CLTC's mission is to stimulate the application of energy-efficient lighting. This is accomplished through facilitating technology development and demonstrations, as well as offering outreach and education activities in partnership with electric utilities, lighting manufacturers, lighting professionals, and governmental agencies.

Established through a joint effort of the California Energy Commission and the University of California, Davis, the California Lighting Technology Center conducts both cooperative and independent activities with lighting manufacturers, electric utilities and the design and engineering professional communities. These partnerships are facilitated and supported through state-of-the-art lighting and daylighting applications and development/testing facilities, coupled with lighting-efficiency training and educational programs.

The facility includes full-scale lighting and daylighting application laboratories for the development and demonstration of next-generation, emerging lighting and daylighting technologies. Comprehensive in-house and outreach training programs are being developed in cooperation with industry and utility groups to complement demonstration and application labs.

As a demonstration and education facility, CLTC helps in establishing key market connections by providing practitioners the hands-on opportunity to learn about lighting-efficiency technologies and lighting design approaches. Furthermore, CLTC coordinates outreach and support efforts with existing utility-based energy centers, offering touring exhibits, demonstration materials, and technical assistance in the adoption of emerging technologies