Product Quality Assurance

Off-grid lighting products that use LED and CFL technology can deliver high-performance, affordable lighting services to low-income people who currently rely on kerosene and other fuel-based lighting sources.  The widespread use of modern off-grid lighting technologies can also deliver significant health and environmental benefits by reducing indoor air pollution and CO₂ emissions.

Developing a large, dynamic, and sustainable market for modern off-grid lighting will require careful attention to product quality and to the potential for “market spoiling.”  Poor quality off-grid lighting products are already entering African markets.  Low income end-users that are unfortunate enough to purchase inferior goods frequently suffer significant financial losses.  Moreover, their bad experiences, which spread rapidly by word of mouth and other avenues, can undermine consumer confidence in LED and CFL-based off-grid lighting technology.  

In order to address this issue, Lighting Africa has developed a five-part quality assurance strategy which supports market development, provides technical advisory services to quality oriented companies, and protects the interests of low-income consumers.  The program strategy does not constrain technological innovation, and recognizes that market segmentation results in a need for a wide variety of products at multiple price points.

The five main elements of the Quality Assurance Program:

(1) Lighting Africa Test Method for Off-Grid Lighting Products

Lighting Africa is developing standardized testing methods that can be used to evaluate the performance of off-grid lighting products sold in African markets.  Bulk-purchasing agents, government regulators, NGOs, importers, and other buyers who need to identify good-quality products or verify compliance with minimum performance levels can use the Lighting Africa Test Method or contract with a test laboratory who will undertake testing.  Additionally, a subset of the test procedures with small sample sizes can be used to do initial screening of products to determine if they are likely to perform well. As described below, the standardized test methods also form the foundation for several additional elements of Lighting Africa’s quality assurance strategy.

A draft of the method is now available for review by industry stakeholders.  The document is available for download now.  Please click here to review the document and kindly send comments to Lighting Africa by email at qualityassurance@lightingafrica.org

(2) Product Performance Verification

Lighting Africa is testing commercially available off-grid lighting products to verify truth in advertising and to determine if products meet minimum performance levels. Companies that manufacture products that meet Lighting Africa’s criteria are invited to become Lighting Africa Associates, provided that the companies also agree to a standardized set of conditions. The agreement includes a set of environmental, social, and business principles. Associate companies are in a position to benefit from Lighting Africa sponsored business services and promotional activities.

(3) Product Awards

To further support high performing, affordable products, Lighting Africa has established an Outstanding Product Awards program.  The winners of the first ever awards were announced at the Lighting Africa 2010 Global Business Conference and Trade Fair in Nairobi, Kenya on May 18, 2010. The winning products were successful in both laboratory testing using the Lighting Africa Test Method and field evaluations by representative end-users of off-grid lighting products in Sub-Saharan Africa. A list of the winning products, additional details about the awards program, and a description of the judging process are available here 

(4) Technical Advisory Services

Lighting Africa has recognized that certain technical challenges are recurrent in the design and manufacture of off-grid lighting products.  While solutions can be found, in some cases manufacturers lack the capacity to carry out the research required.  To address this, Lighting Africa is publishing a series of Technical Notes that address issues related to the design and manufacture of off-grid lighting products.  Some notes present the results of research sponsored by Lighting Africa; others summarize current best practices.  The Technical Notes address some of the following topics:

Best Practices- Present technical information on such topics as heat dissipation for LEDs, effective strategies for sourcing quality LEDs, affordable methods for evaluating the performance of solar PV modules, and others.
Consumer Preferences- Present and discuss the findings of technical field tests aimed at assessing consumer perception of certain product characteristics (e.g. When is lumen output considered "too dim?" What are typical use patterns and duty cycles for off-grid lighting products?).

(5) Test Laboratory Capacity Building

Many manufacturers, distributors, NGO’s, and other players in the off-grid lighting market do not have the capacity to make accurate performance measurements of lighting products. To address this information gap, Lighting Africa is working to establish low-cost testing services at centers around the globe. To date, Lighting Africa has worked with test laboratories in Germany, China, and Kenya. In the near future, Lighting Africa will expand this effort to build capacity at additional test laboratories in West Africa and Asia. If you are interested in finding out about testing according to the full Lighting Africa Test Method or the Initial Screening Method, email qualityassurance@lightingafrica.org

These five elements are complementary pieces of a single quality assurance strategy.  The overarching goal is to support the development of a large, thriving, and sustainable market for affordable, high quality off-grid lighting products in African countries.   Lighting Africa welcomes feedback about its Product Quality Assurance Strategy, the value of the proposed technical advisory services, and other elements of the program.

Please direct all comments and questions to qualityassurance@lightingafrica.org
 

Highlighted Quality Assurance resources from the Lighting Africa Library: