NIST: IESNA LM-79, C78.377-2008 Set Standards for LED Lighting
July 8, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
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Scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), in cooperation with national standards organizations, developed the first two standards for solid-state lighting in the U.S.
This new generation lighting technology uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) instead of incandescent filaments or fluorescent tubes to produce illumination that cuts energy consumption significantly.
IESNA LM-79 - Approved Method for the Electrical and Photometric Measurements of Solid-State Lighting Products
The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) published a documentary standard LM-79, which describes the methods for testing solid-state lighting products for their light output (lumens), energy efficiency (lumens per watt) and chromaticity.
Details include the environmental conditions for the tests, how to operate and stabilize the LED sources for testing and methods of measurement and types of instruments to be used. Experts said although more standards are needed, IESNA LM-79 will be the foundation for all solid-state lighting standards.
NEMA ANSI ANSLG C78.377-2008 - Specifications for the Chromaticity of Solid-State Lighting Products for Electric Lamps
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI), along with the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) and the American National Standard Lighting Group (ANSLG), published this standard, which specifies the recommended color ranges for solid-state lighting products using cool to warm white LEDs with various correlated color temperatures.
Solid-state lighting is expected to significantly reduce the amount of energy needed for general lighting, including residential, commercial and street lighting. "Lighting uses 22% of the electricity and 8% of the total energy spent in the country, so the energy savings in lighting will have a huge impact," said NIST scientist Yoshi Ohno, who chaired the task groups that developed these new standards.
Solid-state lighting is expected to be twice as energy efficient as fluorescent lamps and 10 times more efficient than incandescent lamps, although current products are still in their early stages. In addition to saving energy, the new lighting, if designed appropriately, can produce better color rendering - how colors of objects look under the illumination - than fluorescent lamps or even incandescent lamps, Ohno said.
NIST is working with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to support its goal of developing and introducing solid-state lighting to reduce energy consumption for lighting by 50% by the year 2025. The DOE predicts that phasing in solid-state lighting over the next 20 years could save more than $280 billion in 2007 dollars.
DOE is launching the Energy Star program for solid-state lighting products in fall 2008. NIST scientists assisted DOE by providing research, technical details and comments for the Energy Star specifications. The Energy Star certification assures consumers that products save energy and are high quality and also serves as an incentive for manufacturers to provide energy-saving products for consumers.
Experts said the solid-state lighting community is continuing to develop LED lighting standards for rating LED lamp lifetime and for measuring the performance of the individual high-power LED chips and arrays. NIST scientists are taking active roles in these continuing efforts.
Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).