PAPER-THIN lighting technology developed in the region is to become a major North-East industry, following its public launch yesterday.

The solid state lighting unveiled in County Durham could see a thin plastic sheet emit as much light as a conventional bulb when an electric current is passed through it.

Delegates attending the launch at Hardwick Hall, Sedgefield, saw a prototype of small lighted flat glass squares developed in a laboratory.

Dr Geoff Williams, of lighting company Zumtobel, told an audience including Minister for the North-East Nick Brown: “Within a decade, we will be printing this technology like we print a newspaper.”

Dr Williams, who is leading the £3.3m project, said: “The expertise for developing and manufacturing this technology all lies within North- East England, creating the potential for a major industry to develop over the coming years.”

Yesterday’s demonstration came 130 years to the month after Sir Joseph Swan’s demonstration of the first incandescent light bulb, in Gateshead.

The Topless project – standing for Thin Organic Polymeric Light Emitting Semi-conducting Surfaces – is a collaboration between Zumtobel, Thorn Lighting’s parent company, Durham University and Sumation UK. It is part-funded by the Government’s Technology Strategy Board fund.

It will now move on to the prototype manufacturing stage at the new Printable Electronics Technology Centre in the North-East Technology Park (NETPark), in Sedgefield, where scientists will attempt to produce 3,000 to 5,000 square metres on a glass sheet.

Eventually, flexible plastic film will be used, allowing the range of uses to cover anything from lighting buildings, medical treatments and car safety, to allowing the inside of an umbrella to light up in the dark.

Dr Williams, who is based at the Thorn Lighting site, in Spennymoor, said: “We are developing the capability of printing a layer of conductable material – one two-thousandth the thickness of a human hair – on to a thin glass sheet.”

The technology uses only 4-5v for power, as opposed to current lighting which uses 240v, and could prove so energy efficient it would make one in five power stations redundant. It could also prove cost saving with 50 per cent off office utility bills.