科技很棒──你可能已經(jīng)感覺到后面會(huì)接著一個(gè)“但是”，而且這個(gè)詞代表著“始料未及后果法則(the law of unintended consequences)”。 來談?wù)凩ED與固態(tài)照明技術(shù)吧！人類已經(jīng)從點(diǎn)蠟燭、煤氣燈、白熾燈泡、日光燈，邁進(jìn)了LED照明技術(shù)的時(shí)代；推動(dòng)這個(gè)演進(jìn)過程的是LED在能量轉(zhuǎn)換效率方面的優(yōu)勢，而其節(jié)省下的能源在過去是以熱的形式被“浪費(fèi)”掉了。成本效益也是LED照明受到青睞的原因之一，其使用壽命能比白熾燈泡來得長許多。 固態(tài)照明的優(yōu)勢往往被這樣介紹：與白熾燈相較，同樣的發(fā)光亮度能以更少的能源消耗來達(dá)成；這對(duì)家庭主婦/主夫來說是個(gè)好消息，對(duì)地球來說也是。這種特性對(duì)能源供貨商(電力公司)來說可能就不算好消息了…只是沒多少人會(huì)關(guān)心吧？而筆者想要討論的，是一個(gè)即將會(huì)發(fā)生──或者已經(jīng)正在發(fā)生──的問題。 因?yàn)楦挠霉虘B(tài)照明技術(shù)可獲得省電、省錢的好處，各地的家庭、企業(yè)與地方/中央公家機(jī)構(gòu)，會(huì)考慮安裝更多的照明設(shè)備，特別是在戶外場所──因?yàn)榭梢酝高^傳感器來進(jìn)行白晝/夜間的開關(guān)控制。 所以實(shí)際上，我們所有人集合起來也許可以省下一些錢、一些能源，卻能在日常生活中享受到整天整夜更多的照明。這樣的結(jié)果對(duì)能源供貨商來說應(yīng)該相當(dāng)不錯(cuò)，但對(duì)人類或是地球來說就沒那么好了，對(duì)那些希望在完全無光害的環(huán)境下觀測星空的天文學(xué)家來說更是壞消息。 我的意思并非LED照明無法比過去的照明技術(shù)達(dá)到節(jié)省更多能源的效果，也不是說我們不該采用這種新技術(shù)；它可以達(dá)到更高的能源使用效率，它應(yīng)該被采用、也會(huì)被大量采用。但在此同時(shí)，有必要采取適當(dāng)?shù)目刂剖侄?，以避免能源的浪費(fèi)以及不必要的光害。 你在家門口裝一盞小小的走廊燈或許是基本人權(quán)的展現(xiàn)，但從另一個(gè)角度看，你可能是個(gè)“黑暗殺手”，或是為周遭環(huán)境帶來光害。這種“始料未及后果法則”讓我想到了晶體管共同發(fā)明者Walter Brattain所說過的話。 當(dāng) 年Brattain從貝爾實(shí)驗(yàn)室(Bell Labs)退休，回到美國華盛頓州的Walla Walla任教于母?；萏芈鼘W(xué)院(Whitman College)，他說發(fā)明了晶體管讓他后悔的事情之一，就是催生了晶體管收音機(jī)這種產(chǎn)品，讓吵鬧的搖滾樂整天不斷地出現(xiàn)在校園各個(gè)角落。 LED照明是否有可能像是為Brattain帶來吵鬧噪音的晶體管收音機(jī)一樣，也會(huì)為人類帶來一些不可預(yù)期的困擾？ 本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載 編譯：Judith Cheng 參考英文原文：Beware technology bearing gifts; turn off the light，by Peter Clarke

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{pagination} Beware technology bearing gifts; turn off the light Peter Clarke Technology is great...and I know you can sense a "but" coming. And the "but" is the law of unintended consequences. Consider the light-emitting diode and the solid-state light. Humanity has gone from burning candles to gas light to incandescent bulbs to fluorescent strip lights and now we are now entering the era of LED solid-state lighting. The advantage that drives adoption comes from the greater efficiency of energy conversion in LEDs and the fact that far less energy is "wasted" in the form of heat. Cost efficiencies should also come from the fact the LED lights can be engineered to last much longer than incandescent bulbs. The benefit of solid-state lighting is usually presented thus; you can have the same amount of light for much less energy outlay. That's good for the householder and good for the planet. It may not be so good for the energy supply company but not many people care about that. But I argue something different is going to happen; is already happening. Because the energy consumption and cost of running lights is reduced by the move to solid-state lighting, householders and corporations and authorities both local and national are tending to install more lights, including outdoor lights in particular and just leave them to be controlled by day/night sensors. So, effectively, we collectively may spend slightly less money and consume slightly less energy on lighting our lives but we will also have much more light, all day and all night. That's reasonably good for the energy companies but not particularly good for people or the planet and bad for astronomers who wish to look at the stars without their vision being obscured by skyglow. That's not to say the LED lighting cannot be made more energy efficient than previous forms of lighting and should not be adopted. It can, it should and it will. But at the same time it is necessary to implement appropriate controls to prevent energy waste and unnecessary light pollution. One aspect of lighting is that when you exercise your human right of expression to install and operate a little porch light you destroy the darkness or add to the light pollution for miles around. This law of unintended consequences reminds me of a quote attributed to Walter Brattain, one of the co-inventors of the transistor. After Brattain retired from Bell Labs he returned to Walla Walla, Washington, to teach at his alma mater Whitman College. He said his one regret about inventing the transistor was its application to transistor radios that continuously played rock and roll music around the campus. Brattain's idea that the transistor radio suddenly meant that for the first time there was noise everywhere and continuously has a parallel with the advent of LED lighting.