Of course, it would be nice to light our homes while simultaneously being kind to the environment by using renewable energy, right? Unfortunately, those pesky fluorescents and LED bulbs are just too pricey. In the United Kingdom, however, researchers are on the verge of rendering that argument moot.

Light emitting diodes (LEDs) do not work like conventional bulbs containing filaments or even like fluorescent lamps or incandescent bulbs. LEDs are manufactured from gallium nitride (GaN) attached to another substance. What was problematic, was that GaN shrank much faster than the silicon to which it was attached as it cooled, thus cracking the substance and making it useless right from the start. One solution was to attach the GaN to sapphire, which shrinks at the same rate. It doesn’t take much imagination, though, to quickly realize how incredibly expensive this would become. These obstacles have kept LEDs out of homes and businesses, but research in the UK is quickly tackling these barriers.

A team at the University of Cambridge that including layers of aluminum gallium nitride in the LED would cause the material to shrink at a much slower rate. As mentioned, pure GaN shrinks much too quickly as it cools, but the introduction of aluminum slows the process. The researchers were also thrilled to see that their design worked just as well as other LED designs even with the added layers. And best of all, the compound is easily grown to silicon. Numerous electronics operate in conjunction with silicon, so the technology has already been developed and perfected over the years, providing a much easier and cost-effective route to LED-silicon designs.

Because aluminum and silicon are abundant and relatively inexpensive, one wafer costs only $15. 150,000 LEDs can be produced from one 15 cm wafer, so the cost is kept to a minimum. This greatly reduces the price gap between conventional bulbs, fluorescent bulbs, and LEDs. In fact, each LED bulb will only cost £2 and carry a lifespan of nearly 60 years. Sweetening the pot is the fact that LED lights fully illuminate instantly, unlike the current bulbs utilizing renewable energy.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council funded these bulbs and hopes that lighting bills could be cut by three-quarters. In the United Kingdom, eco-friendly renewable energy has faced some criticism because of some amount of waste products due to renewable often working in conjunction with conventional, fossil fuel-powered methods. Because these LED bulbs contain no mercury, critics’ minds can be put at ease, since the little light producers can be thrown away with little effect to the environment.

Just as in numerous other renewable energy industries, the United Kingdom hopes to promote and proliferate LEDs as the next, and best, method of lighting homes and offices.