The life of an LED lighting system is dependent upon numerous factors and components, including operating temperature, on-off cycling, thermal management systems, luminaire housing and packaging optics, and driver components, not to mention the LEDs themselves. The failure of any component can cause the whole system to fail. Presently, LED lighting product life is rated based upon the lumen maintenance of the LEDs (IESNA LM80/TM21), but this method cannot predict the catastrophic failure of a system.

In 2009, the LRC began investigating the life of LED lighting systems in order to develop an accelerated, predictive life-test procedure that accounts for both useful life and the possibility of catastrophic failure of a system at any given environment temperature and use pattern. 

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