Signify – Signify accelerates the transition to energy efficient lighting with new UltraEfficient lamps for roads, retail, hospitality, and more

EMR Analysis

More information on Signify: See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Eric Rondolat (Chief Executive Officer, Signify): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Michael Rombouts (Business Unit Leader LED Lamps and Luminaires, Signify): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Philips Lighting: https://www.lighting.philips.com/main/home + Philips is one of the world’s most trusted lighting brands. Since 1891, Philips has been synonymous with high-quality, reliable, innovative technology that improve people’s lives. The Philips brand is licensed to Signify, world leader in lighting, for lighting products and services. Philips is Signify’s primary brand for lamps, luminaires, and other lighting products for both professionals and consumers.

Signify products carrying the Philips brand cover the complete range of lighting applications, from home, office, and industry to street lighting, horticulture, sports, and more.

More information on MASTER LED SON-T UltraEfficient A-class lamps by Philips Lighting: https://www.lighting.philips.com/prof/led-lamps-and-tubes/led-hid-replacement/master-led-hid-son-t-ultra-efficient/LP_CF_10393397_EU/family + The Highest Energy efficient LED replacement for HID HPL/SON road lamps with MASTER – LED HID SON-T – UE.

Philips MASTER – LED HID SON-T Ultra Efficient lamps are an easy LED solution with the highest efficiency to replace High-Intensity Discharge (HID) and High-Pressure Sodium (SON) lamps. MASTER – LED HID SON-T UE solutions bring the energy efficiency and long lifetime benefits of LED to HID replacement, providing instant savings for low energy costs. With the right lamp size and light distribution, you can easily use MASTER – LED HID SON-T UE lamps into existing SON and SON-T systems, enhancing the lighting quality with LED by removing the luminaire’s ballast for direct Mains working, gaining additional savings.

 

More information on The European Union: https://european-union.europa.eu/index_en + The European Union’s institutional set-up is unique and its decision-making system is constantly evolving. The 7 European institutions, 7 EU bodies and over 30 decentralised agencies are spread across the EU. They work together to address the common interests of the EU and European people. 

In terms of administration, there are a further 20 EU agencies and organisations which carry out specific legal functions and 4 interinstitutional services which support the institutions.

All of these establishments have specific roles – from developing EU laws and policy-making to implementing policies and working on specialist areas, such as health, medicine, transport and the environment.

There are 4 main decision-making institutions which lead the EU’s administration. These institutions collectively provide the EU with policy direction and play different roles in the law-making process: 

• the European Parliament (Brussels/Strasbourg/Luxembourg)
• the European Council (Brussels)
• the Council of the European Union (Brussels/Luxembourg)
• the European Commission (Brussels/Luxembourg/Representations across the EU)

Their work is complemented by other institutions and bodies, which include:

• the Court of Justice of the European Union (Luxembourg)
• the European Central Bank (Frankfurt)
• the European Court of Auditors (Luxembourg)

The EU institutions and bodies cooperate extensively with the network of EU agencies and organisations across the European Union. The primary function of these bodies and agencies is to translate policies into realities on the ground.

Around 60,000 EU civil servants and other staff serve the 450 million Europeans (and countless others around the world).

Currently, 27 countries are part of the EU: https://european-union.europa.eu/principles-countries-history/country-profiles_en 

More information on The European Commission: https://ec.europa.eu/info/index_en + The Commission helps to shape the EU’s overall strategy, proposes new EU laws and policies, monitors their implementation and manages the EU budget. It also plays a significant role in supporting international development and delivering aid.

The Commission is steered by a group of 27 Commissioners, known as ‘the college’. Together they take decisions on the Commission’s political and strategic direction.

A new college of Commissioners is appointed every 5 years.

The Commission is organised into policy departments, known as Directorates-General (DGs), which are responsible for different policy areas. DGs develop, implement and manage EU policy, law, and funding programmes. In addition, service departments deal with particular administrative issues. Executive agencies manage programmes set up by the Commission.

Principal roles in law: The Commission proposes and implements laws which are in keeping with the objectives of the EU treaties. It encourages input from business and citizens in the law-making process and ensures laws are correctly implemented, evaluated and updated when needed.

More information on Ursula von der Leyen (President, The European Commission): https://ec.europa.eu/commission/commissioners/2019-2024/president_en + https://www.linkedin.com/in/ursula-von-der-leyen/ 

 

More information on Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation (ESPR): https://commission.europa.eu/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/sustainable-products/ecodesign-sustainable-products_en + The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) is an ambitious EU initiative to make sustainable products the norm in the EU and boost Europe’s resource independence. It is rooted primarily in the European Commission’s Circular Economy Action Plan of March 2020, which in turn is based on the European Green Deal of 2019. The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation establishes a framework to improve the environmental sustainability of products and to ensure free movement in the internal market by setting ecodesign requirements that products shall fulfil to be placed on the market or put into service.

The main objectives of this regulation are to reduce the negative life cycle environmental impacts of products and improve the functioning of the internal market. In addition to contributing to the objectives of EU industrial policy to boost the supply of and demand for sustainable goods, deliver on sustainable production, and ensure a level playing field for products sold on the internal market.

On 30 March 2022 the European Commission has adopted a wide-scope ESPR proposal, including the creation of an EU Digital Product Passport (DPP). It is now with the European Parliament and the Council for adoption in the co-legislative procedure. The year 2023 will be key to finalise the requirements. ESPR could then start applying from 2024.

 

EMR Additional Note on the EU Ecodesign and Energy labelling regulations that came into effect on September 1, 2021: 

• https://ec.europa.eu/info/energy-climate-change-environment/standards-tools-and-labels/products-labelling-rules-and-requirements/energy-label-and-ecodesign/energy-efficient-products/lighting_en
  • Following the rescaling of the EU energy label for light sources from 1 September 2021, the new labels use a scale from A (most efficient) to G (least efficient). Because of the constant improvement in energy efficiency, most products under the original label had risen to A+ or A++ – and so a rescaling was made in order to be clearer to the consumer about which are the most efficient products on the market. [NB Existing stocks with the old label may still be sold in shops until 1 March 2023.] The labels provide information on the product’s
    • energy efficiency class
    • energy consumption
• See the new label under: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_21_4484

 

More information on EPREL: https://eprel.ec.europa.eu/screen/home + European Product Registry for Energy Labelling. 

As of 1 January 2019, suppliers (manufacturers, importers or authorised representatives established in the EU) must register their products in the European Product Registry for Energy Labelling (EPREL). In May 2022, the database was launched for public access and consultation.

Consumers can find detailed information about energy labelled products and models in EPREL. It offers the possibility to identify which products have the best cost-efficiency ratio for a specific need. Information on other aspects than a product’s energy use, such as its possible water consumption, noise emission, extension of the warranty, availability of spare parts, duration or product support, is also provided.

The most efficient washing machine, for example, may have a high purchase cost, but for a numerous household, low running costs linked to electricity and water savings could compensate a high price. For a single person living in a flat, a cheaper, less energy-efficient, but very silent washing machine might be the best option. This example illustrates that the choice about the most suitable product depends on the specific user’s need and situation, and that it requires further comparison, including the purchase price. EPREL supports this comparative process by offering online information about various product’s aspects, but it does not provide or take into account the product’s price.

By guiding its users towards the most energy-efficient product models while encouraging manufacturers to develop new, more efficient models to appear in the highest and more rewarding ranks, EPREL contributes to reducing the energy used and imported to the EU.

The energy labelling legislation covers over 30 different products, which are grouped as follows:

• Air conditioners
• Cooking appliances (domestic)
• Dishwashers (household)
• Heaters (space and water heaters)
• Light bulbs and lamps
• Local space heaters
• Fridges and freezers (household)
• Refrigeration (professional)
• Refrigeration with a direct sales function
• Solid fuel boilers
• Electronic displays (TV, monitors, signage)
• Tumble driers
• Ventilation units (residential)
• Washing machines (household)
• Tyres

 

 

 

EMR Additional Notes: 

• A-Class Lamps:
  • Sometimes referred to as plug and play, the Type A LED lamp directly replaces traditional lamp types such as Compact Fluorescent (CFL) and Linear fluorescent. No rewiring is required, no electrician is required. You can simply replace your existing lamps with new Type A LED lamps.

 

• HID Lamps:
  • HID stands for high-intensity discharge, which indicates that bulbs are brighter than standard headlights. An HID headlight contains an HID light bulb, which consists of two electrodes encased in a glass enclosure. This enclosure is filled with xenon gas and metal salts.
  • Unlike the broad coverage of a fluorescent lamp, HID lighting produces intense light on a small area.
  • HID bulbs are generally more powerful in the dark

 

• LED:
  • LED stands for light emitting diode. LED lighting products produce light up to 90% more efficiently than incandescent light bulbs. How do they work? An electrical current passes through a microchip, which illuminates the tiny light sources we call LEDs and the result is visible light.
  • A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons.
• LED vs. Halogen:
  • Halogen bulbs, while lasting longer than incandescent bulbs, only last up to 2,000 hours. In contrast, LED bulbs can last up to 25,000 hours, and LED tubes are rated for up to 50,000 hours. LED bulbs can use as much as 80% percent less energy than halogen bulbs.
  • There’s obviously a clear winner when it comes to LED vs halogen lighting. LED lights are more energy-efficient, have a longer lifespan, and offer more choices in color temperature. They do cost a little more, but their extremely long lifespan easily offsets the higher upfront cost.
• microLED:
  • Compared to widespread LCD technology, microLED displays offer better contrast, response times, and energy efficiency. They are also capable of high speed modulation, and have been proposed for chip-to-chip interconnect applications.
  • MicroLED prototype displays have been shown to offer up to 10 times more brightness than the best OLED panel while being significantly more power efficient, making them an exciting new technology in the world of displays.
• OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode):
  • This refers to the panel that’s used inside an OLED TV – or any other kind of OLED screen. So it’s the OLED panel makes OLED TVs stand out in comparison to other types of panels. You’ll also find CRT (cathode ray tube), LED (light-emitting diode), LCD (liquid crystal display), or QLED (quantum dot).
  • LED LCD screens use a backlight to illuminate their pixels, while OLED’s pixels produce their own light. You might hear OLED’s pixels called ‘self-emissive’, while LCD tech is ‘transmissive’. The light of an OLED display can be controlled on a pixel-by-pixel basis.
  • OLED TVs should offer better overall eye comfort than QLED and any other LCD-based screen, because OLED produces significantly less blue light than LED-backlit QLED TVs.

 

• Lumen (lm):
  • In LED lighting, lumens measure the brightness of a light. This is different than Watts, which measure the amount of energy in a light. The term lumen means “light,” which makes sense when you understand what this measures. In other words, lumens measure the amount of light your LED light puts out.
  • Each lumen emits approximately the same amount of light as one candle.
• Kelvin (K):
  • Kelvin is a measurement used to describe the color temperature of a light source. This is the specification that gives a description of the warmth or coolness of a light source.

 

• GU10:
  • GU10 refers to the type of fitting. Two short, squar-ish pins protrude from the base of the bulb. The number of 10 refers to the distance in millimeters (mm.) between those two pins It’s a push-and-twist type of fitting.