Here at Adafruit, we love discovering new and exotic glowing things. Like moths to the flame, we were intrigued by these 'chip on board' ultra-flexible white LED Strips with 480 SMT LEDs per meter, soldered side-by-side, and diffused with silicone epoxy! They look a lot like neon or incandescent tubing or maybe really nice EL wire, but without the need for expensive transformers, glass tubing, or inert gasses. And these fancy side light LED strips are good for making slim-and-elegant edge lighting for art, signs, or architectural elements.

This strip is 'side lighting' which means the light comes out the thinner edges of the strip.

Unlike pixel-dot strips, these lights have a continuous, pure light source, and unlike our 'Neon' tubing, they're much thinner and more flexible (but don't have a chunky diffused look)

They are extremely flexible and bendy; this particular strip features a Cool White non-addressable LED strip with a solid chunk of translucent silicone rubber as a diffuser on the side of the LEDs and then encased in a sealed silicone tube that can be cut away. They look incredible, and super easy to use, and are a great way to make your projects light up! We also have this available in Warm White here

The silicone makes for a strong, durable weather-proof casing. They're not guaranteed for dunking underwater or long-term outdoor exposure, but they're durable enough for projects that have to survive the outdoors, like costumes, bike lighting, or festival decorations. Plus, with the adhesive backing, you can stick it where you please.

You'll get a 1-meter-long strip with 2 wires: black and red. Provide 9V (bright) to 12V (very bright!), and the strip starts to glow.

Note these are NOT 'NeoPixel' LED strips; you cannot turn on or off individual LEDs. This guide on analogue RGB LED strip control will show you how it works - you'll want a microcontroller with a PWM output and an N-MOSFET or a ULN2803 to control the power to the entire LED element.

Resources

• Datasheet