LEDs are still rarely used in headlamps, even though it represents the single largest market opportunity within automotive lighting. One of the major reasons for this apparent paradox is the cost for the automakers to implement them at a price the consumer is willing to pay. This is because highly complex; therefore expensive, optical systems must be used for LED headlamps to conform to requirements and regulations. The task of the optical system of a headlamp is to collect as much as possible of the luminous flux (quantity of light) emitted by the light source, to shape the beam of light and to direct it, within the bounds defined by the legal regulations, to the road-space areas where it is needed. Optical efficiency of conventional headlamp systems ranges from ca. 30 – 50%, this means that most of the light emitted by the light source is “lost”, i.e. not utilised to form an effective light beam on the road. If the optical efficiency of optical device is low, more LEDs are needed to comply with the regulation, resulting in increased overall system price. This makes current LED headlamp technology commercialy viable only in high-end vehicles. This is unfortunate as besides being more cost- and energy efficient during their life-cycle, LED headlamps provide a better range of vision as well, increasing road safety.
Hungaro Lux Light is developing is a novel optical system for motor vehicle headlamps, designed specifically for LED light sources. Our solution uses only refractive elements, resulting in better optical efficiency and far lower manufacturing costs than current solutions, making LED headlamps economically feasible across all vehicle classes. Our ultimate objective is to successfully commercialise low-cost LED headlamps based on the LEDHEAD optical system. Bringing these headlamps to the more price sensitive segments will speed up adoption of LED lighting in the automotive sector. This will in turn contribute to the reduced negative impact on the environment and increased road safety.
