The Need for Independent Quality and Performance Testing of Emerging off - Grid White - Led Illumination Systems for Developing Countries

White light-emitting diode (WLED) lighting systems have recently attained levels of effi cien-cy and cost that allow them to compete with fl uo-rescent lighting for off-grid applications in the developing world, where about 1.6 billion people still lack access to the electricity grid. Additional attributes (lower cost, compactness, ruggedness, and service life) make WLED systems potentially superior products. However, data characterizing the quality and performance of emerging WLED products are lacking, which creates an information deficit that can hamper market development. As a fi rst step toward addressing this issue, we propose a suite of tests and consumer-oriented metrics and benchmarks for lighting services, usability, and economics that can be derived from these tests. While current trends are promising, our evaluation of a number of commercially available off-grid WLED lighting systems (lights plus batteries plus power sources) revealed wide variations in quality and disparities between manufacturer claims and actual performance. Specifi cally, we measured considerable variations in the quality and performance of the light sources, optics, storage batteries, electronic circuitry, and power supplies for LED products from a variety of manufacturers and countries. For example, our tests of 260 5mm white LEDs from 26 assemblers revealed a dramatic (fi ve-fold) variation in effi cacy (lumens per watt). Moreover, the performance within individual batches of identical sources varied by as much as 40%. There is a high risk of «market-spoiling» if inferior products are introduced and cause user dissatisfaction, especially if manufacturer claims overstate performance. Indeed , based on our fi ndings from tests of products now in the market, some degree of spoiling is probably already occurring. Given the rising popularity of off-grid WLED lighting, the rate at which new products are being introduced, and the inception of major market-development programs, testing is urgently needed. If independently and consistently applied, such tests will provide policymakers, program designers, manufacturers, entrepreneurs, and consumers with complete and objective information needed to successfully deploy this technology. Quality assurance testing is also important for other parties, such as those seeking reliable and persistent greenhouse-gas reductions through the replacement of fossil-fuel-based lighting. In addition to presenting results of tests on specifi c products, we offer a recommended set of 14 test protocols that may be of use to those developing a more formal testing capability. These, in turn, inform a series of performance benchmarks that could be useful in developing standards or screening guidelines. In some …