The U.S. Department of Energy has released a report on the first GATEWAY demonstration involving OLED lighting. Aurora Lighting Design, Inc., in Grayslake, IL, installed Acuity Brands' Trilia^TM OLED lighting system in September 2014. The new report recounts the experiences of this pioneering project and provides valuable feedback to OLED and component manufacturers as well as luminaire manufacturers.

The Aurora Lighting Design, Inc. office with a lighitng system using OLED panels. (Photo Courtedy of Acuity Brands via DOE)

Among the successes:

• The new system has a shallow profile that works well with Aurora's low-ceiling space and offers comfortable ambient light, with warm color and very good color rendering.

• The exposed OLED panels deliver soft, minimal-shadow lighting that makes faces and expressions visible and increases room brightness.

Among the challenges and complications:

• The drivers were too large to be incorporated above the gypboard ceiling, so they had to be remote-mounted in an adjacent space. This required pulling large numbers of wires through shallow joist space to multiple mounting points.

• There are no dedicated OLED drivers on the market yet, so Acuity equipped the OLED system with LED drivers, which lowered system efficacy.

OLED lighting is in its infancy compared to LED lighting, but the architectural market is taking notice. If OLEDs continue to increase in efficacy, longevity, size, and flexibility, designers and engineers will have a new tool for creative and effective lighting.

For the complete findings, download the full report.