Glow panels
Sounds like upand_at_them is talking about electroluminescent panels, which zevon8 and DigiTan described above. While EL panels can be operated off the 115 VAC line, they are much more efficient when driven by a high frequency inverter optimized for the application. Typically, the inverter is optimized for the area and type of EL panel that it will be driving.
Googling, "electroluminescent panels," will provide you with 58,300 links to more than you ever wanted to know about EL lamps, including information, data, inverters and EL lamps for sale, etc.
awright