Energy efficient LED to light rural homes: Hindustan Times

Electricity deprived rural India is set to get world’s most efficient lighting system -- light emitting diode (LED). The government will provide LED lights in place of compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) in the subsidized solar powered home lighting systems for rural homes. Around 400 million homes in India do not have an electricity connection and the government aims to provide them one by 2017.

In a bid to meet the target, the government willre-launch its most ambitious national programme in January 2013 to provide electricity through decentralized renewable energy sources.

For this, the government has opted for LED home lighting system which is about 80 % more energy efficient than the popular compact fluorescent lamps (CFL).

The home lighting system can run two lights and fans and a television and a mobile charger. Now, the solar lanterns to be provided by the government will have LED instead of CFL.

The CFLs is being provided for solar power home lighting systems under the ministry of new and renewable energy’s off-grid solar energy scheme. But, the ministry has found that the battery discharge is faster and cost of the system is higher because of CFLs.

“We believe that having LED based solar home lighting system will make it more reliable and reduce the high costs ofsolar panels,” said Gireesh Pradhan, secretary ministry of new and renewable energy.

The ministry has provided solar based home lighting systems to high altitudes in Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir to remote islands in Andaman and Nicobar Islands to about 100 km away from the national capital in Moradabad.

The scheme has two options scheme -- individual home lighting system or for entire village to be run by a committee of villagers. Ladakh has individual home lighting system whereas Moradabad has one for entire village. “It all depends on the requirement of the beneficiaries,” Pradhan said.

The decision to have LED lights in place of CFL was taken following a huge fall in its prices from around Rs. 1,500 to less than Rs. 500 for a LED light of 10 vatt this year.

The government believes that it move will encourage domestic manufacturers and will led to further reduction in prices. The government has also decided to buy five lakh LED solar lanterns to be provided at highly subsidized rates to people in rural India.

“The lanterns will come with five year maintenance guarantee,” Pradhan said.

LED over CFL

LED consumes 80% less energy than a CFL
A LED light has a longer life than CFL
Having LED lights means installation of lesser solar panels
With government turning into bulk LED consumer, its market prices are likely to fall further

Source: http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Energy-efficient-LED-to-light-rural-homes/Article1-950991.aspx

NASA to install insomnia-fighting light bulbs on ISS

Source: http://www.deccanherald.com/content/299315/nasa-install-insomnia-fighting-light.html

New York, Dec 18, 2012 (PTI)

NASA plans to install new high-tech LED bulbs in the International Space Station, which can switch colours to fight insomnia and reduce astronauts' dependency on drugs.

The US space agency will replace the orbiting laboratory's fluorescent bulbs with an array of light-emitting diodes, costing USD 11.2 million, which can switch between blueish, whitish and reddish light depending on the time of day.

The changes can be programmed in by the ground, or by the astronauts and the new light bulbs are due to be swapped in by 2016, 'SPACE.COM' reported.

About half of everyone who flies to space relies on sleep medication to get some rest and according to NASA flight surgeon Smith Johnston, studies showed that hospital staff made more medical errors during the darkest times of the year.

The findings show that people have a day-night cycle that must be respected, even when they're doing the demanding work of space exploration.

"When you have normal light coming through the windows of stores, and schools, and hospitals, people do better. They function better," said Johnston, the lead physician for NASA's wellness programme.

Sleep is no trivial matter in space. Astronauts generally get about six hours of shut-eye in orbit despite being allowed 8.5. Demanding schedules and unusual environments are among the factors that cause insomnia, the website said.

"The station is noisy, carbon dioxide is high, you don't have a shower, there's a lot of angst because you've got to perform. Imagine if you have a camera on you 24 hours a day," Johnston said.

Sleep deprivation can cause irritation, depression, sickness or mistakes over time. Any of these problems can be dangerous in the close, confined, pressurised quarters of the space station.

Blue light stimulates the human brain best because people evolved to respond to the colour of Earth's sky, experts say. When an astronaut's eyes are exposed to blue light, his or her body suppresses melatonin, a sleep-inducing hormone.

Blue also promotes the formation of melanopsin, a "protein pigment" that keeps people awake.

In simple terms, the colour red reverses the process. Melatonin increases, making the astronaut sleepy, while suppressing melanopsin.

"You can dial in a natural day-night cycle on the space station" with the new light arrays, which are being developed by Boeing, Johnston added.

NASA works with the astronauts to minimise jet lag. Techniques that help crew members, such as wearing sunglasses on the plane and taking medications at a certain time, can then be used in orbit.

San Francisco poised to test LED, Wi-Fi tech on street lights

Source:http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/2012/12/san-francisco-poised-test-led-wifi-tech-street-lights

By: Joshua Sabatini | 12/16/12 8:34 PM

SF Examiner Staff Writer

Eight companies will participate in San Francisco's pilot LED streetlight program.

Energy-saving streetlights and wireless systems controlling them will be tested in three San Francisco neighborhoods next year, and ultimately the technology could be used to control all 18,500 city-owned lamps and other devices such as traffic signals and surveillance cameras.

Eight companies have been selected under a San Francisco Public Utilities Commission  pilot program, and they will each receive a $15,000 stipend to demonstrate what their wireless streetlight systems can do. The technology will be tested in the Sunset, Presidio Heights and downtown neighborhoods.

If all goes as planned, 60 percent of San Francisco’s streetlights — the remainder are owned by PG&E — will be controlled by a high-tech wireless system by 2015 under the $16 million LED Street Light Conversion Project.

The SFPUC says LED, or light-emitting diode, fixtures are superior to the existing high-pressure sodium cobra head-style streetlights. They consume 50 percent less energy on average than the conventional streetlights and generally do not require maintenance for up to 20 years.

The technology would allow the lights to be monitored in real time, allowing the SFPUC to detect whether a replacement is needed, respond more quickly to outages and adjust brightness levels remotely, said Charles Sheehan, a spokesman for the agency.

“We do get calls — ‘It’s too bright. It’s not bright enough,’” Sheehan said.

A Dec. 11 SFPUC memo says, “Each pilot project partner will supply 18 LED street lights with integrated controls, supporting equipment and web access to software. In addition to the integration of the LED street lights with the controls, various sensors and video cameras will be tested.”

The pilot program is intended to showcase the various technology options.

“Ideally, the wireless system will accommodate other wireless devices, unrelated to street lighting, in a common wireless system mesh network that will maximize the value of the SFPUC’s investment,” the memo said.

Community meetings are planned for January in the test neighborhoods. Those areas include Irving Street between Sixth and 24th avenues, Washington Street between Presidio Avenue and Arguello Boulevard, and Pine Street between Market Street and Grant Avenue.

The pilot is expected to begin in March, with total installation and a Wi-Fi network slated for 2014. The project is estimated to take about a year and a half to complete.

The SFPUC says on its website that the LED lights will improve safety for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers, and “will illuminate our streets and sidewalks with a neutral white light that is similar to the natural light of the moon.”

jsabatini@sfexaminer.com

Future is light, Future is LED

I am happy to be writing this today. At a time when the world is mulling ways on conserving energy, LED comes to me as a pleasant surprise. It is a new, technologically advanced form of light and promises to bring about dramatic reduction in energy usage.

 

 

What is LED?

 

 

LED or Light Emitting Diode is a new form of lighting, technologically advanced, more efficient, brighter as well as consumes much less energy. It uses only 20%–25% of the energy and last up to 25 times longer than the traditional incandescent bulbs they replace.  LED lights are far more efficient than any other lighting alternative commercially available at the moment. LED bulbs have a 100,000 hour lifespan, and will last for 11 years at continuous operation, or 22 years at 50% operation. Compare this to the approximate lifespan of 5,000 hours for an incandescent light bulb and 10,000 hours for a fluorescent light.  An LED bulb is capable of converting 80% of the electrical energy used into light energy. The remaining 20% electrical energy is lost as heat energy. Incandescent light bulbs only convert 20% of the electrical energy used into actual light energy, which means that a staggering 80% of electrical energy is lost as heat energy. 

 

 

According to Ministry of Power, the country plans to build 80 new coal-fired power plants to keep up with the rising electricity demand over the next five years. But the potential savings from simply changing light bulbs to the new LED technology can significantly reduce the country's electricity demand by as much as 40 per cent. 

What's The Need

“There is a clear need for having large-scale use of energy saving lighting devices – be it at home, offices or commercial complexes. In brief energy efficiency is the need of the hour.   Energy efficiency is the fastest, cleanest, and cheapest way to meet energy needs -- India alone could save $42 billion each year by largely improving energy efficiency in buildings, which currently consume more than 30 percent of the country's electricity,” says Mr Abhijit R Vaish, Executive Director, Instapower, a company which is into LED lights. With a projected skyrocketing increase in building-occupied area in India, from 8 billion square meters in 2005 to 41 billion by 2030, any building constructed without optimizing efficiency represents a lost opportunity to lock in energy and cost savings for decades, according to McKinsey Global Institute.

LED Key to Sustainable Growth

In order to maintain a high GDP growth rate for the foreseeable future, India needs to quadruple its current energy supply by 2031. Unfortunately India is now the fourth biggest Green House Gas emitter in the world. Emission volumes have skyrocketed in line with economic growth, and this means that India now needs to start considering energy quality as well as quantity. To this end, the government of India has launched a national mission to promote energy-saving schemes and initiatives and reduce overall energy consumption. This requires creating an environment that encourages state and local governments throughout the country to formulate and implement specific energy reduction strategies while also achieving significant participation rates from the private sector.  Poor energy consumption efficiency casts a shadow over future economic growth in India.  

LEDs would significantly reduce the lighting load, peak demand and overall energy consumption without compromising on the environment safety as it has no mercury and heavy metal content. 

The nationwide LED Village Campaign by Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has come as a booster. Under the campaign, LED-based street lights are being installed in villages. LEDs are also being used on a large scale in appliances like air-conditioners and televisions.

We are happy to be running this Future is Light: Use LED, Save Energy which is a campaign to promote awareness on energy conservation by using LED lights as well as encourage its use among individuals, communities, organisations and government agencies. Fijeeha believes energy saved today shall lay the foundation for a brighter tomorrow. 

Join us in making this campaign a success. Sign the online pledge on Saving Energy Using LEDs!

http://www.activism.com/en_IN/petition/use-led-save-energy-come-join-for-a-brighter-tomorrow/40381

Navneet Anand, Fijeeha

navneet@fijeeha.in

 

Solar LEDs, Chips to Power India’s Lighting Future

 

While global lighting majors are relying on chips to control power, India turns to solar LEDs

 

NEENU ABRAHAM / BANGALORE

 

Streetlights in the city of Tilburg in Europe can detect the presence of approaching pedestrians and vehicles and ramp up the brightness in front and behind the person/vehicle as they pass by. The streetlights automatically dim when there is no one in the street. This technology, called LumiMotion, developed by Philips, uses sensors to make streetlights power efficient and cut carbon imprint. According to Indranil Goswami, head (controls), Philips Lighting India, “different kinds of sensors have been developed for intelligent public lighting management systems. Photocells detect the presence of sunlight and turn on and off lights. This alone can save up to 10% energy because of the difference in sunrise and sunset times in summer and winter,” says Goswami. He says the company has aggressive plans to deploy technologies like this in India, reflecting a global trend where chips are playing a vital role in power management.

 

“Lighting is a power hungry field, taking up about 20% of the world’s electricity. A lot of current is needed to light the arc. But if you control how the arc is lit, about 25% of the power intake can be cut,” says Warren East, the global CEO of ARM. Chips based on ARM design, which are found in 95% of the smartphones, are now being used in streetlighting, healthcare gadgets and even by farmers, because of its power efficient design.

 

While the global lighting majors are flooding the market with smart lighting solutions, India presents unique challenges as many pockets of the country are still in the dark, many areas lie in off-Grid zones and the use of power efficient lighting solutions like LEDs are still in the nascent stages. Indian scientists have started indigenously producing LED chips which run on solar energy, which does not depend on the central grid, is low-cost, can deliver high luminosity and is made of eco-friendly organic material. It looks like LEDs are going to have a big role in shaping India’s power management story. But the indigenously developed LED chips are likely to take 3-4 years to reach the market. India may have had a late start in developing power-efficient lighting solutions, but this can also turn to be its advantage. Indian scientists can couple the best of both worlds by using indigenous LED chips and embedding them with sensors to make smart lighting solutions and ensure better reduction of carbon footprint.

 

INDIA’S LATE START

 

Two labs under CSIR (CSIR-CEERI and CSIR-NPL) are collaborating on a project called the ‘Development of Solid State Lighting Devices/Systems: Inorganic LEDs’ under 12th Five Year Plan Programme.

 

The first phase of the project, ‘Fabrication of LED Devices and Systems for Solid State Lighting Application’ is already done in the 11th Five Year Plan Programme, says Dr Chenna Dhanavantri, Chief Scientist, Optoelectronic Devices Group, CSIR-CEERI, Pilani. “We have developed blue LEDs (in the 460-475 nm range) which have been coated with phosphor to get white light. This is the first indigenously made LED chip in India,” he says. “We have now entered the second phase of this project where solar energy is used to power LED chips. LED chips which emit 25 lumens per watt are being produced now,” he says. Lumens per watt is the light a bulb emits per watt of electricity consumed. An incandescent bulb can emit just 10-15 lumens per watt while an LED lamp can emit 50-100 lumens per watt.

 

Elaborating on this, Dr Swaminathan Sivaram, CSIR Bhatnagar Fellow, National Chemical Laboratory, says it is easy to link LEDs with solar energy. “LEDs take up very little power. Hence, simple solar panels are enough to light them up,” he says. “Not very luminous lights are needed in India,” he explains, and with solar power, even the most remote village which is away from the Grid can get electricity”.

 

“The focus of this CSIR project is bring out low-cost, high-luminous lights to cater to Indian domestic needs, especially in rural areas,” he says. “We are playing around with the different variables and trying to identify niche opportunities,” he adds.

 

“We are not very confident of providing high luminosity bulbs at this stage,” he says.

 

POWER EFFICIENT CHIPS

 

Even as India is looking to solar sources and LED chips to cut energy use, global lighting majors are betting big on power efficient chips. For instance, in the UK, some streetlights are fitted with chips which can sense motion. When they are switched on at dusk, their brightness levels are just 20-30%, as the sensors inside can detect the presence of the fading sun rays. ‘Enlight’, the company which has installed these streetlights, claims 45% of power consumption has been reduced because of these chips. This has been enabled by chips based on ARM design. If the same technology were to be used in Indian streetlights, which consume around 7,753GWh of power per year, emission of 1.9 million tonnes of carbon can be cut annually. “As the tech landscape moves from mobile computing now to machine-tomachine communication expected by 2016 to the internet of things expected by 2020, chips are likely to turn vital power controllers,” says ARM’s East. “With future gadgets going to be increasingly cloud-oriented and with over 4 billion internet connected devices expected by 2016, more and more designs which are power efficient needs to be in,” says East, speaking about how extensively power-efficient designs are now being sought after by diverse industries like lighting and medical technologies.

 

ARM has been seeing a rise in their non-mobile sales. “Non-mobile sales have accounted for 50% of ARM’s revenue last quarter,” says East. Around 2 billion devices with ARM chips were shipped last quarter, he says.

 

This tricky task of notching up the power efficiency of chips and at the same time making them operate on low power, is the same challenge that the company faces in the mobile computing field. Infact, according to East, the ICT sector takes up 10% of the world’s power. But to handle computing data which is likely to touch 120 exabytes by 2020 (about eight times more than today), calls for a lot of innovation on the chip design. In the next 30 years, computing power may increase by a factor of 30. If battery is efficient by a factor of 2, the smartphone designs have to be such that very little power is used up,” explains East. ARM’s latest series of chips (the Cortex A50 series) can offer roughly twice the performance. These processors deliver up to three times the performance of today’s smartphones and extends this experience to entry-level smartphones.

 

“We are at a point where chip designs akin to Ferrari engines would have to be designed to fire the Ford Fiestas,” says East.

Source: http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=RVRELzIwMTIvMTIvMTAjQXIwMDQwMQ==&Mode=HTML&Locale=english-skin-custom