Accuracy in LED Product Information
For the solid-state lighting (SSL) market to grow, consumers must have confidence that the product they are buying is well designed and performs to their expectations. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), SSL Quality Advocates is a voluntary pledge program to assure that LED lighting is represented accurately as it reaches the market. SSL Quality Advocates pledge to use the Lighting FactsCM label to document the performance of products they manufacture, sell, distribute, or promote, based on industry-standard testing.
Similar to a nutrition label, the Lighting Facts Label provides a quick summary of product performance data. Luminaire manufacturers who take the SSL Quality Advocates pledge agree to use the label to disclose performance results in five areas — lumens, efficacy, watts, correlated color temperature (CCT) and color rendering index (CRI) — as measured by the new industry standard for testing photometric performance, IES LM-79-2008.
Additional metrics related to reliability, product consistency, construction, and other parameters may be considered in future editions of the label. By introducing transparency to the lighting supply chain, the Lighting Facts label will guard against exaggerated claims and help ensure a satisfactory experience for lighting buyers.
Importance of Quality
Today’s marketplace features an increasing number of LED products for everyday lighting purposes, from desk lamps to outdoor lighting. While many of these products deliver on their performance claims, independent testing conducted through the DOE CALiPER test program1 reveal that some do not. Concerns include low light output, lifetimes that are shorter than reported, and poor or inconsistent color quality. Such shortcomings could discourage consumers from accepting SSL lighting technology, much as quality problems in the early days of compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) slowed market acceptance of these products.
The SSL Quality Advocates program and the Lighting Facts label were jointly developed by DOE and the Next Generation Lighting Industry Alliance (NGLIA) as a foundation for successful commercialization of solid-state lighting, a technology with the potential to cut U.S. lighting energy use by one third. The SSL Quality Advocates program showcases LED luminaire manufacturers who commit to testing products and reporting performance results according to industry standards, and gives lighting buyers, designers, and energy efficiency programs the essential information to evaluate and select products2 for their specific projects and for promotion to clients and consumers.
EERE Information Center
1-877-EERE-INF (1-877-337-3463)
1 The CALiPER program conducts independent testing of commercially available LED products.
2 The Lighting Facts label may appear only on LED lighting products, including self-contained replacement lamps and full luminaire products; it does not apply to packaged LED devices or to LED indicator applications such as flashlights, nightlights, and holiday lighting. Only LM-79 tested products may display the label.