Under the union led Ujala scheme, five lakh Goan households will get LED bulbs. Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar also stated that government departments and educational institutions will also make the switch to LED lighting soon. This announcement was made at a conference of power, renewable energy and mines ministers of states and union territories in South Goa, in the presence of Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal.
For Goa, this is a good move towards a greener outlook. If households, housing societies, government and other institutions start using LED lighting, power consumption will reduce significantly. For a state that doesn’t produce its own power, it amounts to less power purchased too. Of course this is just the beginning. The drive to convert people to LED lighting will
see a few obstacles. Pricing is a big factor. LED bulbs cost a
lot more than florescent or incandescent bulbs, a cost that is
further increased when you see the
rupee per wattage cost. LED bulbs
come with lower wattage as compared
to their high power consuming
counterparts. Of course, experts
will argue about the short terms
versus long term benefits. Paying
more for an LED bulb that will reduce
your power consumption so
that you end up paying even 20 to 30 percent less on your power
bill is an advantage. But try explaining that to lower middle
income segments where spending on bulbs is not a luxury.
There are numerous advantages to using LED bulbs. They
last long, up to 10 to 15 years or even far more, depending on
usage. Generally speaking, if one uses a LED bulb for approximately
six to eight hours a day, there would’nt be a need to
change the bulb for atleast 18-20 years. They consume less
power and can function at low voltage. Incandescent bulbs for
instance, see around 90 percent of their energy turned to heat,
which is why they are so hot to touch. In LED bulbs, 80 to 90
percent of their energy is converted to light. Not only are they
easy to handle, despite being on for hours, but they end up
using far less power, which converts to savings on power bills.
They are also eco-friendly, contain non-toxic gases, unlike florescent
bulbs, and also emit less white noise. The one drawback
of LED bulbs is that while they are perfect for housing
societies and gardens, restaurants etc, they fail when used for
general purpose lighting, since they are unidirectional. There
are bulbs with diffusers available in the markets but those
have a higher wattage to ensure light is distributed properly.
There are a few drawbacks to the plan to distribute LED
bulbs in Goa; none of which are unsurmountable obstacles for
the government. The bulbs can function with low voltage, but
they do see their life expectancy diminish when voltage fluctuates.
This is the case in a large part of Goa, where electricity
problems exist. The chief minister has promised smart metering,
but there are larger inherent problems within the electricity
department that need fixing.
What happens when the bulbs that are distributed break?
Also, the government is distributing three bulbs per house;
far less than required in the average household. Will the recipeients
change the other bulbs? One way to ensure that Goa
switches to LED bulbs would be to reduce taxes and sundry
charges so that they become affordable for the public.
