As the novel coronavirus is spreading across the world and is highly contagious, people are getting more and more alert in environment disinfection. UVC LED technology providing disinfection function thus draws consumers’ attention.

UVC LED technology, which can be integrated with different applications for water, air and surface disinfection, is becoming a hit in the LED industry and the consumer market since the outbreak of coronavirus. Companies with UVC LED technology are now working on various applications to help people combat the virus.

High Power Lighting (HPL) from Taiwan, who focuses on UV LED technology, is one of them and is ready to launch UVC LED embedded air cleaner with disinfection in 2020.

LEDinside interviewed C. H. Wei, President and General Manager of HPL, to learn UVC LED application highlights and the effects of coronavirus on the UVC LED market.

(Image: LEDinside)

HPL has been working on UV LED for years. Apart from improving its technology, the company also try to advocate disinfection applications of UVC LED but the reaction of the market was tepid. However, since the beginning of 2020, with increasing numbers of infected cases caused by the novel coronavirus, consumers become more aware of disinfection and related methods. UVC LED, serves as a disinfection technology for preventing infection, turned popular suddenly.

Wei indicated that UVC LED technology is now more stable and mature with chip price coming down and module development accomplished, making it a suitable timing for mass production to meet the growing demands caused by the epidemic.

HPL and its client are launching UVC LED integrated air conditioner with disinfection function this year. The embedded UVC LEDs diminish bacteria and viruses in the air within the machine. With air circulation, the air would go throw the disinfection process within the air conditioner over and over again to effectively reduce the total amount of bacteria and viruses in the air. Apart from air conditioner, HPL will also introduce portable disinfecting air cleaner in 2020.

(portable disinfecting air cleaner)

The company also works on flowing water disinfection. HPL partners Epileds for UVC LED technology integration starting from epitaxy to LED chip manufacturing, module development and product sales. Leveraging expertise from both side, they developed a water disinfection module achieving 99.99% disinfection rate.

(water disinfection module)

Power of UVC LED is not the only factor that affect the efficiency of disinfection. It is also critical for the disinfected objects to be evenly exposed to UVC light, addressed Wei. Optical design is thus fundamental. With proprietary optical technology by HPL, the flowing water disinfection module only requires one single 20mW UVC LED to evenly spread the light inside the module, achieving 99.99% disinfection rate. The product was showcased at Photonics West 2020 by Epileds.

According to Wei, HPL has been developing technology and products in the past three years. Now the applications for water and air disinfection are ready to enter mass production phase for the consumer market. Even though the coronavirus outbreak might impact the manufacture of end products, with consumer awareness of disinfection applications raised, UVC LED has a great potential in the market.