TROY, N.Y., June 18 -- Evident Technologies, a Troy, N.Y., maker of nanocrystals also known as quantum dots ("qdots"), announced it has received funding from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to demonstrate and develop efficient white LEDs. Evident said it will collaborate with the Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) to produce qdot nanomaterials, novel semiconductor particles that have tunable color properties, to create high-quality white light. This qdot-based light will be more efficient than halogen or incandescent lights, Evident said. "Our quantum dot nanomaterials enable the production of white-light LED-based lighting systems with significant efficiency improvements over current halogen and incandescent lights," said Clinton T. Ballinger, CEO of Evident Technologies. "In addition, the light will have better color qualities than current white-light LEDs so they are appealing enough to use in the home or office. Developing a white-light LED-based lighting system using quantum dots will open an entirely new and fast-growing market for Evident Technologies' products." NYSERDA President Peter Smith said, "By investing in high-efficiency LEDs for general illumination, we hope to accelerate replacement of inefficient incandescent and halogen lights in New York State, saving residents money on energy bills and protecting the environment by reducing greenhouse gases from fossil fuel electricity generation in New York State." Evident said that in 1998, New York State households used a total of 7.3 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) for lighting. "If households replaced all incandescent lamps used for four or more hours per day with lamps using solid-state light sources, they could save 2.5 billion kWh annually, or 35 percent of all electricity used for residential lighting." Quantum dots are high-precision nanoscale semiconductors that are engineered for new nanomaterials in biotechnology, optical transistors, optical switches, optical computing, photovoltaics, LEDs, lasers and other applications. For more information, visit: www.evidenttech.com