LED replacement for the 60-watt incandescent bulb, submitted by Philips Lighting North America.

On August 3, 2011, DOE announced the first winner of the L Prize competition, an LED replacement for the 60-watt incandescent bulb, submitted by Philips Lighting North America. DOE has also received letters of intent from Lighting Science Group and GE Lighting, signaling their intention to submit entries in the 60-watt category as well. At this time DOE has closed the 60-watt category to any further letters of intent or entries beyond these three companies.

Philips takes home US$10M for their efforts, and deserves immense credit for making the bold move as quickly as they did. The qualifications were not a slouch, and while there may be a reasonable number of candidates who could have met the efficacy, color quality and business case, there was a substantially high set of hurdles to overcome to become the winner.