In November 2014, the European Commission published its draft update to the 2009 regulation on televisions (EC No 642/2009). The updated requirements were set to apply to televisions, computer monitors and other electronic displays. The requirements however were based on 2014 models, many of which are no longer offered on the market and have been replaced by more efficient models.

CLASP Europe therefore conducted an analysis of the European television market to assess whether the Commission’s proposal from November 2014 was still valid. This work involved creating a new database of 2016 models and then conducting an analysis on appropriate minimum energy performance standards. The report below proposes potential requirements for electronic displays based on this 2016 model database of European televisions, considering three scenarios:

• Scenario 1: Applying the Commission’s most recent (2014) proposed requirements to the new 2016 database. This scenario has separate equations for each of the three Tiers, but has the same efficiency requirement for HD and UHD displays (see Chapter 1);
• Scenario 2: An update to the Commission’s 2014 proposal based on the 2016 database, keeping approximately the same level of ambition (i.e., pass-rates for models). This scenario has one equation for all three Tiers and for HD and UHD displays, but has separate energy-efficiency index (EEI) requirements at Tiers 1, 2 and 3 and for HD and UHD displays (see Chapter 4); and
• Scenario 3: The CLASP recommended option, keeping the same structure as Scenario 2, but having a higher degree of ambition.  This scenario has more ambitious EEI values for Tiers 1,2, 3 and has different requirements for HD and UHD (see Chapter 5).

This report was prepared by Michael Scholand and Marie Baton of the CLASP Europe office, with expert input from Bob Harrison.  An Excel spreadsheet containing the anonymous database of electronic displays in Europe that was used for this analysis is available below.

The Global LEAP Awards is an international competition to identify and promote the world’s best off-grid appliances. The 2016-17 round of competitions identified super-efficient, high quality off-grid flat-panel televisions. By providing the off-grid marketplace clear and actionable signals about the quality and energy performance of off-grid appliances, the Global LEAP Awards accelerate global for off-grid appliance and clean energy system market. This resource provides an overview of the Off-Grid Television Competition.

The Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (“Global LEAP”) Outstanding Off-Grid Appliance Awards (“Global LEAP Awards”) seeks to transform the global market for off-grid energy products by recognizing and rewarding the most energy-efficient, highest quality off-grid appliances. As an initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial led by the U.S. Department of Energy, and supported by Power Africa and other partners, Global LEAP seeks to advance global clean energy access goals by harnessing the power of marketplace competition to drive technical and market innovations in the off-grid appliance sector.

The third Global LEAP Awards television competition (“Competition”) recognized high-quality, energy efficient, and affordable color televisions that are appropriate for use with off-grid energy systems. The Competition structure is outlined in this resource.

The Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP™) Outstanding Off-Grid Appliance Awards Competition (Global LEAP Awards™) seeks to transform the global market for off-grid television products by recognizing and rewarding the most energy-efficient, highest quality off-grid appliances.

As a Clean Energy Ministerial initiative, Global LEAP seeks to advance global clean energy access policy goals by harnessing the power of marketplace competition to drive technical and market innovations in the off-grid appliance sector. The inaugural Global LEAP Awards were announced in May 2014 at the 5th Clean Energy Ministerial in Seoul, Korea. The second Global LEAP Awards were announced in June 2016 at the 7th Clean Energy Ministerial in San Francisco, USA, and featured off-grid televisions and fans.

This competition focused on super-efficient off-grid televisions, which offer significant energy access, environmental and economic development benefits to off-grid populations; future competitions will cover different product categories.

This 4-page document summarizes the findings from The State of the Global Off-Grid Appliance Market 2016 report. This brochure-style guide lays out the landscape of the rapidly evolving off-grid appliance market, diving into the importance of efficiency, market potential, and challenges and opportunities for stakeholders.

Key Takeaway: The global market for off-grid appliances is poised for rapid, significant growth. By 2020, the market for three of the most promising off-grid appliances — fans, televisions, and refrigerators — has the potential to reach $4.7B per year.

The Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP™) Outstanding Off-Grid Appliance Awards Competition (Global LEAP Awards™) seeks to transform the global market for off-grid television products by recognizing and rewarding the most energy-efficient, highest quality off-grid appliances. As a Clean Energy Ministerial initiative, Global LEAP seeks to advance global clean energy access policy goals by harnessing the power of marketplace competition to drive technical and market innovations in the off-grid appliance sector.

The inaugural Global LEAP Awards were announced in May 2014 at the 5th Clean Energy Ministerial in Seoul, Korea. This competition focused on super-efficient off-grid televisions, which offer significant energy access, environmental and economic development benefits to off-grid populations; other competitions will cover different product categories. This resource outlines the official rules for the 2015-2016 competition.

The Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (“Global LEAP”) Outstanding Off-Grid Appliance Awards (“Global LEAP Awards”) seeks to transform the global market for off-grid energy products by recognizing and rewarding the most energy-efficient, highest quality off-grid appliances. As an initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial led by the U.S. Department of Energy, Global LEAP seeks to advance global clean energy access goals by harnessing the power of marketplace competition to drive technical and market innovations in the off-grid appliance sector.

The second Global LEAP Awards television competition (“Competition”) recognized high-quality, energy-efficient, and affordable color televisions that are appropriate for use with off-grid energy systems. The 2015-2016 Off-Grid Television Competition structure is outlined in this resource.

The Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP™) Outstanding Off-Grid Appliance Awards Competition (Global LEAP Awards™) seeks to transform the global market for off-grid television products by recognizing and rewarding the most energy-efficient, highest quality off-grid appliances. As a Clean Energy Ministerial initiative, Global LEAP seeks to advance global clean energy access policy goals by harnessing the power of marketplace competition to drive technical and market innovations in the off-grid appliance sector.

The fact sheet below provides a succinct overview of the 2015-2016 Global LEAP Awards Off-Grid Television Competition.

Global television sales continue to grow as product prices steadily decline, and TVs now account for an estimated 3% to 8% of global residential energy use. Improving the energy efficiency of TVs becomes increasingly important against this backdrop, in order to offset the potential energy and environmental impacts of continued growth in television sales. TV supply chains are global in nature, however, and global action around TV efficiency is hindered by competing national and regional policies governing TV energy use. Efforts to facilitate improvement in TV efficiency worldwide would therefore benefit from the establishment of a level international playing field around TV energy performance requirements and associated test methods.

A new study by the SEAD Initiative seeks to advance international harmonization of TV energy efficiency policies by analysing the test methods and performance requirements currently in use around the world, identifying opportunities for achieving greater international policy alignment. This study was carried out in support of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)Collaborative Assessment of Standards and Testing Methods (CAST), with specific focus on SEAD and APEC economies, including Australia, China, the European Union, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, the United States, and Vietnam.

Test Methods

This report examines a total of 6 test methods for TVs, finding that the largest differences between test methodologies exist among the largest markets most active in policy development (i.e. the EU, the US, and China). The study finds that two standards are most relevant to international harmonization efforts—the International Electrochemical Commission (IEC) 62087 method and China’s GB 24850-2013 method—and that greater harmonization between these testing approaches is essential to allowing future comparisons between products in China and other regions.

Other key findings related to TV test methodology include:

• TV test methods need to constantly evolve due to the rapid rate of TV technology development, to ensure that testing results are representative of actual in-home energy consumption.
• Sample preparation is key. Sample preparation (i.e. the way that TV settings are configured in preparation for testing) is the biggest disruptive influence that limits that comparability of energy test results across countries.
• Some policy requirements add testing divergence. Key areas of policy that are related to testing and would benefit from greater harmonization include: i) illuminance levels used for testing a TV’s Automatic Brightness Control (ABC) feature, ii) incentives for ABC testing, and iii) approaches to peak luminance levels.

Energy Performance Requirements

TV energy efficiency policies from 13 regions are analyzed, totaling over 70 different energy performance thresholds. Despite televisions everywhere being very similar in technology, this analysis reveals considerable global variation in TV energy efficiency policy. Several underlying reasons for these differences are identified, including:

• resource constraints among policymaking bodies;
• limited availability of market assessments to support policymaking;
• regional politics;
• unaligned policy schedules or policy revision cycles; and
• concerns that more stringent policies might negatively impact product availability and cost.

To advance greater policy harmonization around energy performance requirements for TVs, this study proposes a series of benchmark performance levels, which policymakers can use as a foundation for setting their own local policies and label schemes. In addition, this study recommends a number of resources that could assist policymakers to achieve cost effective efficiency improvements in TVs, including:

• Information on policy cost and potential savings, to support a shift toward the highest energy efficiency level that is feasible but not expected to occur in the absence of further policy action; and
• Steps for applying this study’s benchmark performance levels in their region, supported by the provision of electronic tools and training.

Despite the variation in energy performance requirements and test methodologies identified in this study, the authors none-the-less conclude that global harmonization of test methodologies, and even performance levels, could be made a reality within a few years.

This study was written by Stephen Fernandes, Catriona McAlister, Anson Wu, and Robert Harrison of Intertek Plc; Jeremy Tait of Tait Consulting; Keith Jones of Digital CEnergy Australia; and Anette Michel from Top Ten Europe. The project was funded by the Australian Government, with support from the SEAD initiative and CLASP.

This report presents the results of an analysis undertaken in 2014 to evaluate the global differences between test methodologies used to measure the energy performance of televisions and energy performance policy requirements for televisions.