Comparison of Lighting Africa Initial Screening Method and Quality Test Method
Comparison of Lighting Africa Initial Screening Method and Quality Test Method
| Test Name and Description | Test Document References | Typical Equipment Required | LA-QTM | LA-ISM |
| Visual Screening – Evaluates the mechanical, electrical, and physical properties and quality of the product. Wiring, solder joints, switches, and basic functional elements are inspected to reveal obvious flaws and to catalog the attributes of the product. | Procedure: 4.1-4.1.2 (p. 28-32) Reporting: Table 6.4.1 (p. 98-99) |
Hand tools and a skilled technician | u | u |
| PV Module I-V Curve – Determines the electrical performance characteristics of the PV module under standard test conditions. | Procedure: 4.1.3 (p. 32-33); 6.5 (p. 107) Reporting: Table 6.4.1 #1 |
Indoor Solar Simulator with PV Tester OR Outdoor I-V curve Test Unit of Sufficient Quality |
u | u |
| Battery Capacity – Measures the charge capacity of the battery (amp-hours) over a specified series of charge-discharge cycles. | Procedure: 4.2.4.1-4 (p. 34-35) Reporting: Table 6.4.1 #2 |
Programmable Battery Analyzer | u | u |
| Charge Controller – Identifies and characterizes the level of battery protection. | Procedure: 4.1.5.1-2 (p. 36-38) Reporting: Table 6.4.1 #2 |
Laboratory Power Supply | u | |
| Autonomous Run Time – Measures the run time of the lighting system at various brightness settings (if applicable) starting from a full battery charge. | Procedure: 4.1.6 (p. 43-44) Reporting: Table 6.4.1 #3 |
Photometer with datalogging capability; and Photometric test cavity (sphere, cube, or other relative measurement cavity) |
u | u |
| Lighting Service (Illuminance) – Measures the illuminance provided by task and ambient lights, with specialized measurement techniques for each. | Procedure: 4.1.7-4.1.8 (p. 45-49) Reporting: Table 6.4.1 #7-8 |
Photometer; and Task plane grid; and Ambient rotational illuminance measurement device |
u | u |
| Lighting Service (Lumens) – Measures the luminous flux emitted from the lighting system. | Procedure: Not included in Test Method document – this is an additional test. Operate the lamp at the nominal battery voltage for one hour before measurement. |
Integrating sphere OR Goniophotometer |
u | |
| Color Characterization – Measures the spectral quality of the light emitted from the lighting system in terms of CRI and CCT. | Procedure: Not included in Test Method document – this is an additional test. Operate the lamp at the nominal battery voltage for one hour before measurement. |
Photometric measurement cavity; AND Spectroradiometer; OR Color-enabled photometer |
u | |
| Long-term Lumen Degradation – Measures the light output relative to the initial output over 2,000 operational hours (500 hours for Initial Screening Method). | Procedure: 4.1.13 (p.55) Reporting: Table 6.4.1 #11 |
Laboratory DC Power Supply; and Photometric cavity; and Photometer. |
u | u |
| Charging Behavior – Combines the results from previous sections to estimate the lighting service from a standard charging period. | Procedure: Solar: 4.1.9.1 (p. 50-51); 6.6 (p. 108-109) Dynamo: 4.1.9.3 (p. 52) Grid: 4.1.9.4 (p. 52) Reporting: Table 6.4.1 #5 or #6 |
Solar: Microcomputer Mechanical: Stopwatch and Autonomous run time setup Grid: 230 V 50 Hz power source and autonomous run time setup. |
u | u |
| Mechanical Durability – Drop tests determine the strength of mechanical elements. | Procedure: 4.1.10 (p. 53) Reporting: Table 6.4.1 #10 |
n/a | u | u |
| Switches and Connectors – Investigates durability over 1,000 cycles. | Procedure: 4.1.11 (p. 54) Reporting: Table 6.4.1 #11 |
n/a | u | u |
