Even prior to the enactment of Republic Act (RA) 11285 or the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act in 2019, Filipinos have started to embrace sustainable practices to reduce energy consumption and help save the environment.
Primarily targeted at end users, corporates as well as the public sector, RA 11285 is hoped to accelerate individual initiatives that will contribute to improving energy efficiency.
But for lighting solutions provider Signify Philippines, energy efficiency goes beyond illumination, according to Raghuraman Chandrasekhar, professional business, country leader.
With its Greenswitch campaign, Signify’s banner program, the company aims to bring lighting solutions which are more efficient and smart.
“The Greenswitch program was specifically designed to help local governments and private companies in finding opportunities for advanced lighting solutions that make public and professional lighting more energy efficient and fit for the future,” Chandrasekhar said in an interview.
From the start, Signify had been educating the public that LED lights are the most simple, but most overlooked ways, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“The Philippines just like many other markets across the world have always been in constant evolution journey on how to become more sustainable, especially in the light of the climate change crisis that we’re facing. The private and public sector have been completely focused on looking at innovations that can help with energy efficiency. A lot of customers, in compliance with the law itself, are investing or buying the right products to reduce energy consumption, especially in the light of the stress on the grid that we have been seeing over the past few days,” Chandrasekhar said.
He said two of 10 of Signify’s customers now typically go for the connected offering, the Internet of things (IoT) sensor- based solution. The others go for the LED (light-emitting diode) lighting upgrades.
According to Chandrasekhar, Connected Lighting Innovations are able to dim down lights which are closest to the windows where there is ample exposure to sunlight, thereby reducing energy consumption.
This solution alone enables customers save up to 80 percent of energy.
Another simple example are hotels where connected lighting’s sensors bring up by two to three degrees the temperature of a room when no is inside but brings it back down when someone is inside.
“That itself is a massive energy savings on (the use of) air conditioner,” Chandrasekhar said.
He added: “Our offerings go beyond illumination. And that’s the real benefit that we see for customers.”
For the small and medium enterprise sector, a very specific solution less focused on IoT is occupancy sensor.
For example, a parking lot in a building does not have to be completely lit 24 hours a day. On certain times of the day, a simple sensor that can detect the movement of a car brings up lighting to 100 percent then goes back to 20 percent when there is no movement.
According to Chandrasekhar, a lot of cities in the country now shift to solar streetlights. For local governments, streetlights consume the biggest energy.
“This (shift) reduces reliance on the grid itself as these (lights) are completely powered by the sun. That is 100 percent savings,” Chandrasekhar said.
But he said solar streetlights have also proven to improve disaster resilience.
One city hit by typhoon and which lost access to power used the solar streetlights to become a congregation point for the residents and businesses.
Chandrasekhar said investing in energy efficient lighting depends on the size and scale.
But by switching to LED alone can save businesses up to 50 percent in energy consumption.
A more recent product developed by Signify, the Ultra Efficient lighting, is even more efficient than LED and has a much longer lifespan.
For connected or smart lighting, the savings can go up to 80 percent.
Payback for those investments can come as quickly as seven months or as long as three years depending on the scale.
“It’s not just a payback story. It’s also about sustainability. It’s also about improving climate resilience,” said Chandrasekhar
Professional lighting can provide anywhere between 50,000 and 100,000 lighting hours lasting between five and 10 years. Warranty cover is three to five years.
The retrofit market alone, or the current buildings, is a big addressable market that needs to go from conventional to LED, according to Chandrasekhar.
He said analysis shows manufacturing plants and warehouses in the country, by moving from conventional to energy efficient LED lights, can save up to 380 kilo tons of carbon dioxide or P4.14 billion worth of energy consumption.
“The time to act as now. We have to move from conventional lights to LED lights even if the short term investment is large. Over the medium to long term basis, businesses definitely have a lot to gain not just in savings but also in taking care of the environment,” Chandrasekhar said.
Signify considers the
Philippines a critical market as it is the fastest growing market in Southeast Asia.
“The Philippines remains a promising market for us and for many years to come,” he said.
With presence in the Philippines for nearly 80 years, Signify has a wide network of distributors and partners to serve end users. Irma isip
