LED Lighting Making Inroads, DOE Finds

Nov. 22, 2013
Among the major findings, the report showed that in 2012, about 49 million installations relied on LED technology, with LED A-type lamps leading the way.  LED directional lamps are providing the greatest energy savings of the nine application categories despite there being more A-type installations.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) issued its results from a new study summarizing the current U.S. lighting market and the progress of LEDs in penetrating mainstream lighting applications. The study puts numbers on what anecdotally looks like the beginning of a major shift in the lighting market.

The report, titled “Adoption of Light-Emitting Diodes in Common Lighting Applications,” presents the findings for nine major lighting applications where light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are competing with traditional light sources. The analysis goes on to estimate the energy saved due to current levels of LED penetration, as well as the potential energy savings if these markets switched completely to LEDs.

The selected applications are classified into three groups: indoor lamps, indoor luminaires and outdoor luminaires. For indoor lamps, four applications are analyzed: A-type, directional, MR16 and decorative. For indoor luminaires, three applications are analyzed: downlight, troffer and other common fluorescent fixtures, and high-bay. For outdoor luminaires, two applications are analyzed: streetlight and parking lot and garage.

Among the major findings, the report showed that in 2012, about 49 million installations relied on LED technology, with LED A-type lamps leading the way, being used in just over four of every ten LED installations. Yet, LED A-type lamps account for less than 1% of installed A-type lamps. In MR16 lamps, however, about one of every ten installed uses LED technology. LED directional lamps are providing the greatest energy savings of the nine application categories despite there being more A-type installations.

DOE estimates that the LEDs installed in 2012 generated source-energy savings of some 71 trillion British thermal units (BTU), which translates into energy-cost savings of about $675 million. Annual source energy savings could approach almost 3.9 quadrillion BTU (quads) if all nine applications used LEDs exclusively.

In its conclusions, the DOE team pointed to case studies where substantial cost savings were realized despite substitute lamps that cost nearly 10 times the conventional lamps. “Substitutions like these are taking place, without subsidies or coupon schemes, because LEDs can make financial sense and have the ability to offer customers a better quality, more reliable lighting service.”