Energy News
Timely information about the energy market by Bill Attardi.
Summit recognizes the importance of energy management and the impact it can have on your business. In response, we have partnered with Bill Attardi, a nationally recognized expert in energy management, to provide you with timely information about the energy market. Bill is widely respected in the field of energy management. An executive in the lighting business for 40+ years, he has held positions with Westinghouse, Philips and USI Lighting.
National Energy News
Osram Opto Announces New Bright White LEDs for the Interior of Vehicles
Posted May 20, 2013
Osram Opto Semiconductors has launched the next-generation of its Topled and Mini Topled LEDs for interior-vehicular applications. The components enable high-brightness, long-life solid-state lighting (SSL) for the interior of buses, autos, trains, and airplanes. Osram retailed the same packaging technology that it had previously used in the Topled families. But the new LEDs stretch lifetime to 50,000 hours and deliver more light output allowing for a better user experience in mass transit applications.
http://ledsmagazine.com 27 March 2013
DOE Releases Report on LED Environmental Testing
Posted May 15, 2013The U.S. DOE has released a new study addressing the potential environmental impacts from landfill disposal of three light-source technologies used in residential homes: incandescent, CFL, and LED. All three lamp types contained some hazardous elements which, while generally below Federal landfill limits, in some instances exceeded the more restrictive California limits. The report, LED Environmental Testing, covers the third part of a larger DOE study to assess the life-cycle environmental and resource impacts of LED lighting products in relation to the two other types of lighting. Altogether, the three-part study found that LEDs currently have the lowest environmental impact, and that the rapid pace of LED technology improvements will widen that gap considerably over the next five years. The full report is available online at:
www.ssl.energy.gov/tech reports
LED Lighting Market Forecasted to Experience Steady Growth in 2013
Posted May 14, 2013In the U.S. LED bulbs account for less than 1 percent of the 5.6 billion bulbs used in residential homes. LED companies have been trending upwards in recent weeks due to potential growth within the lighting market, which has been dominated by the standard incandescent bulb for decades. Five Star Equities releases regular market updates on the Semiconductors Industry so investors can stay ahead of the crowd and make the best investment decisions to maximize their returns. Register at www.fivestarequities.com and get exclusive access to numerous stock reports and industry newsletters at no charge.
Global Smart Lighting Market (2013 – 2018)
Posted May 13, 2013Smart lighting is an advance technology in lighting that makes use of intelligent lighting control systems to intelligently control light based on various parameters like occupancy, movement, color temperature, amount of natural/daylight etc. Smart lighting market is growing at a phenomenal way and main drivers for this growth are energy efficiency, development in electronics and sensor technology, eradication of incandescent lamps, favorable government policies and evolution of novel wireless technology. Entry barriers are low for this market and many new players are arriving in this market. This NanoMarkets’ research report categorizes the global smart lighting market, based on lighting type, components, connectivity technology and applications; it also covers the forecast revenue from 2013 to 2018.
www.researchandmarkets.com – Global Smart Lighting Market 2013-2018
A Bright Future for LED
Posted May 10, 2013By 2020, you’re not going to be able to buy a light source other than an LED. You’re on a learning curve of cost reduction, quality improvement and efficacy improvement. Today, 2013, is the first year you’re going to be able to buy an exact clone of a regular 60-watt incandescent bulb at a reasonable price point. This year it’s a $10 product. We’re looking at it being a $5 product within 24 months, $2.50 within 48 months. So, by the time you get to 2020, it would be the equivalent cost to today’s regular light bulb, last 25 years and use 85% less energy. But probably the more interesting thing is, after you digitize the light socket and you switch to LEDs, there’s a second and third wave coming. Changing the color temperature. Changing the ambience of the room. Being able to integrate other functionality—it’s your Wi-Fi hot spot, it’s your alarm system because it detects presence coming into the room. You’ve got a raft of functionality that just has to be integrated into the bulb itself.
3/26 WSJ
State Energy News
California to Base LED Lamp Rebate Programs on Quality Specification
Posted May 2, 2013The California Energy Commission (CEC) has published a voluntary quality specification for omnidirectional and directional LED replacement lamps intended to replace screw base incandescent lamps in light fixtures other than colored lamps, light strips and rope lights, linear pin-based lamps and integrated light fixtures. This specification is being developed in response to the findings of compact CFL incentive program evaluations, which found that the poor performance of CFL lamps was a major impediment to increased market penetration of those products. This specification will set a high performance standard that is intended to create a positive public perception of LED lamps, especially in residential applications.
www.energy.ca.gov – LED Lamp Spec
Bay Bridge Light Display Dazzles San Francisco
Posted April 29, 2013
Thousands of people crowded the waterfront and connected online to watch Tuesday’s 3/5 formal debut of “The Bay Lights,” the massive 25,000-light display on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The 1.8-mile long, 500-foot-tall piece — billed as the “world’s largest LED light sculpture” — will glimmer nightly until 2015. The project is the brainchild of Ben Davis, chairman of the nonprofit group Illuminate the Arts. Davis admitted a fondness for San Francisco’s often-overlooked bridge — which opened six months earlier than its famous sister, the Golden Gate — and said the span’s 75th anniversary provided a good opportunity to do something special.
http://latimes.com – Bay Bridge Light Display Dazzles San Francisco
CA Rulemaking on 2013 Building Energy Efficiency Standards
Posted April 25, 2013The California Energy Commission is opening a public process and rulemaking proceeding to adopt changes to the Building Energy Efficiency Standards contained in the California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 24, Part 6, and associated administrative regulations in Part 1. The proposed amended standards will be adopted in 2014. The CEC staff will conduct workshops to present potential revisions to the Standards and obtain public suggestions and comment. The scope and date of these workshops will be publicly noticed.
www.energy.ca.gov – 2013 Standards Rulemaking
Missouri Offering $5M in Low-Interest Loans for Energy-Efficiency
Posted April 22, 2013The Missouri Department of Natural Resources is making $5 million in low-interest loans available to schools, governments and not-for-profit hospitals to complete energy-efficiency and renewable energy projects. The department is accepting loan applications for projects costing between $5,000 and $500,000 through August 31.Loans are repaid from energy savings achieved.
www.dnr.mo.gov – Energy Loan Program
‘Green’ Lighting Company Moves Jobs from China to Chattanooga
Posted April 18, 2013Two hundred fifty jobs are coming from China to Chattanooga to make all of the city’s street lights more energy efficient. Global Green Lighting is moving jobs to a 1,800 square foot facility in Hixson, TN. Chattanooga will have all new LED street lights before long, and it’s now up to local workers to make that happen.
www.wrcbtv.com -Green Lighting Company Brings Jobs from China to Chattanooga
If you’re interested in applying for one of the jobs, Global www.globalgreenlighting.com is using a local staffing company for the application process at: http://ikruitstaffing.com
Monthly Special Feature
2013 Lighting Rebates Update by Jim Lucy, Chief Editor, Electrical Wholesaling 02/01/13
Posted April 1, 2013Big bucks are available in the lighting rebate programs of electric utilities for retrofits and new construction projects in 2013. Some of the largest utility rebate programs in the nation are once again loaded with rebates and other financial incentives to help end users with their lighting retrofits, and the long-term trend for lighting rebates looks like they will increase over the years.
The State of the Efficiency Program Industry study published by the Consortium for Energy Efficiency, Boston, said that from 2007 to 2011, the efficiency program budgets of North American electric utilities increased more than 150% from $2.7 billion in 2007 to $6.8 billion in 2011. A study by Green Tech Media, Enterprise LED 2012: Commercial and Industrial Market Trends, Opportunities and Leading Companies, said these budgets are expected to reach $12.4 billion by 2020.
Some of the budget numbers are mind-boggling. For instance, one of the larger programs in the country, the New Jersey Smart Buildings New Construction and Retrofits initiative that covers Atlantic City Electric, Jersey Central Power & Light, Rockland Electric Company, New Jersey Natural Gas, Elizabethtown Gas, PSE&G and South Jersey Gas, has $57.3 million budgeted for retrofits from Jan. 2012 to June 2013, and $5.5 million for new construction for the same period, as well as additional funding through several related programs.
New York’s Con Ed has always been a big spender on energy programs designed to help its nonresidential customers cut down on their use of electricity, and in May 2011 the budget for the utility’s Commercial and Industrial Energy Efficiency program was approved for up to $25 million a year for four years with the goal of attaining 100 MW of permanent load reduction.
Ameren Illinois has a budget of $18 billion for its Lighting Rebates for Business program from June 1, 2012 to May 31, 2013, and across the Mississippi River in Missouri, Ameren Missouri announced last year that it will invest $147 million in energy-efficiency programs over the next three years, a move that it says makes its portfolio of energy efficiency programs the largest in the state’s history.
The Ameren Illinois program also offers a full slate of aggressive financial incentives for lighting retrofits, including up to $0.40 per watt reduced for some fluorescent lamp and ballast replacements and a maximum incentive cap of $200,000 paid at 100% and a 50% incentive for retrofits of $200,000 to $600,000. Ameren Illinois also recently began selling a 60W Phillips LED lamp directly to eligible business customers for $10 instead of the current retail price of $49.95. Business customers may purchase up to 10 LED bulbs through the company’s ActOnEnergy program, which was developed through a partnership with Philips Lighting. This is the same 60W Philips LED that won the U.S. Energy Department L-Prize for its 25,000-hour rated average life that’s equal to 10 years of service at eight hours per day, its soft, warm white light, and dimmability down to 10 percent of its full level.
As in the past, the most common rebates for nonresidential applications are for the retrofit of existing fluorescent fixtures with the latest T5 and T8 fluorescent lamps and electronic ballasts; incentives for the installation of HID lighting and CFLs for high-bay installations; the installation of LED exit signs; and the use of occupancy sensors and other lighting controls. But you now see rebates for LEDs becoming part of a utility’s standard incentive programs, rather than in their custom incentive programs that may require additional verification from utility personnel before they will approve a rebate. For instance, California’s Pacific Gas & Electric now offers straight rebates for the use of LEDs in existing surface, pendant, track and recessed downlight fixtures of between $14 and $25, depending on the wattage of the existing lamps being replaced.
It’s not unusual for electrical distributors, energy service companies (ESCOs) and other electrical professionals to score big with one of these utility programs. For instance, US Lamp Inc., Green Bay, Wis., a lighting distributor specializing in high-efficiency lighting solutions, recently announced that it was awarded a $300,000 grant through Wisconsin Public Service (WPS). A press release announcing the award said, “This grant was awarded to US Lamp for the 2013 calendar year to promote energy conservation lighting improvements for WPS electric customers. These customers are defined as retail and small- to medium-size industrial, including food manufacturing.
“These monies are used to target, promote and develop high-efficiency lighting solutions and controls for these WPS retail and industrial customers. These monies can be utilized as enhanced incentives — in addition to Focus on Energy incentives — for marketing development and to engineer lighting solutions for specific applications.” Focus on Energy is Wisconsin utilities’ statewide program for energy efficiency and renewable energy.
The best resource for updated information on rebate programs and other local, state and federal incentives as well as financing opportunities for renewable energy systems and electric vehicles continues to be the Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE) at www.dsireusa.org According to information on that web-site, DSIRE is an ongoing project of the North Carolina Solar Center and the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) Inc. funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).