DOE Releases SSL Manufacturing R&D Roadmap
The U.S. Department of Energy has published the 2010 edition of the Solid-State Lighting (SSL) Manufacturing R&D Roadmap. Complementing the SSL R&D Multi-Year Program Plan (MYPP) that guides the Core and Product Development R&D programs, the Roadmap's primary goal is to guide the manufacturing R&D program and help direct funding solicitations for it. Manufacturing R&D is a part of DOE's SSL manufacturing initiative launched in 2009. The Roadmap also provides guidance for equipment and material suppliers, based on industry consensus on the expected evolution of SSL manufacturing – thereby reducing risk, improving quality, increasing yields, and lowering costs.
The 2010 Manufacturing Roadmap differs from the 2009 version mainly in the addition of specific manufacturing R&D task priorities. Whereas the 2009 Roadmap offered a broad outline of manufacturing challenges, the new version provides additional direction for addressing those challenges, and includes updated forecasts of costs as our understanding of them advances.
The Department will continue to update the SSL Manufacturing R&D Roadmap annually in collaboration with industry partners, to incorporate new analysis, progress, and research priorities as the technology and marketplace evolve.
