Under the union led Ujala scheme, five lakh Goan households will get LED bulbs. The chief minister also stated that government departments and educational institutions will also make the switch to LED lighting soon. This announcement happened at a conference of Power, Renewable Energy & 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 overall 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 income households or even the ‘middle class’ 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 not 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 just three bulbs per house; far less than required in the average household. Will they change out the other bulbs? One way to ensure that Goa switches over to LED bulbs would be to reduce taxes and sundry charges so that they become more affordable for the public. The goal is the same. But the road there can be made smoother.
