LED Standards by Jan, Testing in Pipeline

LED Standards by Jan, Testing in Pipeline

“In a bid to regulate the LEDs market and enhance their credibility, national standards for LEDs have been devised by BIS and they will be formalised by 15th January,” informed Sandeep Garg (sgarg@beenet.in), energy economist with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). While speaking at the recently concluded LED Expo in New Delhi, Garg highlighted key challenges and opportunities for the LED lighting industry. He added that the government had taken initiatives to promote the use of energy-efficient LED lighting products, and had set up a committee to analyse the contemporary scene in this lighting segment. The committee has already submitted its recommendations. 

According to Garg, absence of technical standards has become a barrier to the increased acceptance of LEDs, and this has led to the entry of sub-standard products in the market. To counter this, testing of the products is being accelerated with the setting up of two government-sponsored laboratories in New Delhi by 2011. “This will be a step in the right direction and will encourage wider commercial use of LEDs.” The government is also considering LEDs as one of the main instruments for promoting energy-efficiency. “The committee has recommended that the government offer fiscal incentives to promote the deployment of LEDs, as they will help in significantly reducing peak demand for electricity due to lighting.” 

Garg points out that the main factors hindering adoption of LEDs are limited availability of LED technology; high initial costs and long payback time of more than seven years; absence of technical standards, testing protocols and facilities; and absence of incentives for manufacturers to promote indigenous production. He also stresses the importance of aggregating demand for LEDs, and calculating their complete lifecycle costs and warranty period. 

One of the ways of promoting LEDs, Garg points out, is by creating a task force to identify energy-efficient lighting solutions for key applications such as public streets, buildings, displays, hoardings, signages and traffic. “In the case of LEDs, focussing on the concept rather than the products will help, as LEDs are very different from other light sources and each application needs a different assembly of components,” he adds. 

According to Garg, the committee has recommended the formation of a central institutional mechanism in the form of a secretariat in New Delhi. It has also suggested that various ministries should aggregate LED demand, and make policies that mandate domestic manufacturing to meet this demand.

Posted in: Electrical Market News