Jim Brodrick on Why DOE is Focusing on SSL
Guest post by Jim Brodrick, U.S. Department of Energy
I frequently get the following question. “Why does DOE concentrate its efforts on solid-state lighting rather than on other technologies?” The simple answer is that the DOE program is specifically Congressionally-mandated and that both DOE and the Congress recognize the significant energy-saving potential of this technology, far greater than any incumbent lighting technologies. DOE is essentially tasked with two functions – advanced generation technologies and energy efficiency.
I recognize that simple answers don’t always suffice; therefore let me give you several other reasons. As most of you know, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) has stipulated the ultimate phase-out of inefficient lighting technologies. This action begins in 2012 with the elimination of the 100 watt incandescent bulb and then the 75, 60 and 40 watt bulbs in succeeding years. While this phase-out does not immediately eliminate current technologies such as halogen and compact fluorescent lamps, it does reflect a major change in the consumer market. While these short-term changes are the current focus of the lighting industry, we must not forget that EISA also requires that all such lamps meet 45 lumens/per watt by 2020, no matter the light output. At this stage, it is hard to fathom that traditional lighting technology can meet the 2020 standards because of their physical limitations. Solid-state lighting has no such limitations.
The Congressionally-mandated mission for which I am responsible contains several goals and objectives, the most important of which relate to greatly reducing national electrical use for lighting and concurrently reducing green house gas emissions. With the promise of being 10 times more efficient than incandescent lighting, LEDs will change the way Americans light their homes and businesses. With superior durability, flexibility, and longevity, LEDs have the potential to reduce lighting energy use by 25 percent by 2030, which is the annual equivalent to saving $15 billion (in today’s dollars), or 190 terawatt-hours, or the equivalent output of 24 1,000-MW power plants. These are serious objectives that can ultimately be met if the progression and growth of the industry remain on their current track.
In December 2008, DOE launched its Quality Advocates Program and Lighting Facts labeling initiative to address providing reliable product information to the “lighting buyer” in hopes that some of the pitfalls associated with the mass introduction of CFLs can be avoided. Lighting Facts has been extremely successful in providing relevant information to its prime target buyer audience, including retailers, lighting designers and energy efficiency sponsors. In a little over a year and a half, DOE Lighting Facts’ labels have been approved for 980 products from 139 manufacturers and over 122 “lighting buyers,” including leading retailers and distributors like The Home Depot, Costco, and Grainger have pledged to only stock LED products that use the DOE Lighting Facts label.
Over the same period, DOE has supported the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) efforts to establish its own Lighting Facts label for consumers. The FTC requirements, which were announced on June 18, 2010, will require all medium screw-based lamps produced for sale in the U.S. to exhibit the FTC label on its packaging after July 1, 2011,. As you might expect, two different labels with the same name will cause some initial confusion on the role each label plays in the marketplace. The two labels are designed to play different but very important roles. The DOE Lighting Facts label covers solid-state lighting products of all types, indoor, outdoor, residential, commercial, lamps and luminaires. Again, it is designed primarily for the lighting buyer, not the average consumer.
The FTC label is primarily a consumer label, and therefore does not conflict with the DOE label; rest assured that the DOE label is still a valuable tool for lighting buyers. In fact, the FTC encourages stakeholders to reference the DOE Lighting Facts program, especially as DOE works to improve life testing methodologies for LED lamps, because the FTC label does not specifically require test procedures to verify the stated performance or lifetime claims. DOE will continue to require appropriate testing for products that are listed with the voluntary Lighting Facts program. The FTC label applies only to medium screw base bulbs, while the DOE label applies to all solid?state lighting products.
Additionally, the current ENERGY STAR criteria for integral lamps still require the DOE Lighting Facts label. Therefore, the DOE Lighting Facts label will continue to have value to retail buyers, utilities, and lighting professionals as a definitive resource for evaluating performance of LED lamps. DOE will not be encouraging the use of its label on packaging once the FTC label is required, but the retailers and manufacturers who are Lighting Facts partners should still rely on the verified information from the DOE Lighting Facts label when reviewing products to sell in?store. You can find more information on the relationship between the DOE and FTC Lighting Facts labels at http://www.lightingfacts.com/default.aspx?cp=content/ftclabel.
As announced at our July Philadelphia Workshop, and reiterated in a previous Posting, DOE plans to assist the lighting industry and its market channel partners during the transition away from incandescent lamps. A number of Lighting Facts Partners including several manufacturers (CREE, GE, Osram Sylvania, and Philips) and key retailers and wholesalers (The Home Depot, Costco, and Grainger) have already committed to working with us on ways to communicate clear and objective messaging to their customers. We are also working with the FTC to assist it in its consumer education efforts. In the next couple of months, we hope to engage with the Lighting Facts partners to learn about their messaging needs and ideas. As always, I would be interested in hearing ideas from our Lighting Facts partners on the best way(s) to reach consumers for a smooth transition.
