Induction Lighting: The Best Kept Secret in Lighting

Induction lighting has been around since the times of Nikola Tesla, but the technology has been virtually unknown to most. It has been the darling of energy efficiency groups, but hidden from the public, with LED lighting taking center stage. However, case after case of successful implementations of Induction Lighting exist worldwide!

• If you watched the Beijing Olympics, almost all of the white lighting in the outdoor areas, from street lights, to walkway lights, to parking lot lights were induction lights.
• Frederick, Maryland has been using induction lights in a section of town and not had a single replacement needed in 14 years!
• San Diego's Gaslamp district has been utilizing induction lights along its streets for years.
• Portland, Oregon has had a five block area on Park Avenue just south of Burnside brightly lit by the white glow of Induction lights in its decorative acorn fixtures, clearly evident compared to the orange glow of the surrounding High Pressure Sodium lamps.
• The City of Los Angeles has over 5,000 induction lights that have been burning brightly for over five years with virtually no maintenance!

So what is an induction light? Think of a circline fluorescent tube with no electrodes, or an oversize globe-style bulb with wires coming out of it and powered by a high frequency power generator, also known as a ballast. What makes it special is the fact that there are no electrodes to deteriorate, allowing these lights to burn an average of 100,000 hours! That's 22.5 years for street lights burning 12 hours a day! at 1/2 the electricity consumption of the orange-glow High Pressure Sodium Lights, 1/3 the electricity of Metal Halide, and 1/4th the electricity of the outlawed Mercury Vapor lights!

So why aren't induction street lights being utilized more in the US? Even many energy efficiency experts have never heard of induction lights. One Vice President of Energy Efficiency at a major electric power utility had never heard of induction before we introduced them to the technology. At the recent National League of Cities "Green Cities" conference in Portland, Oregon. Of the 200+ attendees in the street light presentation, almost everyone was familiar with LED street lights, but only 3 had even heard of induction lights.

Another reason for slow implementation of induction is that since the technology is relatively unknown, there are few rate tariffs supporting a switch to these technologies. Since the lights consume 40% to 60% of the power of HPS lights, one would assume the tariff rates would be adjusted to match the consumption. This is the case only in a few power company areas. One power company in the mid Atlantic region even raised the rates because they were afraid the cities would switch, and they did not want to lose their off-peak revenue. But cities are starting to push back at the power companies to get the rates adjusted properly. Some cities that have leased lights previously have even resorted to buying the lights from the power companies and putting up their own lights on metered poles to have their electricity savings properly applied properly.

Induction lights generally are about 1/3 the price of LED technologies and provide payback of 3-5 years. Induction lights are available for street light, parking lot light, parking garage light, industrial/warehouse lights, retail lighting, and other large area applications. They are ideal in areas where lights are on for long periods of time or where maintenance is costly or difficult, such as in factories, natatoriums, and gymnasiums.