Bob Johnston, in this Forbes magazine article, lays out the case that it will be China that leads the solid state lighting revolution. LED lighting saves energy, but the lack of a developed infrastructure for incandescent lights is what will allow China to take the solid state lighting lead.

The article quotes Robert C. Walker, chief executive of ELite Optoelectronics and a senior adviser to the Chinese government’s solid-state lighting committee:

“In the U.S. I’m not going to go to the Marriott Hotel and have them change their whole electrical system,” Walker explains. “In China I get to go to a guy who’s building a new hotel and say, ‘Design your building around LEDs.’”

This is a nice article because it lays out a nice case that boils down to explaining why the Chinese should want solid state lighting more. The upcoming Olympic games are a great showcase, and we can expect to see visible signs of lighting technology leadership. I’m also pleased that this is a Forbes cover story. That’s a good signal that solid state lighting will be getting mindshare among executive types in the US.