The Clean Energy Ministerial’s Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) Initiative announced a competition to recognize the most energy-efficient flat-panel televisions around the world. SEAD Global Efficiency Medals will be awarded to the most energy-efficient televisions on the market as well as to new technologies that have the potential to greatly reduce energy use in the future.

The Global Efficiency Medal competition is part of the SEAD Initiative’s ambitious efforts to reduce energy use on a global scale. Televisions account for 3 to 4 percent of global residential electricity consumption. In the first SEAD competition for flat-panel televisions, held in 2012, SEAD global award-winning products were 33-44% more efficient than televisions with similar technology.

By recognizing and promoting the world’s most energy-efficient televisions, the SEAD competition will help consumers make informed purchasing decisions that can lower energy bills and spur greater innovation among manufacturers.

“Manufacturer innovation is rapidly changing television markets,” said Chad Gallinat, PhD, Chair of the SEAD Initiative’s Awards Working Group. “The competition will distinguish manufacturers that combine innovation for high quality and cutting-edge features with energy-efficient solutions that help consumers save energy and cut back on electric bills.”

Manufacturers are invited to nominate their products through 31 March 2015. Prospective winners will be required to provide samples for verification of energy efficiency claims. Winners will be announced in September 2015 and will be honored at an international awards ceremony in early 2016.

SEAD Global Efficiency Medals will be awarded to flat-panel televisions that demonstrate the greatest energy efficiency in three size categories in each of four regions – Australia, Europe, India, and North America. An overall international winner will also be named for each size category, and one international winner will be named for the most energy-efficient television using new technology.

SEAD Global Efficiency Medal competitions encourage the production and sale of super-efficient equipment, appliances and electronics, focusing on products with significant global energy consumption and energy savings potential. This television competition is the fifth in this global awards program. In addition to televisions, previous awards recognized super-efficient computer monitors, electric induction motors, and lighting products.

“We are pleased to support this competition’s recognition of the world’s most energy-efficient televisions,” said Jonas Allen, Director of Marketing, Green Electronics Council (GEC). “GEC’s EPEAT green-rating system evaluates a device’s entire lifecycle, of which energy is a crucial aspect. The SEAD Global Efficiency Medal provides TV purchasers worldwide with another barometer of energy excellence.”

For more information about the 2015 television awards, visit www.superefficient.org/TVAwards2015.

SEAD is an initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial, a high-level global forum to share best practices and promote policies and programs that encourage and facilitate the transition to a global clean energy economy. SEAD is also a task within the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation.

The Global LEAP Awards 2014 Outstanding Off-Grid Appliances competition is a Clean Energy Ministerial initiative to identify and promote the world’s best, most energy-efficient off-grid compatible televisions and LED room lighting appliances. All Global LEAP Awards Finalists were tested using internationally accepted laboratory test methodologies and were assessed by a panel of off-grid market experts. Winners were announced at the 5th Clean Energy Ministerial in Seoul, Korea, on 12 May 2014.

The products featured in The Global LEAP Awards Outstanding Off-Grid Appliances Buyer’s Guide are among the best off-grid LED room lighting appliances and TVs in the world. Each Global LEAP Awards Winner and Finalist has had its quality, durability, and energy performance verified according to internationally accepted test methodologies—and each has been evaluated by a panel of off-grid market and technology experts on the basis of its test results, price, and off-grid appropriate design and functionality. As a result, the products featured here all positively contribute to the clean energy access marketplace: they each offer a strong balance of price, super-efficiency,
performance, and reliability.

On May 12, winners were named for the inaugural Global LEAP Outstanding Off-Grid Appliance Awards competition, a Clean Energy Ministerial initiative to identify and promote the world’s best, most energy-efficient off-grid color televisions and LED room lighting appliances.

Globally, a total of 1.2 billion people live without adequate access to electricity, and another billion have less than four hours of reliable electricity each day. The vast majority of these off-grid communities are in developing Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and they are frequently among the world’s poorest.

Energy-efficient, high-quality off-grid appliances offer improved service but need smaller energy systems to run, reducing the necessary investment in off-grid energy systems and making the most of the limited electricity available to off-grid households and businesses.

“Quality assured, super-efficient low-voltage appliances build consumer trust and reduce costs for energy-poor populations throughout the developing world,” said the U.S. Department of Energy’s Caroline McGregor, the Global LEAP initiative lead. “They’re essential to creating and sustaining demand for technologies like off-grid solar. We congratulate the winners of the Global LEAP Awards, which are among the very best performing, most affordable off-grid appliances in the world.”

Winners: Global LEAP Awards Outstanding Off-Grid Televisions Competition

• Commercially Available–Small: Sola SO16M 15.6” LED TV by Solar Home Appliances, Inc.
• Commercially Available–Medium: Sola SO19M 19” LED TV by Solar Home Appliances, Inc.
• Commercially Available–Large: Samsung UA23H4060AR 23” LED TV by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
• Emerging Technology–Small: DC TV 15.6″ 12V by fosera GmbH & Co.KG aA
• Emerging Technology–Large: Samsung UA32**** 32” Prototype LED TV by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Winners: Global LEAP Awards Outstanding Off-Grid LED Room Lighting Appliance Competition

• LED Bulbs: LED-DC12V-5W by Super Star Group, Bangladesh
• LED Ambient Indoor Room Lighting Fixtures: LED DC Tube Light by Solarland
• LED Higher-Output Ambient Indoor Room Lighting Fixtures: T5 Tube LED-DC-12V-5W by Super Star Group, Bangladesh

See more products details in the Global LEAP Awards Outstanding Off-Grid Appliances Buyer Guide.

Read more about the Global LEAP Awards Outstanding Off-Grid Appliance Competition.

The Global LEAP Awards is an initiative of the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership, and is co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the ClimateWorks Foundation.

Throughout the developing world, in places like Haiti, Bangladesh, and Sub-Saharan Africa, 1.3 billion people have no access to electricity and another billion get less than four hours of reliable electricity each day. These people are typically among the world’s poorest and most vulnerable, as energy poverty dramatically reduces educational, economic, and health outcomes. The fuels available to off-grid households and businesses – for example kerosene, diesel, and biomass – are typically expensive, dangerous, and dirty, and so often make things worse.

Perhaps surprisingly, modern consumer technologies like mobile phones and televisions are proving to be a driving force in delivering clean, reliable electricity to off-grid populations. Demand for modern consumer electronics is extremely high throughout the developing world—and pre-modern fuels like kerosene simply can’t power them. Because they require electricity, mobile phones, televisions and other appliances create and sustain demand for off-grid electric power systems like small-scale solar photovoltaic home systems.

Significant Market Opportunity… For the Right Products

The four billion people worldwide who make less $1,500 USD/year are often referred to as the Base of the Economic Pyramid (BOP). Recent studies estimate that the BOP is a $5trillion USD/year consumer market—and, just like the rest of us, these people want modern consumer electronics. As technology prices fall, credit markets emerge, and developing world incomes rise, companies meeting this demand are positioned to dominate major growth markets.

But simply manufacturing and marketing products isn’t enough. Because off-grid households and businesses are typically extremely poor, purchasing a power system and the appliances that accompany it is a major financial commitment. If the products don’t deliver as promised, or fail, or disappoint, the customer’s bad experience quickly gets spread by word of mouth and the market for that product, and similar products, is spoiled. Product quality is, therefore, essential to the market’s development.

Energy efficiency is also essential in BOP markets. Because they use less electricity, super-efficient appliances need smaller – and more affordable – power systems to operate.

The dynamic of creating demand for power systems, and requiring smaller power systems, means that high-quality, super-efficient off-grid appliances are an extremely powerful energy access tool. Initiatives like the United Nations’ Sustainable Energy for All campaign, which targets universal energy access by 2030, the International Finance Corporation’s Lighting Global program, and the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Global LEAP Awards are coordinating to support global markets for quality-assured, energy-efficient energy access products. These efforts are priming major opportunities to manufacturers and distributors, and transforming the lives of people throughout the developing world.

So What Does This Mean for Your Business?

Product developers, manufacturers, and distributors should investigate – and invest in – the off-grid BOP market. There are hundreds of millions of customers out there just waiting for the right product—companies delivering those products will be big players in a massive, dynamic, growing market, and they’ll help some of the world’s most desperate and vulnerable people radically improve their lives.

The Global LEAP Awards

If you already make high-quality, energy-efficient appliances, I’d ask that you check out the Global LEAP Awards, which will identify the world’s best low-voltage DC appliances and then promoting them to the off-grid market.

The Global LEAP Awards LED lighting competition has already closed—but nominations for the Global LEAP Awards TV competition are open through 17 January 2014.

Global LEAP Awards Winners and Finalists will benefit from a global publicity campaign and business opportunities with leading off-grid retailers like SELCO, Orb Energy, and Rahimafrooz. Nominating eligible TVs for the Global LEAP Awards is fast, easy, and free—no product samples or testing fees are required unless your product is identified as a Finalist.

Matt Jordan is a Program Manager at CLASP, and is responsible for CLASP’s off-grid products portfolio. This includes management of the Global LEAP Awards, a Clean Energy Ministerial initiative to identify and promote the world’s best off-grid appliances. Follow the Global LEAP Awards on Twitter @GlobalLEAPAward.

This article is taken from the EE Times.

This report retrospectively analyzes some of the potential impacts of product energy efficiency policy in Sweden by examining possible correlations between policy implementation, historical and real‐time price trends, energy efficiency improvement trends, and life‐cycle cost trends for a variety of product markets including: (1) refrigerators, (2) clothes washers, (3) dishwashers, and (4) televisions.

As 3D televisions have become more prevalent in the global market, there is growing interest in assessing the power consumption of these TVs when displaying 3D content.

In August 2013, the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) Initiative published a report analyzing the differences in power consumption of 3D TVs when displaying 2D and 3D content and what variables may affect the energy impact of 3D TVs.

A previous 3D TV study from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) speculated that a cause of increased power in 3D could be a brighter screen to compensate for the dimming effect of 3D glasses. However, the study determined that more data was needed for both 3D TV consumption and 3D viewing in order to draw a more robust conclusion.

In this study, twelve 3D TVs were selected for testing based on technology characteristics in order to include different combinations of TV variables. During testing, different configuration and usage variables were explored for their impact on 3D TV power.

The study concludes that:

• After controlling for the usage variables, the percent difference in power consumption between 2D and 3D ranged from a decrease of 19% to an increase of 72%;
• While in some cases power consumption decreased, ten out of twelve TVs tested exhibited an increase in power consumption from 2D to 3D;
• The degree to which the TV increased in power was widely dependent on the screen size and screen technology of the TV;
• Contrary to CEA’s previous conclusion, this research does not find luminance to be the major factor affecting overall 3D TV power consumption;
• Additionally, the research finds that the 3D technology of the TV, active or passive 3D, has little to no impact on the differences in power consumption between 2D and 3D.

This report was authored by Navigant Consulting Inc. in support of the SEAD Initiative.

Billions of people worldwide – most of them among the world’s poorest – live without adequate access to electricity. Energy poverty depressed economic and educational opportunities, impeding lasting development gains.

In 2012, the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) launched one of several international responses to this issue, the Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP) Outstanding Off-Grid Product Awards

The Global LEAP Awards is an international competition to identify the world’s best low-voltage direct current (DC) off-grid appliances. Because they create and sustain demand for small low-voltage off-grid energy systems (such as solar home systems), off-grid appliances are important energy access tools.

CLASP – in its role as the program’s Operating Agent –manages the Global LEAP Awards, which seeks to catalyze off-grid product markets and increase energy access by identifying the most energy efficient, affordable, highest quality appliances, and sending clear signals about product performance to the off-grid market.

By aiming to increase benefits for consumers, manufacturers, and governments through appliance market transformation, Global LEAP works in a similar way to market transformation efforts under the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) Initiative, another CEM initiative for which CLASP is the Operating Agent.

The Global LEAP Awards is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the ClimateWorks Foundation.

About the Global LEAP Awards

The Awards’ first round of competition will identify energy-efficient, high quality off-grid LED room lighting appliances and flat-panel color televisions. Nominations for the LED room lighting appliance awards closed on October 11, 2013.

Energy Efficiency of Off-Grid Appliances

By providing the off-grid marketplace clear signals about appliance quality and energy efficiency, the Global LEAP Awards helps the off-grid appliance and solar home system market grow.

Energy efficiency is important in off-grid appliances: off-grid consumers typically have access to very little electricity. Because they use less energy, efficient appliances run longer on limited energy than inefficient appliances. They also reduce the size of the power system needed to run them. For example, a 6W LED light is roughly equivalent to a 13W CFL light in terms of light emitted—but the LED requires ½ as much electricity and can be powered by a smaller, more affordable power system.

The Global LEAP Awards is an international competition to identify the world’s best off-grid compatible appliances. The Awards’ second round recognized low-voltage direct current (DC) televisions on the strength of their quality and energy efficiency. The resource below provides a general overview of the 2013-14 Global LEAP Awards in both English and Chinese.

The Global Efficiency Medal competition, a cornerstone activity of the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) Initiative, is an awards program that encourages the production and sale of super-efficient products. The first Global Efficiency Medals were awarded to the most energy-efficient flat panel televisions; an iconic consumer purchase.

This paper presents a new data standard for reporting energy performance and related product information that can be adopted internationally. To inform the development of this standard, we explore the existing energy efficiency market data for the two example products of TVs and Room Air Conditioners.