IFC-Supported Standards for Clean Lighting Now Recognized Internationally

April 15, 2013 - PRLog -- New Delhi, India, April 15, 2013 - The Lighting Global Quality Test Methodology has become the world standard for clean off-grid lighting products, following its incorporation into an International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) technical specification on 3 April, 2013.

The Clean Energy Ministerial will highlight the new IEC standard as an important step in the effort to expand energy access during its meeting in New Delhi, India, on 17-18 April.

Off-grid lighting products, which are often solar-charged, are typically designed for rural communities without access to electricity in developing countries.

Around 1.3 billion people worldwide do not have access to electricity and use polluting and expensive fuels for lighting. A global quality assurance framework means that people at the base of the pyramid will have more choices to quality off-grid lighting products, such as solar lamps. It eliminates the need to test products for each different market, reducing the associated costs incurred by companies. These savings can be transferred to buyers through lower priced, quality products.

“The IEC document that includes the Lighting Global test methods and quality assurance

standards framework is an important step in our effort to institutionalize the quality assurance framework for off-grid lighting and ultimately, make clean lighting more accessible to low income households” said Arne Jacobson, Technical Lead for the Lighting Global quality assurance work and Director of the Schatz Energy Research Center at Humboldt State University, USA.

Lighting Global has been working with the U.S. Department of Energy for the last 15 months to institutionalize its test methods and quality metrics through the IEC.

Lighting Global develops and implements quality standards through laboratories in Africa, Asia and the U.S. It has to date tested over 100 off-grid lighting products, of which 46 have met quality and performance standards and are on sale across Africa and Asia.

The Lighting Global quality assurance framework was originally developed by Lighting Africa, an IFC/World Bank program that has enabled seven million people in Africa to access clean lighting. Lighting Global also supports the IFC’s Lighting Asia program. The Lighting Asia-India program is bringing the IEC global standards to Asia, with the opening of a testing laboratory in New Delhi.

Notes to Editors:

The Lighting Global Quality Test Method was originally developed by the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, and revised following extensive stakeholder consultation in 2012 in a process managed by the Schatz Energy Research Center at Humboldt State University.

About Lighting Africa, Lighting Asia and Lighting Global

Lighting Africa, a joint IFC and World Bank program, is mobilizing the private sector to build sustainable markets for affordable, modern off-grid lighting to communities without electricity in

Africa. It is part of the World Bank Group's wider efforts to improve access to energy. Lighting Africa is also a key element of the Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP), an initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial. For more information, visit www.lightingafrica.org

IFC’s Lighting Asia program will catalyze the private sector and provide underserved markets with affordable and modern off-grid lighting solutions. The program will work with both solar

appliances and renewable energy micro/ mini grids. Lighting Asia is being supported by the U.S. Department of State and the Government of Italy.

Lighting Global carries out activities of the joint IFC and World Bank Lighting Africa and Lighting Asia modern lighting initiatives that are global in nature. As the region-specific activities

have evolved, it has become clear that some of them could be more broadly applied to other regions and have a significant positive impact on improving markets for modern lighting.

Presently, Lighting Global serves as an umbrella for the Quality Assurance framework, which was originally developed out of the Lighting Africa program.

About IEC

The IEC is the leading global organization that publishes consensus-based International Standards and manages conformity assessment systems for electric and electronic products, systems and services, collectively known as electrotechnology. IEC publications serve as a basis for national standardization and as references when drafting international tenders and contracts. For more information, visit www.iec.ch