January 22, 2009
TITLE: LED Outdoor Lighting
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Guess which side is LED light?
Which side uses 53% less energy at Prairie School in Racine, Wisconsin? http://www.betaled.com/docs/BetaLEDPB-Prairie.pdf
Source: http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/Portland_2008/Day2_Ruud.pdf
INTRODUCTION - PROBLEM/ISSUE STATEMENT
Recent technology advances in solid state lighting (SSL) (aka.LED (light emitting diode)) lighting make it possible for us to reduce the energy used for street, parking lot & garage, and airport walkway lighting by between 25% and 70+% depending on the technology being replaced. Payback periods vary from 4 to 13 years, depending on the type of new light installed, old light replaced, maintenance costs. Those costs and payback periods are coming down rapidly. Payback periods are also affected by rising energy prices.
LEDs have a maintenance free life longer than the payback period. Some manufacturer make free demonstration fixtures available. DOE offers demonstration assistance (i.e., “in-kind” technical support, research on demonstration projects, illumination measurements, report writing, and product testing. but not money). For these reasons, the Montana Public Service Commission is being asked to look at this new technology; to consider promulgating a rule requiring LED street and area lighting in much the same way that it required utilities to switch from metal halide lighting to high pressure sodium lighting several years ago.
· The issue we are addressing is how to significantly reduce energy use in outdoor lighting while saving money for Montana citizens by doing it.
· If this problem is not addressed now, we will be wasting money and energy. It is an economic axiom when dealing with energy conservation measures that if the project financing can be obtained for the payback period, one creates an immediate positive cash flow in the budget by financing the project and paying to amortize the principle and interest with the savings. Simply put, if we do not do this we will pay more to waste energy than to save it. That is true in both the short and long run.
REQUEST
Therefore you are requested to promulgate the rule attached to this explanation:
A) Requiring that street, parking lot and outdoor area lighting in all new development be LED lighting (as was done in Welland, Ontario Canada on July 15, 2008)[1];
B) Requiring that LED lights be installed in all street lighting fixtures in areas that are being relamped or replaced (as is being done in Benton Harbor, Michigan and as begun with a purchase of 4,000 lights (eventually 16,000) in Anchorage, Alaska); and
C) Requiring that all public and private parking lots, garages and business walkways that have been amortized or would have been amortized if they had been owned by a private utility be retrofitted with LED lights
BACKGROUND
What Are LEDs?
LEDs (light-emitting diodes) have been around since the 1960s. You've probably seen them used as indicator lights in consumer products, car tail lights, or traffic signals. Recently, however, they have become practical for general lighting purposes. Although they cost more upfront than the bulbs they replace, LED lights use half the energy (or less) and last longer than conventional bulbs, resulting in sufficient savings and reasonable payback periods. One specific advantage of LEDs is that they produce directional light. This gives us more control over what we light (i.e. the street) and what we don't (the night sky), reducing light pollution and wasted energy
How LEDs Work
LEDs differ from traditional light sources in the way they produce light. In an incandescent lamp, a tungsten filament is heated by electric current until it glows or emits light. In a fluorescent lamp, an electric arc excites mercury atoms, which emit ultraviolet (UV) radiation. After striking the phosphor coating on the inside of glass tubes, the UV radiation is converted and emitted as visible light.
An LED, in contrast, is a semiconductor diode. It consists of a chip of semiconducting material treated to create a structure called a p-n (positive-negative) junction. When connected to a power source, current flows from the p-side or anode to the n-side, or cathode, but not in the reverse direction. Charge-carriers (electrons and electron holes) flow into the junction from electrodes. When an electron meets a hole, it falls into a lower energy level, and releases energy in the form of a photon (light).
The specific wavelength or color emitted by the LED depends on the materials used to make the diode.
Red LEDs are based on aluminum gallium arsenide (AlGaAs). Blue LEDs are made from indium gallium nitride (InGaN) and green from aluminum gallium phosphide (AlGaP). "White" light is created by combining the light from red, green, and blue (RGB) LEDs or by coating a blue LED with yellow phosphor. See "Color Quality" section for more information. http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/usingLeds/general_illumination_color.htm
Where are LEDs being used for Outdoor Lighting?
Anchorage, Alaska, recently announced it will begin installing 16,000 LED street lights. See Attachment A, below for more on this.
Ann Arbor, Michigan, a city the size of Billings, recently contracted for 1000 LEDs for $630,000 to replace existing metal halide (MH) decorative street lights. The contract was awarded following a 25-fixture evaluation from five manufacturers. It showed a 50 percent energy savings and 3.8 to 4.4 year payback on initial investment. The Mayor of Ann Arbor told NBC that after the payback period, the ongoing savings would be $100,000 a year. LEDs, which are warranted for seven to ten years, are designed to last at least 10 years, in some pathway lighting applications, 23 years. [2]
The vast majority of savings in Ann Arbor’s project were due to avoided maintenance. DOE does not expect most sites to see these kinds of maintenance savings, because Ann Arbor employs a spot lamp replacement approach. It is more common for communities to use a group lamp replacement process. Maintenance savings in group replacement cities are less.
Made in America, each LED fixture in Ann Arbor draws only 56 watts replacing bulbs that use more than 120 watts. [3] There is no lead or mercury in these fully recyclable LEDs. In terms of eliminating CO2, it was like taking 400 cars off the road.
Ann Arbor is also testing LED “cobrahead” fixtures more commonly seen in many cities for use in residential areas. The “cobrahead” payback period, from six years (Ann Arbor estimate) to 12 to 15 years (Oakland, CA), depends on fixture costs, energy prices and maintenance costs. However, the fixture costs are coming down 20%/year while efficiencies have gone up.
Welland, Ontario, Canada (50,000 pop.) experienced similar test run savings. It now plans to replace all 6,500 of its street lights in 3 to 5 years with Relume LED luminaires. [4]
Benton Harbor, MI (10,500 pop.) installed 46 LEDs in its historic downtown area.
Your area may be an ideal place for a DOE demonstration project.
Other Cities: See Attachment A for information on several other cities that are installing LED street lights.
ALTERNATIVES ANALYZED
For outdoor lighting, three technologies have been used to replace general incandescent lights. Metal Halide (MH) lighting is considered the most inefficient. High pressure sodium (HPS) was the next technological advance. Several years ago, Northwestern Energy (then called Montana Power) was apparently required by the Montana Public Service Commission to replace MH fixtures in most of the areas where it owned outdoor lighting with HPS. The most recent technological advance has been to light emitting diodes (LED).
The pros and cons of LEDs are discussed in the various reports at http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/materials_2008.html The DOE testing through its CALiPER program is the most credible. http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/comm_testing.htm
A recent evaluation performed for a group of municipalities in Ontario, Canada comments unfavorably on three tests. It is found at http://www.amo.on.ca/AM/Template.cfm?Section=About_Us1&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=151114 . The Canadian analysis has been called into question for testing and other inconsistencies. A report on this controversy is found at http://www.ledsmagazine.com/news/5/8/29 .
You have already seen a comparison of LED parking lot lighting with Metal Halide in the Racine, Wisconsin school pictured at the beginning of this recommendation. The LED lighting was on the left side of the picture. Here are light distribution comparisons between MH & one brand of LEDs for a parking lot found at http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/Materials_2008/HAUGAARD_SSL08.pdf (p. 30) The patterns for LEDs are more uniform.
In the above picture you see an application of LED (white light) in a parking ramp.
Below is a picture of LED lighting in a tunnel.
Source: http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/Portland_2008/Day2_Ruud.pdf
Source: http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/Materials_2008/PAGET_SSL08.pdf
The above screen print indicates different lumen/watts outputs for LEDs (otherwise known as SSL). The better performers are at the top right hand corner of the graph. However the LED squares are all over the map and also include some very poor performers.
What we learn from seeing the range of LED (SSL) (includes other than street light) performance is to not generalize. The specific Solid State Light (LED) in question might be quite adequate. Product testing is available on the DOE web site. Not shown in the above comparison is the LED from Universal Display Corporation, a Ewing, New Jersey Company specializing in innovative organic light - emitting diode (LED) technologies. In the summer of 2008 it announced the successful demonstration of a world record-breaking white OLED with a power efficacy of 102 Lumens per Watt (lm/W). This marked the first time that white OLEDs have surpassed the power efficacy of incandescent bulbs with less than 15 lm/W and most fluorescent lamps, which are rated at 60 - 90 lm/W. OLEDs are organic light emitting diodes. A short time later Cree successfully created a cool white LED prototype that delivers 107 lm/W at 350mA.
More recent iterations of the above caution to refrain from generalizing are indicated in the following slides. Please note the recognition that some Solid State Lighting (LED or SSL) products in the outdoor and down lighting category now exceed traditional sources.
Source: http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/Portland_2008/Day3_Grist.pdf
Source: http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/Portland_2008/Day2_Paget.pdf
Source: http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/Portland_2008/Day2_Paget.pdf
LEGAL, REGULATORY OR CONTRACTUAL REQUIREMENTS
Energy policies vary by state. Montana’s Energy Policy is found in:
90-4-1001. State energy policy goal statement. (1) It is the policy of the state of Montana to promote energy conservation, production, and consumption of a reliable and efficient mix of energy sources that represent the least social, environmental, and economic costs and the greatest long-term benefits to Montana citizens.
(2) In pursuing this goal, it is the policy of the state of Montana to:
(a) recognize that the state's energy system operates within the larger context of and is influenced by regional, national, and international energy markets;
(b) maintain a continual process to review this energy policy statement and any future changes so that Montana's energy strategy will provide for a balance between a sustainable environment and a viable economy; and
(c) adopt a state transportation energy policy as provided in 90-4-1010 and an alternative fuels policy and implementing guidelines as provided in 90-4-1011.
History: En. Sec. 1, Ch. 242, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 1, Ch. 311, L. 1995.
Other legal considerations may come into play if bonds have to be issued to finance replacement of existing outdoor lighting with LEDs.
HUMAN CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS
This recommendation will require approximately 1 - 2 hours of time for a two man crew to install each fixture. It is being done much faster in some areas. Replacement time is quicker if an area is group relamped. That is, if the crew replaces an entire street or area at a time. Replacement time also depends on both the specific new products and the old ones being replaced. The hookups are standard and an experienced crew might replace multiple lamps in an hour. The 2-hour estimate includes driving and set-up time at the street location.
Since LEDs are long lasting with virtually no maintenance, maintenance costs will go down, largely because bulbs will not have to be replaced as often. There are some installation costs at least part of which should offset what would otherwise be maintenance costs during the installation period. However, for new installations, these costs are the same as they would be for installing a traditional outdoor luminaire.
Ann Arbor’s workers’ compensation rates went down 20% for some workers because they were not in bucket trucks as much fixing Metal Halide lights that lasted only two years. Some cities have experienced casualties involving traffic hitting the bucket trucks while workers were maintaining lights. Ann Arbor also was able to free up workers who had been keeping the old lights operable for other maintenance projects.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
With LED street lighting, Montana can lead the way by beginning to cut what is paid by 3,681 NorthWestern Energy lighting tariff customers in its Montana service area by up to 33% to 70% every hour the lights are on. That will promote an annual saving of approximately $800,000 to $2.5 million in energy costs once the payback period is reached. [5] In the meantime our rates will not go up because the need to build a new power plant will be delayed; or NorthWestern will be able to purchase less energy. And we will pump less CO2 into the environment.
Ann Arbor’s costs were $516 for the decorative LED bulb and are estimated to be in the $600 range to replace cobraheads. The full fixture cobra heads range in cost between $421 to $2,200 or more depending on the manufacturer, the fixture size and dealer markup. Since prices are coming down, one would have to obtain the type of MH or HPS light that is proposed to be replaced to be able to do a price and payback comparison including maintenance and future energy costs.
Should we wait? The question has arisen about whether it would be wise to wait for the technology to improve before investing. Several cities including Seattle have already achieved satisfactory testing with certain luminaires. So they are moving ahead with additional tests or purchases as indicated in Appendix A. If one installs old technology on new applications, one is stuck with already outdated technology for up to the 30 years the fixtures are in some utility rate bases. So waiting commits us for a long period. Ed Smalley of Seattle City Light indicates he will be favorably impressed if the lights cost in the close to $350 range. He notes Leotec’s product was $600 and now sells for $421 a luminaire. The industry press reports RUUD lighting’s new LEDway is in that $400 range was quoted in the Phase 3 Oakland study and was confirmed at recent seminars held on the LEDway in various spots around Montana.
The following slide indicates how much the technology can be expected to improve. In terms of electrical efficiency, the industry already is at 80% with a goal of reaching 95%.
Source” http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/Portland_2008/Day1_DenBaars.pdf
Other slides below indicate possible improvements we might expect:
Source : http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/Portland_2008/Day2_McCullough.pdf
Source: http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/Portland_2008/Day2_McCullough.pdf
Source: http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/Portland_2008/Day2_McCullough.pdf
Source: http://www.netl.doe.gov/ssl/PDFs/Portland_2008/Day1_DenBaars.pdf
So the technology is pretty good. You will notice from the above table that the fixture efficiency technology for traditional (halogen, fluorescent, and compact fluorescent) lighting could be improved too, but it hasn’t been. Some LED fixtures already are at double and triple the fixture efficiency of those lights. The question becomes then, if the technology is satisfactory and the price competitive, would it be wise to wait in hopes that what you lost by waiting be overcome by future savings? Put another way, how long can we wait for technology to improve before what was lost by going with superior, albeit still maturing technology, can never be made up? We know that at least one Montanan city has chosen to wait in the past on energy conservation expenditures that would have more than paid for themselves by now. If it costs $100 in labor costs every two or three years to replace HPS, even if the $421 price of the light goes down by another $100 in two or three years, you are still at a point now where waiting will not gain you much if anything.
Charley Grist ( cgrist@nwcouncil.org phone: (503) 222-5161), an economist with the NW Power Planning Council, who has presented on the payback periods of a large variety of LED fixtures told this report author that his recommendation to wait in some cases does not apply to several classes of SSL including street lighting if the installer is cautious about the fixture installed and begins with a smaller project. He related the anecdote about giving a presentation at a conference in July 2008 on LED economics and being confronted by Mr. Ruud whose LEDway product had just increased in efficiency and reduced in price by about half in 6 months. The change was so rapid that it was not included in Mr. Grist’s presentation. Mr. Grist asked Mr. Rudd if he thought they could do that kind of an improvement again soon and the answer was “no.” That was the view of lighting engineers who presented at the fall 2008 LED Street and Area Lighting Conference in Denver.
Leotec has improved its lighting pattern in the last year to fill in gaps in light patterns so that Ed Smalley ((206) 386-1571) is well pleased with how things look between poles spaced 150 feet apart in Seattle. However, the lens needed to do that allows some bleed into the night sky—not as much as traditional luminaires, but something was sacrificed to get the lighting pattern nevertheless.
STAKEHOLDERS
Four main groups of stakeholders are affected by this recommendation to try LED outdoor lighting and convert to them, the citizenry in general, governments, electric utilities, and manufacturers of LED lighting.
Citizen Concerns: The public has received the quality of LED lighting favorably (with rare exception) when polled during trials of the products. This surprised the engineer who advised Benton Harbor, who changed from not favoring these lights to favoring them after the trial. See discussion of specific trials in Attachment A. The media and public have also reacted well to projected savings resulting from outdoor LED installations. Architects have preferred the white LED light because it showed their buildings in a more favorable light.[6]
Governmental Concerns: When citizens are happy with the light quality, governmental concerns turn to whether the implementation of this technology makes financial sense. The total savings varies on the fixture used, its price, costs of maintaining existing lights and costs of switching to LEDs. Even where early adoption several years ago of LED outdoor lighting was not a success, some have not given up on the idea and have continued to pursue it now that technology and prices have improved. Financial aspects of LEDs are discussed further in that section. The request by the Governor that state government reduce its energy usage would be well served by this rule. The Montana Highway Department is trying two Leotek LEDs streetlights on the south side of where Gabel Road intersects with Zoo Drive in Billings. And the new transit center in Billings will be lit with LEDs—something that was done to enhance energy conservation measures in the facility.
Utility Concerns: Utility responses to LEDs have been mixed. AVISTA is apparently testing LEDs in Spokane. PG&E participated in a DOE outdoor lighting fixture test in Oakland, California and is moving ahead according to the Company’s Mary Matteson Bryan, P.E (marymattesonbryan@pacbell.net Phone: (415) 305-5445). Ms. Bryan updating the rather long payback periods in that study of the RUUD Lighting BETALED with new data using RUUD’s LEDway at the October 2008 Engineering Illuminating Society conference in Denver. She also is a prime mover in a conference at UC Davis to discuss the need to modify lighting standards for LEDs because the white light produced by them does not require as many lumens to be satisfactory as some traditional light. And PG&E is moving forward on developing a pricing tariff for LED street lights.
Utilities will lose sales if this recommendation is implemented. On the other hand they will be better able to meet demand side management goals and will have a reduced need to find additional energy sources as demand for electricity grows.
Since the US is moving toward the use of electric hybrid vehicles, the energy needed at night to charge batteries in those vehicles could come from the savings in reduced energy needed for outdoor lighting if LEDs were installed on a wide scale. That cannot happen if we do not act now to put the LED infrastructure in place to make the offset a reality.
LED Manufacturers: Product manufacturers undoubtedly have an interest in selling what they make. Utilities and at least one person from a testing laboratory supported by utilities assert that that interest should evoke caution when listening to manufacturer’s claims. And at least one utility would have us wait for results from the Seattle Lighting Lab tests. It asserts that the Seattle Lighting Labs is an independent testing organization.
The Seattle Labs, while widely relied on in the utility industry are not independent since they are funded largely by the utility industry. As of August 25, 2008, the Seattle Labs also were not certified by DOE as an independent lab to test LED lighting under the CALiPER testing program.[7]
If we are to be cautious about manufacturers’ product claims, we ought to also be cautious about claims of a utility that opposes adoption of products which would cause it to earn less by incorrectly claiming those products are not ready for prime time. We should also be told for example that the Seattle Lighting Lab tests have been and will be done inside in a room with a 15 foot ceiling that does not simulate the height at which many of these lights will operate. (See Attachment B)
The Northwest national Laboratories (US Department of Energy) has engaged in five rounds of LED testing (some of which included outdoor lighting). (See Attachment B)
In addition, manufacturers have hired outside entities to evaluate their products. Those reports are available on some manufacturer’s web sites. (See Attachment D) In much the same way, Northwestern hired an outside entity (NEXANT) to evaluate its demand side management program which is available at http://www.northwesternenergy.com/documents/defaultsupply/plan07/volume2/Chapter3.pdf . If those reports are to be given credibility (or discounted) in the instance of LED manufacturers, then likewise reports from utility sources should be given credibility (or discounted) in the the same manner.
CONSISTENCY WITH ADOPTED POLICIES OR PLANS
Western Governors’ Goals: The nation is moving in the direction of more energy conservation and using renewable energy. The Western Governor’s Association (WGA) estimates that its 19 states will need 43,500 MW of additional generation by 2015. It finds that more than 3 times that goal can be achieved from conservation and non-fossil fuel, non-nuclear power generation. It has set a goal of 20% increase in energy efficiency by 2020. This LED recommendation will help the Western Governors meet its conservation target. http://www.westgov.org/wga/initiatives/cdeac/index.htm By the end of 2008, the 19 WGA states will have installed at least 19,475 MW of wind electric generation since the 2004 WGA assessment. Charley Grist indicates that the excess capacity is slowing the energy price cost growth curve in the Northwest.
U.S. Mayors’ Goals: As of January 9, 2009, mayors of 910 cities had taken Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels’ challenge to reduce green house gases to comply with the Kyoto Protocol. These mayors from all 50 states, Washington DC & Puerto Rico represent more than 80.9 million citizens. In Montana, former Mayors of Billings and Missoula and the present mayors of Billings, Missoula, Red Lodge and Bozeman accepted the challenge on behalf of their cities. As a City government, Seattle has already cut its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60% compared to 1990 levels. This LED recommendation is one part of how the cities that have taken this pledge may achieve reductions they have pledged to reach. http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/climate/default.htm#cities
Montana Climate Change Advisory Committee (CCAC) Goals: The CCAC recommended policy options in two areas that would be well served by this Commission’s LED rule. They are RCII-1 (Demand Side Management Programs, Efficiency Funds and Requirements (and Financial Incentives)); and RCII-2 (Market Transformation and Technology Development Programs).
See also the Montana Energy Policy Statutes quoted in the legal section.
Northwestern Energy Demand Side Management Goals: are hard to discern. If the search engine on this author’s computer is working correctly, “goal” or “goals” are not mentioned in the 995 page report on NWE's demand side management (DSM) report http://www.northwesternenergy.com/documents/defaultsupply/plan07/volume2/Chapter3.pdf . So that report did not address whether or not NWE's DSM goals are being met and if not what additional measures would be necessary to meet them. The “… forecast annual growth rate for the Supply is 0.7% including DSM energy conservation impacts. If DSM impacts are excluded, the average annual growth rate increases to 1.3% for the 20-year period.” Estimating from graphs in its 2007 Default Supply plan, Northwestern supplied DSM reduced 2008 Load by about 15 MW; and displaced less than a million MWh in 2008. [Figures 6-1 & 6.2 http://www.northwesternenergy.com/documents/defaultsupply/plan07/volume1/chapter6.pdf .
Prototype New York City LED Street Light
http://www.ledsmagazine.com/news/5/8/23/NYC