’s
ability to interact with the user.
Major Photonics Research and Innovation
Challenges
LEDs
As indicated above, the lighting industry will
go through a transformation from a supplier of
replace ment lamps to the provider of intelligent
lighting systems, putting the user at the centre of
the solution. This also implies that lighting will no
longer be seen as a commodity, but instead as a
customised solution, adding value to people’s lives.
Many challenges still need to be addressed across
the full value chain, from materials right through to
lighting systems. With the advent of a new lighting
technology, ideal conditions will exist for embedding
C2C (cradle to cradle) concepts fully within
the lighting domain, driving design for recyclability.
At the LED level, research efforts dealing with
cost, light quality and efficacy must be continued.
Cost and performance in the short term are also
major issues at the lamp and engine level, while the
continuing standardisation efforts will contribute
significantly to the adoption of LED technology by
the predominantly SME luminaire manufacturers.
Standardisation will also be needed in the field
of two-way communication between the various
system components, the use of indoor DC grids,
the integration of lighting systems into the built
environment, and its interaction with the smart
grid. Interoperability of the various system components
will be critical for market uptake of digital
lighting. Specific architectures, tailored to the needs
of different market segments, must be developed
to allow for the seamless integration of different
components within the lighting system, and for
the integration of lighting with other functions in
smart buildings and communities.
The future of the lighting industry largely depends
on its ability to make the transition from light sources
to intelligent lighting systems, enabled by Solid
State Lighting (SSL), that is, LEDs and organic LEDs
The future of the lighting
industry largely depends
on its ability to make the
transition to new intelligent
lighting enabled by Solid
State Lighting.