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New Light Source Lasts 15 Years Without a Recharge

December 11, 2007

How about a glowing light source that lasts for 15 years instead of the typical 15 minutes of a glowstick? GlowPaint’s newest product does just that and is also non-toxic and inexpensive and doesn’t require a recharge via solar or electrical sources for its entire lifespan. According to the company, “This has potential to save billions in energy costs world-wide. Litroenergy™ surpasses all known available lighting options for cost/durability/reliability and safety.” Their products are expected to be used to replace other forms of safety, emergency and novelty lighting duties normally performed by glow sticks, LEDs and other light sources.

glowing bike with litroenergy New Light Source Lasts 15 Years Without a Recharge

“The Litrospheres are not effected by heat or cold, and are 5,000-pound crush resistant. They can be injection molded or added to paint. The fill rate of Litroenergy micro particles in plastic injection molding material or paint is about 20%. The constant light gives off no U.V. rays, and can be designed to emit almost any color of light desired.” PureEnergySystems

litroenergy New Light Source Lasts 15 Years Without a Recharge

Litroenergy was also submitted to the Nasa Create the Future Design Contest to compete based on its originality and potentially major impact on sustainable energy technology. More information can be found via GlowPaint’s online patent application though much of their research remains proprietary.

Written by ecoble · Filed Under Earth-Friendly Products, Energy and Power, Sustainable Innovation 

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Comments

  • josh
    when and where can I buy some? :)
  • when and where can I buy some? Please send me info.
  • There are too many applications for this, where to start?
  • Robocock
    sounds expensive
  • geek101
    Make a cool Tron costume.


    Would be very nice for emergency vehicals, also.
  • daniel
    Why yes, I would love a jacket that glows in the dark because it is full of radioactive gas. That sounds great... And they thought that lead was bad in paint. Soon China will be returning toys to the US because we painted them with glow in the dark radiation...
  • ((( daniel says:
    December 29th, 2007 at 1:59 am

    Why yes, I would love a jacket that glows in the dark because it is full of radioactive gas. That sounds great… And they thought that lead was bad in paint. Soon China will be returning toys to the US because we painted them with glow in the dark radiation…)))

    Just so you know, that monitor your using to type stuff like that is beaming radiation in to your head along with countless other household items.
  • ryan
    Yes the jacket is 5,000 pound crush resistant....but your body isnt
  • SiriS
    Hehe, these work because they're radioactive
  • dub
    Wait till a rapper gets his hands on this. Glowing grillz, slimer 26's on the glowing escalade. oh my!
  • BlackCrypt
    Soylent Green is PEOPLE!!!
  • Maxxy B--
    lol pretty soon you can use this shizzle to underglow ur car. im lookin forward to it, if u can let me know when and where it will be available.
  • brendan
    What's wrong with a bit of darkness?
  • curt
    That is truly amazing practical solution of so many 'night problems'. This company is going to make a fantastic profit, if they are really going to bring this product to the market.
  • Is there a catch? Maybe non-toxic to use, but what about to produce? Seems too good to be true, but then again ... *could* it be all good? If so, will big coal and oil buy this technology and then bury it (or whatnot)? We sure need technologies similar to this to start taking wing. 'Course I also worry about application and durability. Disposability is what our businesses thrive on. All the petrol-plastic ever made still exists in our environment, and this surely will be used with plastic, as it can be mixed in. Ugh, glowing trash... What we really need is to stop acquiring things (which we typically abandon using within 6 months) and instead go plant a garden. Ok, off my soap box...
  • Mark
    Sounds like they're using tritium, which is totally safe. The beta particles released are low energy and can't penetrate anything for the most part, including your skin. Also, tritium is a gas, so any breakage would result in tritium being released and dissipated in the air, which is harmless. Why do I know? Because I searched high and low for a tritium watch and read all about the stuff. It's pretty uber.
  • cpoliticas
    Yeah Maxxy, you could almost replicate Automan's car.
  • Charles Manton
    Radio active nano-particles. Just what the world needs.
  • I am skeptical. With the displayed level of brightness, maintained over 15 years, represents a large amount of energy. What kind of "radioactive gas" would release that much power?
  • snowlock
    Sounds like this is nothing more than tritium in microbeads. which is not really what you want possibly floating into your watersource.
  • Me
    Ik wil, ik wil....(I want, I want..)
  • nik
    it lasts for 15 years...what happens when you want to "turn it off"?
  • Mike Mc
    <blockquote cite="56 pm
    What’s wrong with a bit of darkness?">

    hear hear !!
  • John

    Can this be added to the paint used in the "yellow lines" on highways??

    Maybe paint a few guard-rails too.
    Make the highway systems look like Tron!

    All joking aside. This technology has the possibility of saving many lives. Buy your stock in this company early.
  • mcwizard
    If this is made of Tritium which I bet it is (half life of Tritium ~ 12.3 years). I thought the US banned the importation and commercial use of this stuff. They do use it in nuclear weapons. They never let us have any fun.
  • andy
    Too bad they can't use a gas with a longer half life, that would be awesome. But they are all probably too radioactive to be used, depending on exactly how resistant to electron penetration the glass and polymer walls are. If they are actually 100% resistant, or very close to it, then i dont see why they couldn't use a different, longer half life gas. You might be able to make these things last for decades or even a century or more.
  • Gomer
    Tritium?

    Homeland Stupidity already limits TRitum into the Country for fear of contamination \ dirty bombs etc.. how is this different?

    What is the active ingredient?

    Anyone?
  • Gomer
    LOL ok nevermind...
    I just read the patent app...
    2. A self-luminous microsphere as set forth in claim 1, wherein the gas is tritium.

    Good luck selling it in the states or buying it. I'll bet consumers never see the stuff.
  • Word
    How about tattoo ink?
  • scott
    According to their website "Our products are LEAD FREE and Non-Radioactive!"
  • Paulos
    Finally: this is the thing to coat a hockey puck with so we can see it on TV.
  • Rainman
    A light source that lasts for 15 years on it's on, and yet, battery technology remains the same as long as it keeps making companies rich. When is someone going to convert something like this into usable amps to power our devices for 15 years?
  • MrMan
    Summary:

    Tiny glass balls filled with a stuff that glows when hit by electrons, and gas that spews out electrons.

    The electrons cannot penetrate the gas balls, so it's safe.

    The glass balls are so small that if damaged, the escaping gas is negligable.

    And yes it is using radiation - beta - which is not considered dangerous (how this paint works is conceptually the same as how a CRT monitor works).
  • David
    How about a glowing jumpsuit for when i am riding my motorcycle at night. Wait's for the next Driver to say (s)he didn't see him.
  • johnald
    lcd screens do emit radiation, it's called light...
  • Fjordo
    Y'all, we can't use these for road markings, the microshpere's crush at 5000lbs of pressure. If I load up my single axle, two wheel trailer to 11000 GVW, then every time I change lanes, I'll be releasing tritium into the atmosphere, and blacking out the road lines.
  • begbie
    The company is playing fast and loose w/ the "non-radioactive" claim. Maybe they mean no radioactivity is released from the product, but considering that they use tritium (3H), it definitely contains radioactive material. The comparison #7 made to monitors isn't really valid, 3H emits ionizing radiation, a monitor (or flashlight) emits non-ionizing radiation, BIG difference. Still, a couple of nanocuries of 3H shouldn't be a big deal. 3H is used in Luminox watches right now, so it's not really novel, probably just miniaturized so that it can be used in paints, etc.
  • Looks like this is indeed Tritium and IS INDEED radioactive, just another way to put more deadly particles of radioactive waste into our environment. Sure they claim none of the Tritium can escape, please remember scientists make mistakes, and salesmen will willingly sell anything to make a profit, even if it kills the whole planet after they make the sale.
  • Dan
    Ok... you people do realize that this is vaporware and basically amounts to a meaningless publicity stunt...?

    There is nothing whatsoever on the website that details anything about how this magical material actually functions or from where it obtains its absurdly abundant energy.

    The "award" they got from NASA was basically for having the coolest-sounding idea... they are not required to explain how it works or actually demonstrate that they have created anything.

    Believe it when there's something in the store you can pay money for. Right now it's just snake-oil, and you're a sucker for buying into it.
  • Jason
    I like The Tron Idea, all roads and guardrails...Cooool :)
  • John Campbell
    Analog Science Fact & Fiction ran a story once about windows that captured the past and let it out again years later. A man who had lost his family had the windows in his house, showing the family scenes from years ago. Readers wrote in explaining that such a window would contain so much energy it would be hazardous, to put it mildly. So how is this new invention supposed to contain so much energy to provide all that endless illumination locked inside it, without being dangerous to health and safety?
  • Licenced2Comment
    I wanna glow while i sleep,i hope it's gonna be available soon.
  • Eric
    from Wikipedia:

    "The low-energy beta radiation from tritium cannot penetrate human skin, so tritium is only dangerous if inhaled or ingested."

    Sounds as safe as lead paint.
  • permial
    I do believe I need a tat.....
  • Just be sure not to let Doc Ock find out where you store all the Tritium.
  • Craig Joel
    Ha! Tattoo Ink is a cool thought. William Gibson didn't even think of that in Neuromancer. I'd like a glowing dragon for sure, especially with multiple colours.
  • Informed Reader
    This product is not dangerous.
    The tritium used is encased in small glass beads so that both the gas and the beta radiation cannot leak, and is stored in these beads to minimize spillage if they rupture.
    Even if it leaks, the low-energy beta radiation from tritium cannot penetrate human skin, so tritium is only dangerous if inhaled or ingested.

    @Lenny: This is not yet for sale, all of the products on that page only glow for a few hours, and must be "charged" in another light source.
  • Ugly American
    It says "non-toxic" - Tritium is not toxic, it's a beta emitter version of Hydrogen. Beta particles are just accelerated electrons like old style CRTs & TVs. They won't even penetrate your skin, let alone the borosilicate glass Tritium is commonly packaged in.

    It's banned from export, not import.

    Radioluminescent tech got a bad rep because early versions used Radium which is a very strongly chemically reactive alpha & gamma emitter that decays into an Radon gas which is also an alpha emitter that you can inhale. Alpha particles can cause nuclear transmutation, which is very strong carcinogen.

    What most people don't realize is that both coal and oil contain radioactive elements that are released in significant amounts when they are burned in volume. By contrast, beta radioluminescent tech produces less radiation and of a much safer type. Don't be scared by the word 'radiation' - even visible light is a type of radiation.
  • Fishy-fishy
    Great.
    Glowing plastic trash. Maybe we'll finally see the Pacific Gyre from space!
    Would be nice to know how these will decompose and how long until it is in the food chain.
    Can't wait to glow in the dark too.
  • Nate
    Been here, done this. Search around for some older exit signs and you'll find that they're "powered" by glass vials of tritium. The only new thing is that they're packing it in microbeads. It takes a very tiny amount of shielding to protect us from the particles this gives off, as they are relatively low energy. Other materials with longer lives typically are of higher energy. Besides, who wants to deal with nuclear waste from a raincoat that was shredded 40 years ago?
  • Allen
    I don't see LITROENERGY for sale ANYWHERE.

    Odd link to glowpaint because "glow paint" requires light, THEN glows a while. Read this about LITROENERGY:
    "without any exposure to light"

    Whereas GLOWPAINT says:
    "Each time the item you have painted is exposed to light for 15 minutes the item will glow in the dark."

    "Litrospheres (non-toxic) emit light continuously for 12 plus years (half-life point) without any exposure to a light or other energy (not effected by cold or heat)."

    http://www.createthefuturecontest.com/pages/vie...
  • Mike
    Wow can you imagine how this could change third world countries with no power? Imagine lighting your house for free !
  • tweedle dee
    One supposes the tritium gas is "non toxic" as long as it is contained within the 5Klb crush resistant "micro-spheres"?

    Well, certainly, they could advertise it is 100% natural too. Wonder what the inventors def of "non toxic" is??

    What do we really need this stuff for? I could see a glowing string bikini on an exotic dancer under black light doing her thing, maybe. When was the last time anyone really used a "glow stick" rather than a flashligt to illuminate something? Don't reflectors work well enough in presence of car headlights?

    Wow, soon we will not have any dark left and be constantly bombarded by glowing everything so we are "safer" during the evil night. This sounds a lot like that gyroscopic unicycle thing that was supposed to revolutionize the world. Ride a bike, get a flashlight. I've got an LED one with a crank. I'm sure it is good for 25 years or so since the actual time it's ever been utilized is so limited. I've got 25 year old flashlights that still work too! Probably better to invent a better battery for those old flashlights that still work.
  • Twinpinesmall
    Are they going to make glow-in-the-dark stars with this stuff?

    I'd LOVE to put some of those on the walls of my room! :)
  • I would like to wear this wardrobe for my 1st marriage anniversary:), it looks cool.
  • Okay .... sooo... this is not kid friendly but IS a good idea.... Road lines... maybe not but guard rails, signs, towers, car paint... all totally acceptable and since is a gas and not a solid its Unlike Lead paint... if you were to paint a room with it and they were to all break at the same time it would not be harmful unless the room was sealed... and the person stayed in there for a excessive amount of time... I would love to see sumwun steal a glowing car.... lol no wun would notice that.... :-P and this does have 10000 of uses if i had sum money to invest freely believe me i would put Some.. Not All my money into this company... Beta particles are harmless to humans.... so dont go on about radiation dangers... Learn to read up before you mindlessly post a comment about a possibly fantastic idea...
  • wyldwyll
    More Nukes, Less Kooks!
    Sounds like a great idea to me!
    I wish them luck marketing it to the same clowns who hold up grocery store lines making the clerks manually enter every item because they don't want their purchases 'contaminated by laser radiation.'
  • Josh
    Unless the laws have been changed these will not be available in at least the U.S. and Germany, if you want to see something that's already in production and has been for years using an almost identical system google Trasers.
  • sabik7
    Note to self: Never invent a new product and put it on a website.
  • BillyBob
    If you read the patent application (there's a link to it in the article) you can see that it's manufactured with a "radioactive gas" which is probably tritium. The safety and health issues are not very troubling, but not negligible. Many products already on the market use tritium illumination. My wristwatch, for example. Read the Wikipedia article if you want. On the other hand, tritium-powered light sources glow rather weakly. Riding a bicycle at night, I'm not sure I would want to depend on a tritium-powered light source to keep me alive. Around streetlights and headlights, it might be barely visible. The bottom line -- if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
  • line1260
    and only causes a little bit of cancer lol
  • Daniel McLean
    There is only one problem with the above technology. Its radioactive and consumers will never purchase it.
  • Quadling
    Did you actually read the site? It requires light to recharge it. It is nothing more than glow in the dark paint. That's all. Uses solar energy to recharge it, and then re-emits the solar energy.

    Not a bad thing, but nothing revolutionary.

    Good lord.
  • das
    cool make em in inkjet form :-)
  • chris
    I am going to paint my car with it!
  • milton grisanti
    Very interesting. Is it on the market yet? Where can i get it. Is it available for distribution? PLease send me infomation.
  • flashwood59
    Is this for real? I would like to see this in actual use, I too have an idea.
  • name13233243
    It really works!
    (i havent tried it, just trying to help the site out) ROFLMAO
  • JoeAnne11
    Now this is what I call progress to be honest and I gotta say I worked with a light pretty much like this one but you needed to sun to recharge it. Anyway one or two hours under the sun light and it was enough to have light for like one week. I worked with this kind of light when I designed my motorcycle covers for the first time and I was really pleased of what I was doing.
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