Innovative US lamp procurement
Innovative US lamp procurement
In August, the US Department of Defense (DoD) launched a technology procurement process aimed at accelerating the commercialization of new, efficient technologies that can fill the gap between standard incandescent lamps and today's CFLs. The winner will be awarded an order of several million lamps.
With an efficacy of only 12-15 lumens per watt (lpw) and an average life of 1000 hours, incandescents are expensive to use. Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs), on the other hand, are about four times as efficient and last for about 10000 hours. The cost effectiveness of CFL applications is generally very good when burning hours are long. Furthermore, they often provide additional economic benefits in commercial applications since labor costs for lamp replacement are generally much lower than for incandescents.
However, integral CFLs do not fit in many of the fixtures used today, and if burning hours are short it is difficult to achieve energy savings large enough to pay for the lamp. According to DoD, as many as 70% of existing residential sockets may be suitable for the new A-line replacement sought for. In commercial applications, DoD claims that as many as 30% of all applications may not be suitable for existing CFLs owing to size or other constraints.
The Department of Defense manages a large residential building stock which includes soldiers' barracks and houses for staff and their families, and DoD is willing to buy several million units from the winning manufacturer. To make the project even more attractive for manufacturers to bid on, DoD is now seeking other organizations to form a buyers' group, consisting, in particular, of organizations controlling residential facilities such as family housing, dormitories, lodging, and jails/prisons. Since a new replacement for incandescents would have a great impact on US residential energy use, the procurement project is thus supported by the US Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program and the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.
In short, the winner of the procurement process must be able to supply "super efficient, A-line, cost effective, general service lamps". The lamps must fit in all fixtures in which an A-line incandescent fits. The quality of light must equal or exceed that of incandescents, and the lamps must have a minimum average life of 3000 hours. The lamp must be at least 30% more efficient than an incandescent lamp (under US 120-V conditions this means a minimum of 25 lpw for a 100-W lamp).
The manufacturers will be required to submit prototypes of 40-, 60-, 75-, and 100-W equivalent lamps. Lamps must be dimmable, or, if a non-dimmable technology is chosen, they must be provided with a security feature that turns them off if dimmed, to prevent a fire hazard. Moreover, lamps must have a power factor better than 0.9; total harmonic distortion must be less than 33%, and the light output must be the same in all burning positions (base up, down or horizontal).
The technical requirements don't call for a specific technology. The cost effectiveness is a crucial factor. DoD will apply a payback period of two years or less for the winning lamp, and this has been translated into hard figures: For instance, a 25-lpw lamp must not cost more than US$3.00, a 40-lpw lamp not more than $4.85, a 60-lpw lamp not more than $5.90, and a 70-lpw lamp not more than $6.20.
These are tough numbers: For instance, for a CFL (60-70 lpw) to win, the manufacturer must be able to shrink its size drastically, while at the same time cutting back prices and improving its power factor and harmonic emissions. The minimum 25-lpw limit also allows for improved incandescent lamps, such as the HIR (halogen infrared) technology. This lamp may come out as the winner despite its lower efficacy compared with CFLs.
The procurement process is estimated to take about three years. The winner will be announced in late 1996, and shipments of the lamps are expected to start in 1998.
There is also a strong international interest being reported for finding a similar technology for the (European) 230-V grids. (See also: Cooperative procurement on improved GLS lamp (IAEEL 1/96).
Nils Borg
Parties interested to participate in a North American buyers' group should contact:
Tracy S Narel, Atmospheric Pollution Prevention Division, US EPA
Phone: +1 202 233 9145
Fax: +1 202 233 9579
Email: narel.tracy@epamail.epa.gov