Lighting the Way Forward

2019-08-27

Article from DLC

This table provides an overview of the incentives offered by DLC Members for DLC-qualified lighting equipment. The summaries are intended to help program managers compare offerings, and to inform manufacturers of incentives across DLC Member territories.

Many people are asking themselves what will happen in the LED lighting industry in the next few years. The success of the utility incentive program and the ever-increasing standards for energy-efficient products have led some to believe that the industry has done everything possible to achieve efficiency levels that satisfy both utility specialists and end-users and change the market.

But the fact is that as of 2018, LED market penetration rate only reached 17% and the US Department of Energy plans to achieve a performance level of more than 200 lumens per watt in the next few years - in contrast, this number increases 60%. The current threshold currently represented on the DLC QPL. To truly realize the market transformation of high-quality, energy-saving LED lighting, there is still a lot of work to be done.

Utilities companies looking for additional savings will find untapped opportunities to fine-tune application-level lighting performance and the rapidly expanding horticultural lighting market. The latter is preparing to launch a new industrial sector that has matured to save energy due to the high yields needed to provide the proper light for plants.

Network penetration control (NLC) has a lower market penetration than LEDs, but this technology has the potential to increase lighting savings per project by 20-70%. In addition, the US Department of Energy predicts that by 2023, 50% of the lighting market will be converted to LEDs, and the point at which NLC is required to rebate will be non-negotiable in order to obtain additional savings.

All of this shows that there is still a huge opportunity for industrial lighting to drive higher levels of efficiency and efficiency before we reach a saturated market, in order to achieve significant lighting savings. The DLC aims to accelerate market adoption and achieve many of the remaining energy savings opportunities by introducing version 5.0 technical requirements in 2019 and 2020.

This update is not only designed to improve efficiency, but also to further reduce costs by enhancing the implementation of NLC cases, emphasizing lighting controllability, improving lighting quality and end-user satisfaction.