Rensselaer’s Lighting Research Center (LRC) has partnered with Eaton Corporation on a project to develop a complete, additively manufactured, LED-integrated luminaire. Under funding from the United States Department of Energy, the project will address the main barriers to widespread adoption of additive manufacturing technology (also known as 3D printing) as applied to solid-state lighting.

Over the next two years, the project partners will conduct material science, electronics, optics, and advanced manufacturing research to investigate the transformational potential of a fully additively manufactured, LED-integrated luminaire, with a focus on reducing the cost of the luminaire’s dominant subsystems. Components of a solid-state luminaire will be fabricated using additive manufacturing methods, including mechanical and thermal management structures, electrical and electronic structures (on three-dimensional representative substrates), and optical and light reflector structures.

The project, led by Eaton, was competitively selected through the energy department’s SSL R&D Funding Opportunity program, and draws upon the LRC’s growing expertise in 3D printed lighting research.

For more information about the LRC’s 3D printing research, visit https://www.lrc.rpi.edu/programs/solidstate/3DPrinting.asp.