Chapter 1

Energy efficiency in lighting: an overview

Introduction

Energy is one of the major inputs for economic development of any country. In the case of developing countries, the energy sector assumes critical importance in view of the ever-increasing energy needs, widening of supplydemand gaps, and also huge investments required to meet them. In the Indian context, the current peak demand shortage is 14% and the energy deficit is 8.4%. In certain areas, this could be as high as 25%. In such scenarios, efficient use of electricity necessitates persistent energy conservation efforts. Energy efficiency is achieved when energy usage in a specific product is reduced without affecting output or user comfort levels. See Appendix I for an interesting history of light and the evolution of energy efficiency in the lighting sector. Very simply, energy efficiency means using less energy to perform the same function. For example, by replacing traditional light bulbs with compact fluorescent lamps, one uses only 25% of the energy originally needed to illuminate the room. Pollution levels are also reduced by the same amount. Lighting is an essential requirement for any facility and it touches the day-to-day lives of people in more ways than one. It accounts for 15% of the total energy consumed in a developing country as against about 7%10% in developed countries. Energy efficiency has often been viewed as a resource option, just like coal, oil, or natural gas. For a developing country such as India, it provides additional economic value by preserving the resource base and reducing pollution. Today, energy efficiency assumes even greater importance because it is the most costeffective and reliable means of mitigating global climate change. Recognition of such potential has led to high expectations regarding control of future carbon dioxide emissions through more frequent energy-efficiency improvements as compared to those in the past. Thus, with new product development taking place at a much faster pace, the lighting sector as a whole has immense potential to pursue energy efficiency options. Indias installed capacity of power generation is about 112 058 MW (CEA 2004). According to an estimate of the share of electricity used and the lighting component for major sectors (Table 1), about 15% of the total electricity generated is used for lighting purposes in various sectors.

Energy efficiency potential for lighting in India

Light Right: a practising engineers manual on energy-efficient lighting

Table 1 Total electricity used and electricity used for lighting purposes in major economic sectors
Sector Industry Commercial/public Domestic Other Electricity used (percentage of total) 49 17 10 24 Lighting component (percentage of total electricity used) 45 45* 5090 2

* Though at the industrial level, the lighting component is less than 5%, in certain industries such as textiles, pharmaceuticals, and electronics, it may be up to 15% of the industrys total consumption. For information technology and certain types of commercial/building sectors, it could even be 40% of their total consumption.

Efforts are on worldwide to attend to the following interacting lighting variables. 2 Lighting upgrades yield quick savings on energy bills but more efficient lights release less heatan indirect benefit for the air-conditioning systems. 2 The light quality, the lighting quantity, and the type of light fittings are dependent on the task at hand. Thus, efforts to promote efficient lighting that ignore the users needs are likely to fail. 2 For optimal lighting solutions, the total system involving daylighting, lamps, fixtures, controls, configuration, materials, and furnishing needs to be considered holistically. 2 Broader impacts of lighting choices, including the persistence of energy efficiency measures, with implications for the type of technologies, are to be considered. 2 It is necessary to upgrade information on energy-efficient lighting technologies, which have been changing continuously over the past 60 years (Figure 1).

Barriers

Indias energy intensity per unit of gross domestic product is higher when compared to the rest of Asia, Japan, and the US by 1.47, 3.7, and 1.55, respectively. Though this indicates inefficient use of energy, it also implies substantial scope for energy savings. However, many barriers are being faced in the drive towards energy-efficient lighting. 2 Emphasis on minimization of first cost by end-users 2 Capital availability constraints 2 Manufacture of inefficient products in parts of the unorganized sector

Common problems and barriers

Energy efficiency in lighting: an overview

Luminous efficacy (lm/W) 15.20 15.16 15.12 15.08

Figure 1 Combined efficiency of general lighting service and compact fluorescent lamps

15.04 15.00 14.96 1995 1996 1997 Year 1998 1999 2000

2 Aversion to taking risks associated with new technologies 2 Shortage of skilled staff 2 Lack of information.

Technical and operational problems

It is generally observed that in certain areas/seasons/ installations, power quality is poor. Both planned and unplanned interruptions happen; line voltage varies up to 30%. Besides, spikes and surges are common. All these problems contribute to the reduced lamp/ballast life and lead to an increased need for lamp/e-choke replacements and hence higher O&M (operation and maintenance) costs. In addition to power quality issues, poor and inefficient designs of lighting systems also pose problems for most facilities. Often in industrial plants, the use of efficient lighting is not considered important, as energy consumption for lighting purposes generally forms only a small component of the total energy consumed. Recognizing the importance and benefits of energy efficiency, the Government of India enacted the Energy Conservation Act, 2001, which came into force on 1 March 2002. One of the major thrust areas recognized under this Act includes buildings where the lighting component forms a major part of the total electricity used. The following policy measures will help overcome the barriers stated earlier. 2 Prescribing energy conservation building codes for efficient use of energy and its conservation in commercial buildings 2 Formulating energy conservation building codes to suit regional and local climatic conditions

The way out Policy recommendations

Light Right: a practising engineers manual on energy-efficient lighting

2 Directing owners/occupants of commercial buildings to comply with the provisions of the energy conservation building code. The following additional policy measures can also be initiated. 2 Organizing training programmes for personnel and specialists in the techniques of efficient energy use and conservation 2 Creating awareness and disseminating information 2 Promoting research and development 2 Promoting the use of energy-efficient products, fittings, devices, and systems (The cost of energy-efficient equipment in India is higher compared to other developed countries.) 2 Encouraging the use of energy-efficient equipment by giving preferential treatment.

Awareness generation

There has been continuous development in lighting technologies over the past 60 years to produce the best lighting products and controls for creating higher lighting quality with reduced energy consumption. However, the speed at which these technological developments have taken place has not been complemented by a corresponding pace in generating awareness about them and their availability to the end-users. Also, the emergence of new secondary players has generated a lot of competition in the lighting market. These market barriers should be addressed through aggressive customer-oriented awareness programmes and demonstration projects. An energy audit can be considered the first step towards understanding how efficiently lighting energy is being used in a given facility. A detailed energy audit goes much beyond quantitative estimates of costs and savings as system efficiencies are evaluated and measures identified for improving end-use energy efficiency. Sometimes, such a study also covers specific projects/feasibility reports for major retrofitting/replacement proposals and provides a costbenefit analysis of the recommended measures. To implement any energy conservation measure, an expenditure (investment; marginal or substantial) is sometimes incurred for specific energy-saving opportunities. Hence, implementation of the proposal involves taking a decision on whether or not to invest. Usually decisions are

Energy audits

Economic analysis of investments

Energy efficiency in lighting: an overview

made, taking into account alternative solutions for utilization of capital. To help arrive at the best possible solution, decision-makers use certain economic methodologies, as listed below. 2 Present value 2 Average rate of return 2 Return on investment 2 Payback period 2 Break-even parameters of net present value.

Conclusion

In general, the Indian industry especially in commercial buildings is poor at managing energy efficiently as compared to other countries. Designing lighting systems taking into consideration task-based illumination, use of quality lights, and better O&M practices would result in significant energy savings and improvements in productivity. Lighting improvements usually offer the easiest and most visible efficiency gains, and are cost-effective. For example, nearly 40% energy savings can be achieved in a normal office building by retrofitting existing fixtures with efficient ballasts, lamps, and reflectors. Even larger savings may be gained through comprehensive redesigning of lighting and control systems. Thus, lighting systems offer a powerful leverage on energy costs, if the measures are pursued in proper sequence. Lighting upgrades also yield quick savings on energy bills and release less heat, which means that air-conditioning systems can be of optimal capacity. (For example, incandescent lamps generate heat to the tune of 95% of their input power; this is 85% in the case of metal halide lamps and 77% in highpressure sodium lamps.)
CEA (Central Electricity Authority). 2004 Operation performance monitoring division data, as on 4 June 2004 Available at <www.cea.nic.in/data/opt2_gen_reb.pdf>, last accessed on 1 June 2004

References