| | Solid-state lighting, or SSL, could be the next big thing in residential lighting. SSL refers to a type of bulb—or lamp, in industry parlance—that uses the movement of electrons through a semiconductor material to generate light. The semiconductor is in a solid block form, hence “solid state.” Because there’s no filament that heats up (and eventually burns out), SSL is up to 50 times more efficient than incandescent bulbs, claim manufacturers. SSL is also said to last as much as 10 times longer than compact fluorescent lighting and contains none of the potentially harmful mercury that has brought CFLs image down to earth and made recycling them a hassle.Read the full Consumer Report. article. |