The US government will implement DLC (DesignLights Consortium) technical requirements 4.0 (v4.0) for LED lighting products on January 1, 2017 and this is expected to be conducive to Taiwan-based LED light tube makers' exports to the US market, according to industry sources.
DLC is a project under US-based non-profit organization Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships to define high-performance lighting and promote energy-efficient lighting through technical requirements, the sources said.
The US government will adopt DLC v4.0 as technical standards for Energy Star certification for non-residential LED lighting products, and products with Energy Star labels are entitled to government subsidization, the sources indicated. For LED light tubes, DLC v4.0 hikes minimum luminous efficiency from 100lm/W at present to 110lm/W, the sources noted. Retail prices for LED light tubes in compliance with DLC v4.0 are estimated to be 30-50% higher than conventional models with the same wattage, the sources said.
Since almost all of Taiwan-made LED light tubes have met DLC v4.0 technical requirements and 40-60% of China-made LED light tubes exported to the US market have not yet, Taiwan-based makers generally think DLC v4.0 will differentiate their products from China-made ones in both the commercial and industrial segments in the US market, the sources indicated.
However, many China-based makers think DLC v4.0 standards are not compulsory and LED light tubes with Underwriters Laboratories (UL) certification still can be sold for residential use in the US market and therefore they may not be willing to increase production cost merely to conform to DLC v4.0, the sources noted.
