Today, the Clean Energy Ministerial initiative named the winners of the inaugural Global LEAP Outstanding Off-Grid Appliance Awards competition, a program that identifies and promotes the world's best, most energy-efficient off-grid LED room lamps and color televisions. The Global LEAP Awards is co-sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and the ClimateWorks Foundation.
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“Quality assured, super-efficient low-voltage appliances build consumer trust and reduce costs for energy-poor populations throughout the developing world,” said the US DOE’s Caroline McGregor, the Global LEAP initiative lead. “They’re essential to creating and sustaining demand for technologies like off-grid solar. We congratulate the winners of the Global LEAP Awards, which are among the very best performing, most affordable off-grid appliances in the world.”
In the lighting category, the winners included the Solar Ball lamp from Super Star Group, Bangladesh; Solarland’s LED DC tube light; and Super Star Group’s T5 tube LED-DC-12V-5W.
Super Star Group, Bangladesh designed its 40W-equivalent bulb (Model LED-DC-12V-5W) using 36 LEDs in a cluster. The bulb produces 550 lm and is rated for a lifetime exceeding 20,000 hours. The lamp is designed to appear similar to an incandescent bulb.
In the category of ambient indoor room lighting fixtures (luminous output between 100 and 300 lm), the winner is Solarland for its LED DC tube light. This tube light produces 270 lm using 3W at 6000K color temperature. The lamp operates directly from batteries in a 12V DC system and includes a cable and connector for easy installation. The lamp is rated for 30,000 hours of life.
Solarland’s lamp is designed for use with smaller solar power systems that are sold and distributed by organizations including Grameen Shakti, AVA, TMSS, and UBOMUS. Because these organisations provide credit plans to people with low incomes, the reliability of the components is essential.
In the category of higher-output ambient indoor room lighting fixtures (output greater than 300 lm), Super Star Group, Bangladesh won the award for its T5 tube LED-DC-12V-5W. This lamp provides flicker free, continuous illumination. The fixture is manufactured in an efficient, environmentally-friendly manner and is rated for 50,000 hours of life.
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All Global LEAP Awards finalists were laboratory tested to confirm their energy performance, durability, and reliability, and were also evaluated by a panel of off-grid market experts for their positive contributions to off-grid clean energy markets throughout the developing world. Winners were identified through a combination of expert evaluation and energy- and cost-based quantitative assessments.
The initiative estimates that approximately 1.2 billion people in the world live without adequate access to electricity and another billion have less than four hours of reliable electricity each day. These off-grid communities benefit from clean energy systems such as solar home systems, which replace polluting energy sources such as kerosene and charcoal. By coupling the solar energy systems with energy-efficient fixtures such as LED bulbs and tubes, off-grid clean energy companies will be able to sell more systems, growing their businesses and improving the lives of off-grid consumers.
