The Sun–The Perfect Spectrum: What You See and What You Don’t

The sun’s energy is almost as critical for life as air and water yet unfortunately we now spend over 92% of our lives indoors. What have we learned about what we need from the sun, and what have we learned about living under LEDs in the last decade? The invention of the blue led was groundbreaking enough for Dr. Nakamura to win the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics. In 2011 the Department of Energy awarded the L-prize to Philips for a really cool LED replacement for a 60W bulb and then Billion of dollars of incentives ensued. The testing for the L-prize was extensive for light output, color temperature, color rendering, life expectancy… but what about spectral interaction with those living under the light?

Learning Objectives

• Understand the balance of the sun’s spectrum
• Understand the ratio of visual energy to non-visual energy of the sun’s spectrum
• Understand the basics of how sunlight effects circadian rhythms, sleep, immunity, recovery, and hormonal balance.
• Understand the basics of how phosphor converted white LEDs are disrupting circadian rhythms and sleep.