Day: July 29, 2020

Blackouts suck! It is one thing if a storm knocks out power when a tree blows over electricity cables. On the east coast, I have experienced power loss one or more times each winter at our home outside of Philadelphia, but the power is typically restored within a few hours or a day, subject to the level of damage.

Waiting to replace traditional commercial lights with energy-efficient LEDs may now become more of a collective call to action than an individual business decision based on Return on Investment. To date businesses have evaluated the savings opportunities with commercial LED lights relative to their own financial situation. Investing $100,000 may save $33,000 or more each year, which yields a favorable 33 percent or greater ROI and paybacks in three years or less. The disruptive LED technology has not been adopted in America at the levels of other countries in Europe and Asia, in part because our US cost of energy is less expensive than in many other countries.

Now, states like California are literally reaching capacity on their power supply relative to demand. Over the summer, when peak loads are at the highest, given the combination of air conditioning and the lights at homes and offices, the power situation is becoming dire. The summer afternoons create the most risk, because the electricity consumption is high at both homes and offices when some employees head to their residences where they proceed to turn on lights, air conditioning, TVs, etc. This added demand will shut down the grid for more than just the time it takes to chain saw a tree off of an east coast fallen power line. Some insiders predict that blackouts could last for multiple days or longer.

We collectively have an opportunity to accelerate energy intelligence to reduce the risk of blackouts by changing our lights. What is good for the grid is also good for each business and the planet.

With 1.341 lbs of CO2 emissions reduced for every kWh saved, changing the lights to LEDs never looked brighter and more responsible, when it comes to environmental stewardship.

For companies that do not have funds budgeted some LED lighting manufacturers, like Independence LED offer $0 upfront cost financing with cash-flow positive results from the start. The financing programs provide business owners with the opportunity to act now vs wait until the less efficient existing lights go out, or the building goes dark in a black out. Saving 50 percent or more on the energy consumption for each commercial building aggregates into a massive positive impact since over 20 percent of US building energy is typically used in the ceiling for illumination. Buildings overall account for about 40 percent of US energy consumption, so changing the lights makes sense on many levels.

Here is some support information from ABC News on March 19^th.

“For the first time since January, rolling blackouts were ordered in California today, turning out the lights in approximately 500,000 homes, including some in Beverly Hills.

Officials at California’s Independent System Operator (ISO), which monitors the state’s power grid, called a Stage Three alert at midday because of increased temperatures, a higher power demand and a lack of electricity from the Northwest.

Further complicating the situation was the closure of two power plants.”

As the general election of the presidential race heats up, we’ll see if either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton address electricity demand and call for Americans to look up at their ceilings and seriously consider changing their lights to LEDs.

The Zhaga consortium is a global cooperation among lighting companies. Their objective is to develop specifications that can enable interchangeability of LED light sources made by different manufacturers.

Zhaga intends to develop specifications for LED light sources that can be used globally in a wide range of general lighting applications. The consortium has adopted a collaborative standardization approach, and for the past three years it has been holding frequent meetings around the globe to facilitate member participation and rapid development of these specifications.

Each Zhaga specification is called a “Book”. The process of developing a book begins with one or more member companies proposing an LED light source, intended for a specific application or with particular features, that they would like to see standardized for interchangeability. Technical Input from member companies is then collected and merged into a common design proposal for interchangeability. From that point, requirements can begin to be written and prototypes are built as part of the specification development. The process ends with the approval of a new specification by the consortium members and each new specification is assigned a unique “Book” number (e.g. Book 2, Book 3, etc.). This whole process is repeated for each new LED light source that is proposed for interchangeability standardization.

For the purpose of Zhaga, an LED light source is always considered to be the combination of an LED module (or modules) and its associated LED driver (aka electronic control gear) and is referred to as an “LED light engine” (LLE). Depending on whether the LED driver shares a common housing with the module or if the driver is provided in a housing independent from the module, the LLE may be categorized as “Integrated ECG type” or “Separate ECG type” respectively. For this reason, Zhaga Books address the interchangeability of the complete LLE in a luminaire from a system approach.

To date Zhaga has developed seven specifications. LLE configurations include both integrated and separate LED driver designs. Additionally, some of the LLE configurations are intended to be interchangeable without the use of a tool “socketable type” and some are intended be factory installed and serviced by qualified personnel. These LLEs are suitable for a variety of applications including recessed downlight, track light, spotlight and high bay. This is already an impressive collection of Books developed over three years, but considering that LEDs are increasingly being used in new applications, there is room for many more specifications to be created. Companies interested in proposing new LLE types for Zhaga specification should consider joining the consortium and participate in the definition of new books.

 

Figure 1. Seven Books developed for product certification

Each Zhaga Book defines interface requirements for a different type of LED Light Engine (LLE). The books only define the minimum requirements that are necessary to achieve interchangeability. The specific LED chip or array used inside the light engine is not controlled by Zhaga specifications and can continue to evolve. This approach makes it easy for “Zhaga” LLEs to adopt increasingly better performing LED components while retaining interchangeability; a concept Zhaga refers to as “future-proof”.

 

Figure 2. Zhaga interfaces

Interchangeability of two different light engines in a luminaire implies that both light engines are compatible with the luminaire and provide comparable user experience. To that end, Zhaga has identified 5 interfaces that are sufficient to specify interchangeability requirements.

The first three interfaces (mechanical, electrical and thermal) are essential to determining an LLE can fit and operate properly in a given luminaire. The other two interfaces (photometric and control) are needed to help the users determine if two LLEs built by different manufacturers can deliver comparable lighting experience. Each interface is characterized by certain parameters that can be verified through testing.

For the most part Zhaga interfaces relate to intuitive and common parameters that are applicable to conventional lighting products. The mechanical interface may specify dimensions or fit codes that can be verified using measuring instruments or gauges. The electrical and control interfaces are characterized by operating voltage, power ratings and dimming technology that can be verified using standard electrical laboratory instruments.

The photometric and thermal interfaces on the other end involve some unique features and require specialized testing (instrumentation, environment and fixtures). This is partly due to the fact that photometric performance of LEDs requires tight thermal controls.

 

Figure 3. Luminance picture illustrating how a rectangular light emitting surface can be divided into eight segments for analysis.

The photometric interface is typically specified by light intensity (luminous flux) and color (CCT, CRI) parameters as measured under specific thermal operating conditions. Depending on the book, the photometric interface may also involve parameters to help specify luminaire optics that can be used in combination with a light engine. These may include the position, dimension and location of the light emitting surface, or near field luminance properties as measured by a CCD camera.

The thermal interface is based on model which assumes that the bulk (~ 90 percent) of the heat generated by a Zhaga LLE is dissipated across a surface designed to be in contact with an external heatsink. This portion of the total thermal power (Pth) dissipated by the LLE is referred to as thermal power rear (Pth, rear) and is measured using a heat transducer equipment specially designed for this purpose.

Zhaga administers a testing and logo program that allows members to identify and promote products that comply with the specifications. These products are registered in the Zhaga on-line product directory and are eligible to bear the Zhaga logo.

Zhaga will certify products that have been tested by an Authorized Test Lab and have been determined to be compliant with the requirements of related Zhaga Book. Authorized Test labs are testing companies that are members of the Consortium that have met objective criteria to demonstrate they can perform all the tests in a Zhaga book.

UL is among the first test labs to become authorized to perform certification testing for Zhaga books.  UL currently offers global capability, expertise, evaluations and compliance testing services to assist companies interested in developing Zhaga light engines, luminaires and components. Zhaga testing is available separately or as a bundle along with other UL lighting industry services such as Energy Star, Photometric performance testing and/ or Safety Certification (per US, Canada and IEC standards).

Safety is evolving. So is UL. With innovations that have established a benchmark of trust worldwide for more than 118 years, UL looks forward to advancing its ongoing efforts to more safely and efficiently deliver LED interchangeable products to the marketplace. Visit us on the web, www.ul.comzhaga.