Working with a $2 million US Department of Energy (DOE) Phase III Xlerator grant, Acuity cooperated with Universal Display to design and fabricate OLED lighting fixtures, which was an energy-efficient and color-tunable phosphorescent OLED lighting system. The two partners said that the system would build on the Universal’s OLED technology and Acuity’s experience designing and building solid-state-lighting (SSL) fixtures.

In the prior phases of the DOEs Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program, Universal’s PHOLED panel had a good performance. So, in the Phase III research, Acuity planed to utilize Universal’s panels to design and fabricate OLED luminaries, which targets were white-light fixtures that can be tuned across a range of color temperatures and commercial application in office, retail, and healthcare buildings. And the goals were “a thin, sleek form factor and exquisite quality of light.”

The partners believed the ability to adjust the color of white light in an OLED panel, which could add flexibility and refinement to lighting environments, but traditional lights sources hadn’t achieved tuability like this.

A leader of Universal Display said that teaming with Acuity Brands Lighting under this program accelerated the development and commercial introduction of PHOLED lighting systems. Also, Acuity Brands was optimistic with the advanced technologies such as OLEDs.