Australian Science and Mathematics School | Bedford Park 5042 SA

ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF LEDS

SACE Number: 503732T

Evaluation:
Evaluation of Research Processes (E1)
At first I was set on finding the effects energy efficiency on LEDs. However, as I continued
to do research I found that all I was doing was searching for ways to improve LEDs. This
is due to the insufficient information about the effects of energy efficiency. For example,
the article produced by the U.S. Department of Energy showed statistics about what the
LEDs are lacking, and aspects of the LED where the current efficacy affected the light
emitted by the LED. However, the article showed how the LEDs could be improved
energy efficient wise. Other articles also showed the same information. Therefore, I was
led to researching ways of improving the energy efficiency instead of research the effects
of the energy efficiency on LEDs. As a result, I re-defined my research question to better
suit my research key findings.
Most of the articles I had built my understanding with of about energy efficiency of LEDs,
didnt contradict other sources. However, I still cross-referenced to make sure that at
least two sources had the same information. Through this process I can say that the
information is accurate and it could be used as a source. As I was researching a bit
further, I noticed that the information focused on one part of the LED which was being
improved for the energy efficiency of LEDs. This allowed me to refine my searches. It was
through this particular part of the LED that led me to ways of increasing the energy
efficiency of LEDs. This research acted as a trigger for the development of qualitative
research.
In order to get a variety of sources I used for this project. I decided to conduct interviews
with experts for information that I may have missed, and to check if the information I
have gathered was out-dated. I structured the interview questions in such a way so that
the answers the interviewee gave me fit both of the criteria. However, I felt like that an
experiment would have suited this research better, as I would be able to test my
research on the experiment. But I neither had the money or the facilities to be able to
conduct such as experiment. This is due to the risks involved with doing an experiment at
such a high level. Therefore, I decided to use interviews to gather more information
about the energy efficiency of LEDs however speculative it may be. I was able to get into
contact with two experts through my advisor. One is a teacher at my school, and the
other interviewee was an electrical engineer.
Having discussed a time for the interviews during the holidays, both interviewees agreed
to be interviewed. One of the interviews became one of the main key findings in my
research as the interviewee gave me information that I had not heard or seen before. I
wasnt sure if this information was legitimate or not, and therefore I conducted some
research about this method of increasing the energy efficiency of LEDs. Oddly enough
the method was developed, and was tested by a company called the Rensselaer

ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF LEDS

SACE Number: 503732T

Polytechnic Institute. I wanted to see what the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute did, and
so I did a bit of research on the company. I found out that the Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute was a technological research university. Therefore, I have concluded that the
information was accurate. I chose to add this to my key findings as it is used by a wellknown organization, which shows how reliable it is, and confirms its validity. The
interviews were done on separate days during the holidays as I wasnt able to fit two
interviews in one day. As I only relied on secondary sources, and interviews the
information I gathered were only limited to what they/it tells me. If I had used other
sources such as experiments I could have used my results and compared them with other
results. However, as explained before due to limited resources and time I wasnt able to
make an experiment. This is a major weakness in my research and highlighted flaws in
the approach I took.
However, there were some ethical considerations that I needed to contemplate to make
sure that I am not offending any of the interviewees. The ethical considerations included
a form that the interviewees had to sign that outlines the purpose of the interview, and
the use of the information. Other considerations included confidentiality of the
interviewees identities, unless stated before-hand. Through the preparation of this
interview I have shown the ethical considerations capability. It also allowed me to get a
successful interview as the interviewee and I have an understanding.
Evaluation of Decisions made in response to challenges and opportunities (E2)

Through my research, I found it was hard to draw an initial conclusion from my findings.
However, my research was done only through a short period of time. Therefore, I had no
time to make a complete conclusion about my inquiry/research question. As a result I
chose to further my research through searching up more about the results I got from the
interviews. I found that the Scattered Photon Extraction was used for white light. This
broadened my research again as I found that there were many ways to improve the
energy efficiency of LEDs depending on the colour. Through this discovery I was able to
refine my searches to help me gather more information about the energy efficiency of
LEDs. This is when I came across doping, which became one of my main key findings in
this research. As stated before, as this was a research done in a limited time frame, there
is no conclusive answer to the inquiry/research question. However, for me to be able to
get to a conclusive answer more time and resources are needed
There were many strengths in my research, however, there were as many weaknesses
even more in my research. As a result my outcome was not as effective as I thought it
was. Some sections of the outcome was hard for me to do as either I did not have
enough information or I couldnt answer the section in the outcome. This may be due to
my lack of resources, however, I made do with what I had gathered from within the time

ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF LEDS

SACE Number: 503732T

frame. I also got reasonable findings considering the amount of time and resources I had.
As I delved deeper into what seemed like a containable topic, I found myself I was only
doing a small part of what was an enormous topic. My career path isnt related with this
topic; however, I hope to further my research in my future.
Evaluation of the Quality of the Research Outcome (E3)
As stated through my outcome, this is in the form of an academic article. There are many
ways to improve the energy efficiency of LEDs. However, my findings are not considered
a feasible learning enhancement opportunity. I believe that my research is still
incomplete and still needs some more work to be done. Due to this, I believe that my
research should not be used as a research tool for school. This is because most schools
do not have the facilities to be able to conduct the necessary experiments, unless the
school can provide the tools for my research as a learning enhancement opportunity.
More research is needed to be able to use this as a source for students to improve their
learning about electricity and LEDs. The research may also be relevant for people who
are looking into making their own lighting. The current research does not have any
beneficial value, however, if further research is done, then maybe this research may be
used as a basis of other research.
New ideas/understanding I have developed through this research is that there may not
be a conclusive answer to a research question. Once you think you have found the
answer other problems/issues/questions come up. Then more questions arise as you
solve those questions. It seems like there is no answer to the questions that we research.
This is also the same with my research. I havent found a conclusive answer to my
research question/inquiry due to countless questions.
The research processes in this research helped me develop and refine my skills that
could be useful in the future. Even if the research didnt give promotable results, I got
valuable skills from doing this research. These skills will be helpful with me in the future
with my career paths, and university. These skills include organizing data through
technology, analysing data, interview skills, and research skills. I have developed these
skills through my research processes, and my outcome. My research processes mainly
used technology to gather data. As a result of this, I have developed my organizational
skills through technology. My outcome developed my analysis of data. This is because in
the outcome I had to analyse the results/data I got from the research processes.
Therefore, developing my analysis of data. The interview skills I have developed through
the interview that occurred in the holidays. Therefore, through this research I believe that
I was able to develop my skills. (1502 words)

ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF LEDS

SACE Number: 503732T