Electronics can lead the way to a green economy

Electronics can lead the way to a green economy

LED lighting and improvements in solar energy production are only the beginning

BY VIC ZADEREJ
Molex, Lisle, IL
www.molex.com

Going green is no longer just a rallying cry for environmental activists. It has become a mantra for a much broader population, as citizens from all walks of life — including government officials and corporate executives — have come to realize that living and working in ways that preserve and protect the planet’s finite resources just makes sense.

Forward-thinking companies also can uncover entire new revenue streams by developing innovative new products — or adapting existing ones — to support the rapidly growing green economy. Electronics manufacturers — with a wealth of expertise and experience in creating products that generate the greatest amount of energy in the most efficient manner possible — should be at the forefront of this trend.

Super-efficient lighting and solar power systems

In fact, there are two specific ways in which electronics manufacturers already are demonstrating the vital role they can play in helping the world transition to a green lifestyle:

• Developing solid-state LED lighting systems.

• Providing equipment that supports efficient, reliable production of solar energy.

Lighting systems that contain LEDs are twice as efficient as those equipped with compact fluorescent bulbs, which many utility companies still promote as the preferred alternative to traditional incandescent bulbs for consumers seeking greener alternatives for lighting their homes. Figure 1 shows a dining room lit with LEDs having an energy reduction of 60% over compact fluorescent bulbs. This difference in efficiency is significant when you consider that 20% to 40% of the carbon dioxide emanating from buildings in industrialized countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom is related to indoor lighting.

Fig. 1. CFL and LED energy comparison.

A number of recent studies suggest that a complete conversion to LED lights could decrease carbon dioxide emissions relating to lighting by up to 50% in just over 20 years. In addition, because LEDs do not contain mercury, or any of the other toxic substances, they don’t produce the potentially harmful waste that comes with the use of other lighting systems.

A few factors still prevent the widespread use of LED lighting in commercial and residential buildings, however, and electronics manufacturers are applying their special brand of ingenuity to solving those problems.

Cost is a major hurdle to widespread LED use among consumers. For instance, an LED spotlight used to light a residential driveway could cost as much as $100 compared with $7 for a conventional bulb. That high initial cost scares a lot of consumers, even if the LED will burn much less energy and last years longer than a conventional bulb.

Most LED lights also are hardwired into fixtures. That means replacing a failed LED requires replacing — and discarding — the entire fixture, a situation that is neither cost effective nor particularly environmentally friendly, considering the fixture is likely to end up in a landfill.

Easily replaceable LEDs

Some electronics manufacturers have addressed these issues by creating replaceable LED lighting modules. These modules combine innovative solid-state lighting technology with unique, easy-to-use interconnect technology to form an LED system with a source and socket design that emulates a traditional bulb and socket lighting system.

This design, which is being adopted by more lighting manufacturers each day, allows for creating LED lighting systems that can be easily adapted to a wide variety of uses in commercial and residential settings. These easily replaceable systems, which can be priced at less than $20 per unit, also are being made of completely recyclable components, making them the first generation of LED lighting solutions well positioned for mass market adoption.

It’s also worth noting that there is a movement among electric utilities to consider the use of direct current systems for transmitting power to homes and businesses in favor of the alternating current systems that are now prevalent. This change is being considered because dc transmission systems are less expensive and suffer less power loss when energy is transmitted over long distances. If this transfer does take place, it would immediately make solid-state LED lighting much more efficient, and thus more cost effective, than other types of lighting, including compact fluorescent bulbs.

While they continue working to make LED lighting systems compatible with commercial and residential environments, electronics manufacturers also are creating a host of products to support the solar energy industry. The potential financial gain in the solar energy sector is great as well, with governments in both developed and developing countries now subsidizing efforts to harness and convert the sun’s energy into electricity.

Electronics manufacturers can benefit from this trend by building electrical connectors, cable assemblies, and junction boxes that fit into systems that track and collect solar energy as well as the photovoltaic systems that convert solar energy into electricity. Because the cost of operating photovoltaic panels remains an obstacle to their widespread adoption, the panel manufacturers will be extremely interested in working with electronics manufacturers that can help them reduce that cost. That means electronics manufacturers need to concentrate on developing solutions that help minimize the amount of energy required to power photovoltaic panels.

In many cases, manufacturers can adapt products built for traditional energy generation and transmission systems. Even when taking that approach, however, the electronics manufacturers must do the engineering necessary to ensure that these products can perform reliably and efficiently in the varied settings — from residential and commercial rooftops to utility company power stations — that are part of the solar energy industry.

Lowering solar equipment cost

The solar industry’s goal is producing reliable sources of renewable energy. For that to happen, the equipment used to produce that energy must be reliable as well. The cost of non-reliable systems is very high due to the constant need for repair and maintenance. That’s why the electronics industry is working to develop ruggedized, watertight interconnects and other components that will ensure the cost-effective operation of any solar equipment in which they are placed.

The biggest challenge currently facing the solar energy industry is developing systems that can produce energy at a scale and cost that is comparable to traditional energy sources. The most innovative electronics manufacturers are supporting this effort by producing items such as compact junction boxes and connectors that help speed the process — and lower the cost — of manufacturing and assembling both photovoltaic and solar collection systems.

Developing products to support the green economy is also causing electronics manufacturers to make some fundamental changes in the way they conduct business. For instance, companies that build environmentally friendly products naturally design those products with sustainability in mind. They also require their suppliers to adopt that approach, which means they are leading the entire industry to consider how all of their products and processes impact the environment.

It’s very likely that in the not too distant future, all manufacturers will understand the value — to both the planet and the corporate balance sheet — that results from designing and building products in an environmentally friendly fashion. And electronics manufacturers — by taking advantage of the obvious opportunities available to them today — can have the satisfaction of knowing that they led this critical transformation. ■