Quantum Devices

Here’s the scoop on Quantum Devices and what they have currently as of 1998. It's a solid state lighting system with 200 LED’s, 10% of which are blue light. The system is designed for research. There are tons of bells and whistles that allow you to modify red and blue lighting for experiments. Cost is $3,000 for the power supply and $995 for each module. The module with 400 micromuls of light covers about 4 square feet. My questioning was along the lines of take the bells and whistles out, and do we have a reasonably priced item here? I didn't get a really good answer other than it would depend on quantity and they haven't established "a commercial market".

There is no question in my mind that this is the wave of the future and these guys are on to the holy grail for our purposes. What they lack is the KISS (Keep it simple stupid) philosophy. They are talking to too many scientists and not enough normal people. If they can do a simple module that plugs in to the wall (the thing only uses 35 watts), and sell it for $100, then they will have something that we can use. Right now they are paying $1 per LED (according to them) and there are 200 LED's in one unit and that's a significant part of their cost structure issue. These led units will last at least 15 years and that's a worse case scenario!!! Beats the hell out of halide! Some changes in cost structure and marketing are needed for this thing to succeed for you and me. There is a Chamber using their device for just $15,000 (aaagh).

Quantum Devices are located in a small town about 50 miles west of Madison. Their primary customer focus recently has been in the medical community for their lighting devices (surgical instruments). I supplied quite a bit on them to this listserve based on the growing study recently done. As I stated in that study, their current product is $3000 for approximately 9 square feet of coverage - way too expensive. Quantum was very concerned about heat, so they have a fan in each unit that alleviates the heat, making it possible for the LED's to be virtually on top of a seed. They would be able to produce a product for about $500 (economies of scale) if there were orders for production of 1000 units or more.

Offered by John.