Cree’s LEDs and the Pentagon

Major LED manufacturer Cree was just awarded a contract to replace a whole ton of fluorescent fixtures in the Pentagon for their LED fixtures – more than 4200 recessed lighting fixtures, to be exact.  The Cree LED fixtures that the Pentagon contracted for purchase retain at about $380 a pop.  These fixtures, referred to as LR24’s, have created energy savings of somewhere in the neighborhood of 22% in government testing.  Apparently (from the source at the US DoE) LEDs saved the government around 8.7 trillion bucks in 2007.

So, 4200 X $380 = $1,596,000, right?  Probably not.  But wow.

Pentagon test room before Cree:

Pentagon test room AFTER Cree’s LEDs:

This project was funded under a project within DoD called Title III.  Title III was created to “promote creation and strengthening of domestic industrial capabilities to support national security needs.”

Thanks to CleanTechnica, EcoGeek, and Earth2Tech!