Experimental investigation of PQ impact of different lighting systems in railway stations

New lighting technologies are very important for their overall efficiency in reducing the absorbed energy and the operating and maintenance costs. However, they can introduce Power Quality (PQ) problems such as harmonic distortions, losses on the grid and power factor. This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on power and harmonic absorption of different outdoor lamps (LED and gas discharge lamps), supplied by different ballasts, used in a railway station. The PQ and harmonic analysis is based on the indexes reported in the IEEE Trial use standard definitions for measurement of electric power

Improvement of energy efficiency and quality of street lighting in South Italy as an action of Sustainable Energy Action Plans. The case study of Comiso (RG).

Existing street lighting systems in most of Sicilian cities are often inappropriate due to the obsolescence of light sources and luminaires and of unsuitable light control systems unable to provide efficient on-off and dimming strategies. Improvement of energy efficiency in street lighting systems can be one of the key actions adopted by Public Administration in developing Sustainable Energy Action Plan in the framework of the “Covenant of Majors” activities. As a task of FACTOR 20 project a set of planning options have been analysed and proposed for Sicilian cities. Particularly, street lighting efficiency projects have been studied for representative case studies. A detailed survey of the public lighting systems in the city of Comiso (RG) allowed to know and represents current and design performance figures such us installed power, luminance and illuminance levels in roads categories, electricity consumption, switching and dimming schedules. To do this many lighting simulations have been performed. Several scenarios have been proposed. The results obtained show that high improvements of the lighting quality are foreseeable together with large energy and economic saving. The proposed methodological approach can be applied in most of Sicilian and South Italy cities

A design methodology for smart LED lighting systems powered by weakly regulated renewable power grids

The increasing use of intermittent renewable energy sources to decarbonize electric power generation is expected to introduce dynamic instability to the mains. This situation is of particular concern for mini-grids or isolated grids in which wind and/or solar power sources are the dominant or the sole power sources. In this paper, we utilize the photo-electro-thermal theory to develop a design methodology for LED lighting systems for weakly regulated voltage sources, with the objectives of minimizing the fluctuation of the human luminous perception and adopting reliable LED driver with long lifetime and robustness against extreme weather conditions. The proposed LED system, practically verified in a 10 kVA small power grid driven by an ac voltage source and a wind energy simulator, can be considered as a smart load with its load demand following the power generation. A typical swing of 40 V in the mains will cause only 15% actual light variation in a 132 W LED system when compared with 40% change in 150 W high-pressure-sodium lamp system. The design methodology enables future large-scale LED systems to be designed as a new generation of smart loads that can adapt to the voltage and power fluctuations arising from the intermittent nature of renewable energy sources. © 2011 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Estimation of Energy Consumption in Street Lighting using Mobile Devices

The growing energy consumption is not sustainable in the long run. Taking into account that street lighting is one of the highest energy consumers in cities, this paper aims to develop a methodology to estimate the energy consumption of these installations with as few input variables as possible. In addition, the paper presents a mobile application developed to help lighting managers not only on the energy consumption evaluation, but suggesting the possible improvements on current systems which can save energy in case that they are implemented

A "Class-A2" ultra-low-loss magnetic ballast for T5 fluorescent lamps - A new trend for sustainable lighting technology

The high-voltage and low-current features of T5 lamps imply that the copper and core losses of the magnetic ballast can be greatly reduced. This paper shows that magnetic ballasts for high-voltage T5 lamps are not only feasible but their luminous and ballast-loss performance can be better than those of the electronic ballasts. Contrary to common belief, high frequency operation of T5 28 W lamps increases the luminous efficacy by an average of 3.6% only (less than 5%). Practical implementation of an ultra-low-loss magnetic ballast system for T5 28 W lamps is presented. Its total system power is less than the 32 W upper limit specified for Class A2 of energy-efficient electronic ballast for T5 28 W lamps. High-luminous efficacy of 75.63-77.66 lm/W can be achieved. This important breakthrough has the potential of reversing the existing trend of using electronic ballasts as the energy-saving technology in lighting industry. With a better luminous efficacy, lower product and maintenance costs, much longer lifetime, and the use of recyclable metallic materials over its electronic counterparts, this patent-pending proposal provides a truly sustainable lighting solution to the lighting industry. © 2006 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Lighting

The lighting of both exteriors and interiors is a field within electrical and lighting engineering, where important technological changes have been taking place oriented towards environmental sustainability and energy efficiency. LED technology has been gradually gaining ground in the world of lighting over other technologies due to its high lighting and energy efficiency and savings. However, some problems related to overheating or associated regulation are emerging. This has prompted the search for new, more efficient, and sustainable forms of lighting. This book presents successful cases related to energy efficiency and lighting that may be of great interest to those trying to enter the world of scientific research

A "Class-A2" ultra-low-loss magnetic ballast for T5 fluorescent lamps - A new trend for sustainable lighting technology

The high-voltage and low-current features of T5 lamps imply that the copper and core losses of the magnetic ballast can be greatly reduced. This paper shows that magnetic ballasts for high-voltage T5 lamps are not only feasible but their luminous and ballast-loss performance can be better than those of the electronic ballasts. Contrary to common belief, high frequency operation of T5 28 W lamps increases the luminous efficacy by an average of 3.6% only (less than 5%). Practical implementation of an ultra-low-loss magnetic ballast system for T5 28 W lamps is presented. Its total system power is less than the 32 W upper limit specified for Class A2 of energy-efficient electronic ballast for T5 28 W lamps. High-luminous efficacy of 75.63-77.66 lm/W can be achieved. This important breakthrough has the potential of reversing the existing trend of using electronic ballasts as the energy-saving technology in lighting industry. With a better luminous efficacy, lower product and maintenance costs, much longer lifetime, and the use of recyclable metallic materials over its electronic counterparts, this patent-pending proposal provides a truly sustainable lighting solution to the lighting industry. © 2006 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Design of a single ultra-low-loss magnetic ballast for a wide range of T5 high-efficiency fluorescent lamps

A patent-pending single design of an ultralow-loss (ULL) magnetic ballast for T5 high-efficient (T5-HE) fluorescent lamps rated from 14 to 35 W is presented. Based on the use of a nonlinear physical low-pressure discharge lamp model, it is discovered that the same set of ballast parameters can be chosen for operating T5-HE 14-, 21-, 28-, and 35-W lamps at their respective rated power at a mains voltage in the range of 220-240 V. With energy efficiency higher than and lifetime much longer than their electronic counterparts and being recyclable, the ULL ballasts offer a more environmentally friendly solution to T5-HE lamps than electronic ballasts. This single-ballast design offers great convenience to both ballast manufacturers and users, because only one product design can cover a range of the most popular T5-HE lamps. Both theoretical analysis and experimental results are included to confirm the validity of the proposal. © 2011 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Implementing a Mobile Application for Street Lighting Evaluation

Nowadays, energy consumption is on the rise. This is not sustainable in the long run. The highest energy use in Town Councils takes place in street lighting installations. In order to help in this problem, we present a mobile service to evaluate the electrical consumption of these infrastructures. This new tool is able to make an estimation of energy demand of installations; on an easy and intuitive way thanks to an evaluation methodology which reduces the need of a large list of parameters used by other programs. As a result, the developed application also gives users the opportunity to compare the efficiency of the installation evaluated with others previously evaluated to increase energy efficiency. The application was tested with two different experiments to ensure its correct running and to evaluate both the estimation accuracy and usability

Energy Efficiency

This book is one of the most comprehensive and up-to-date books written on Energy Efficiency. The readers will learn about different technologies for energy efficiency policies and programs to reduce the amount of energy. The book provides some studies and specific sets of policies and programs that are implemented in order to maximize the potential for energy efficiency improvement. It contains unique insights from scientists with academic and industrial expertise in the field of energy efficiency collected in this multi-disciplinary forum