Anisul Islam Noor :
The government plans to replace traditional shinning light bulbs with Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs, in residential and commercial areas within the next three years.
The newly formed ‘Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA)’ has undertaken the programme in consultation with the manufacturers and traders of these highly energy saving bulbs.
A Power Division study found that there is a potential for saving 1020MW of electricity from the current consumption of 1700 MW by residential and commercial consumers through the use of these LED bulbs.
SREDA Member and Power Division Joint Secretary Siddique Zobair, who conducted the study, said more power could be saved if LED bulbs are used.
“The promotion of LED bulbs to replace the traditional bulbs will be our top priority,” said Tapos Kumar Roy, SREDA Chairman and Additional Secretary at the Power Division.
The conventional bulbs will be replaced by energy-saving ones like LED and also by Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL). A 23 watt CFL bulb can provide the same light of a 100 watt incandescent light while only a 9 watt LED bulb is enough to provide the same light. So, LED bulbs will be the first priority and first choice to replace the incandescent bulbs. Globally, LED bulbs are receiving consumers’ attention for its highest level of efficiency in energy saving.
Different studies reveal that the LED gets 35,000 to 50,000 hours of useful life, though time to complete failure may be longer while CFL tubes typically are rated at about 10,000 to 15,000 hours, depending partly on the conditions of use, and incandescent light bulbs at 1,000 to 2,000 hours.
However, prior to going for a massive campaign to replace the incandescent bulbs with LED, the SREDA has decided to fix its quality and standard so that the people can get the highest quality LED bulbs with cheaper cost.
In this regard, SREDA formed two committees with representatives of all stakeholders and experts in this sector.
One committee will fix the criteria for setting a Bangladesh standard while another the compliances to be required to import and manufacture the energy efficient bulbs across the country. The two committees will submit their reports within a month.
To promote the LED bulb use and manufacturing within the country, the SREDA has already sat with the representatives of the importers, traders, and manufacturers of the LED bulbs. At present, the LED bulb use is very limited in the country.
SREDA member Siddique Zobair said maximum 5 per cent of total bulbs are LED because of its high cost and less awareness by the people. These 5 per cent LED is being mainly used by the users of the solar home system (SHS) in rural areas while some street hawkers in the large cities are also LED users.
“But our target is to bring down the price of the LED bulbs with ensuring the highest quality and standard and also create awareness among the masses to increase its use,” he said.
At present, a 9 watt LED bulb is selling at over Tk 300, but it could be brought down to half. A few years back, the Power Division had taken step to replace the conventional incandescent bulbs with CFL. Under the move, about 2 crore bulbs were replaced in two phases across the country with financial support from the World Bank while the country’s total bulbs in use is around 5 crore.
“But now, the government is giving more priority to LED bulbs as it has been proven to be the most efficient and energy-saving bulbs in the world as per latest technology,” said SREDA Chairman Tapos Kumar Roy.
