SSL Quality Scheme for LED Lighting

Light-emitting diodes, known as LED lighting, is also known as Solid State Lighting or SSL technology. This relatively new technology offers consumers the opportunity to dramatically increase energy efficiency, across a wide range of lighting applications. This knowledge and the rapid growth of LED lighting has made way for an increasing number of excellent new products to come onto the Australian market. Unfortunately, the market is also being subjected to some ‘underperforming’ products that do not live up to the suppliers’ claims. The availability of these underperforming products could potentially weaken consumer confidence and discourage the public from purchasing LED lighting. Thus, compromising the potential savings of this energy-efficient lighting.

To overcome these hurdles, Lighting Council Australia has introduced a ‘quality standards scheme’ for LED lighting, based on a similar scheme used by the U.S. Department of Energy, in conjunction with the U.S. lighting industry. This is a voluntary industry scheme, aimed to increase consumer confidence by guaranteeing products carrying the Scheme’s label, do in fact achieve the performance claims made by the supplier.

Lighting Council Australia has stipulated that a minimum set of critical parameters are reported by participant suppliers of energy-efficient lighting, to accurately outline the performance of their products.

Only members of Lighting Council Australia are eligible to participate in the SSL Quality Scheme and are required to report test results, or associated evidence, verifying the claims made on their LED lighting, Brisbane. Lighting Council Australia then registers the product on a database that can be found on their website, www.lightingcouncil.com.au, and authorises the use of an identifying label, owned by Lighting Council Australia, signifying conformance to its parameters.

The minimum set of critical parameters indicated on the SSL Quality Scheme label are:

• Luminaire (light fitting) efficiency
• The light output of the luminaire (light fitting)
• Measured input power
• Correlated colour temperature
• Colour rendering index

Pierlite Australia is a member of Lighting Council Australia and is proud to be a participant in the SSL Quality Scheme. Some of the Pierlite products which are classified under the Scheme can be found in our LED Lighting – Downlight selection such as Pierlite Starburst Pro, Pierlite Starburst Eco and Pierlite Sunset DIM.

Fallon Services supplies and installs Pierlite LED lighting, Brisbane.