Building new power plants is an expensive response to rising electricity demands. Demand management, a broad topic that includes many methods for reducing peak-period electricity usage, is an economical solution for controlling peak loads. Lighting controls, in particular, provide an effective demand management strategy because load shedding is repeatable, predictable, and immediate. Dimming electric lighting by up to 33% for brief periods is acceptable to occupants in an office setting and dimming, as opposed to on/off switching, is less dramatic and requires less adjustment by occupants during a critical peak event.
However, few off-the-shelf technologies exist to implement this sort of demand management. Thus, PIER and NYSERDA researchers developed a low-cost, load-shed ballast and control system to trim lighting power and lighting levels by 33%. The product is based on an existing high efficiency ballast product line, can communicate with building/campus energy management systems, and can be appropriate for both retrofit, renovation and new construction applications.
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| Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara |
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Book stacks at Davidson Library, 7th floor |
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Load Shed Ballast signal injector |
OBJECTIVE: To develop a low-cost load shed ballast to trim lighting power and lighting levels
APPLICATION:
- Libraries
- Large classrooms
- Large open offices
- Hallways
- Common areas
- Other commercial and institutional applications
DESCRIPTION / FEATURES:
- Energy savings: 33% wattage reduction during load shed periods
- When not in load shed condition, it behaves in the same manner as a standard ballast
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| Low mode |
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DEMONSTRATION LOCATION:
UC Santa Barbara,
Davidson Library, 7th floor
Performance results/energy savings:
33% demand reduction compared to standard T8 operation
2.25 kW demand reduction
Date of Install: Spring 2006
Timeframe of testing/evaluation: Spring / Summer 2006
Partners: Osram Sylvania, University of California
Sponsors: California Energy Commission |
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RESULTS:
- Most cost-effective in planned renovation and new construction applications
- Great retrofit potential in offices, libraries, hallways, and many other locations that have not yet been retrofitted from T12 to T8 lamp/ballast
STATUS:
Commercially available from Osram Sylvania by fall 2008 under the name QUICKTRONIC?Ç¬Æ PowerSHED?¢‚Äû¬¢ High Efficiency Demand Response Ballast.
REFERENCE:
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Projects 
