Kota Kinabalu city to use energy-saving bulbs soon

It's a good initiative by City Hall, taking cue of government's intention to use LED for street lighting in 2014. For building illumination, a pilot project by the federal government helped save it around RM3.5 million or 10.3% in power usage, between January and October last year.

Energy saving light powered by solar at Petronas building compound in Kota Kinabalu

Citing what was reported in the Daily Express on Jan 10, 2013 "the use of LED is much cheaper from the existing lamps", I hope the tabloid merely misquoted the Mayor as this is definitely not the case. Infact the use of LED lamps is 'very expensive' if you compare it with sodium vapour and or metal halide street light bulbs.

The major selling point of LED lamps is its extremely low energy usage, and that is why the City Hall will save a lot in its electricity bills when using it. However, initial installation cost is higher than the existing ones.

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Energy-saving bulbs for some KK areas
D.Express. 10-1-2013

Kota Kinabalu: City Hall has identified some areas in the city to be lit by energy saving bulbs to help save on utility bills this year. Mayor Datuk Abidin Madingkir on Wednesday said City Hall would begin the installation of such bulbs like Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs in a pilot project, to determine its viability, soon.

"Certainly the use of LED is much cheaper from the existing lamps, we will not replace them all at once, but the installation will be done gradually, in phases," he said.

Preliminary results of a pilot project in the peninsula, revealed LED bulbs used in 12 government buildings in Putrajaya showed average savings of 10.3 per cent or RM3.5million from January-October last year.

The move could help the Government save up to RM800 million from the RM2.7 billion it spends each year. However, the cost of implementing the plan is costly, revealed Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister, Datuk Seri Peter Chin.

Reference: Daily Express

LED : Lighting the Future

It is very interesting to note that the country intends to use Light Emitting Diode, LED to light up its streets by 2014.

Light-emitting diodes (LED) are solid-state devices that convert electrical energy directly into light of a single color. LED do not waste energy in the form of non-light producing because they employ ‘cold’ light generation technology, in which most of the energy is delivered in the visible spectrum. It could offer long service life and high energy efficiency, although at this juncture, initial costs are higher than those of fluorescent and incandescent lights.

LED street-lighting: Image - Soltron Corp.

Although costlier, LED's offer a variety of advantages compared to conventional lighting; among the more commonly known are:

Long-lasting

LED light can last up to 50,000 hours or 10 times as long as compact fluorescents, and far longer than the conventional incandescent. Very little maintenance is required through out the life span of the lamp.

Durability

LED are filament-free, solid and robust. Thus, they are not easily damaged under the same circumstances where regular incandescent bulbs would.

Environmentally Friendly

No mercury. More environmental friendly. LED's are made of non-toxic materials, unlike fluorescent lights that contain huge amounts of mercury and other hazardous material.

Cold Temperature Operation

Cold temperature is one of the challenges of fluorescent lights. On the other hand, LED light output and efficiency increase as operating temperature drops, making LED a natural choice for refrigerators, freezer cases and cold storage facilities.

More efficient

LED light produces more light per watt compared to incandescent light, a feature that would be useful in battery powered devices. In addition, LED light can emit an intended color without the use of color filters employed by traditional lighting methods. The following Table shows the comparison of the equivalent wattage and light output of Incandescent, Compact fluorescent, and LED lights.

Table 1: Equivalent wattage and light output of Incandescent, fluorescent (CFL), and LED Lights


LED lights are fast becoming the light source of choice for many general lighting applications, such as architectural lighting, down lights, freezer case lighting and retail display lighting. Even street illumination using LED is quite a common sight nowadays. Due to the low power consumption of LED lights, they can be solar powered and installed off-grid at remote locations.


General Lighting Term used

• Illumination:  The distribution of light on a horizontal surface.
• Lumen:  A measurement of light emitted by a lamp
• Efficacy: The ratio of light produced to energy consumed. It is measured as the number of lumens produced divided by the rate of electricity consumption (lumens per watt)
• Color Rendering Index (CRI): The Color Rendering Index (CRI) is a 1–100 scale that measures a light source’s ability to render colors the same way sunlight does.

Reference: Buletin ST, Issue No.1, 2012

LED streetlights by 2014

If the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment has its way, by 2014 Malaysia will be using Light Emitting Diode (LED) to light up its streets. By doing so, the government is expected to save RM300 million every year on energy expenses for streetlights.

    A typical LED streetlight, powered by solar. The ministry's initiative will be on grid power.

An example of a widely use of LED lamp application bright sighboards and traffic lights. Due to its directional light beam, when angled correctly, LED lamp is very bright and suitable for traffic lightings during daytime.


Initiative by KePKAS

According to Assistant Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister (KePKAS), Datuk Bolkiah Hj Ismail, the move to use LED for street-lighting is to achieve a sustainable development through the adoption of green technology. It is the government's desire to look into more development plans that are environmentally friendly.

Through the use of green technology via LED lights, there is an expected saving of up to 75% (I'm quoting Datuk Bolkiah) of energy compared to conventional lights. A pre-qualification registration and consulting service on the use of LED lights to contractors was held on Monday, organised by Realkey Solutions Sdn Bhd.

The Federal Government is expected to roll out the budget on the installation of LED lights nationwide soon. State governments, agencies and departments may also receive a huge allocation to phase out conventional lights.

To help the nation reduce carbon emission, the State Government would take the LED lights installation as one of the steps towards the adoption of green technology. At the federal level, LED lights will be installed at Ministry of Health premises and streets under the jurisdiction of the Public Works Department.

Teluk Likas street showered with LED lights? Maybe, soon.

TheGreenMechanics' two cents: Massive funding, don't screw it!

Do up some rough mathematical calculations and using 5 to 6 years of ROI, the total investment in the LED street lighting could cost the government a whopping RM2 billion to RM2.5 billion. But with the large number of lights to be replaced the amount should be much lesser than this. The intention is noble, so, don't screw this by turning the exercise into a national scandal.

LED lighting technology is still evolving and lamp manufacturing code has not been standardised yet, unlike the conventional lights.

What this means is that each manufacturer (e.g. Philips, Osram, GE, Siemens, etc) will have their own standard on fittings, rating, lifespan, build and so on, making compatibility a big issue.

For instance, when you buy a Philips LED bulb c/w fitting, 6 to 7 years down the road you would want to replace a faulty 'bulb'. You can only do so using a Philips 'bulb' and not Osram's or Siemens'. If you insist on other brand, you would then need to replace the whole fitting which is a very expensive affair.

In short, plan properly at the beginning and don't blow the budget halfway.


Reference: http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=81885