LG Innotek (CEO Hur Young-ho) has acquired license as an official international LED testing agency that is capable of conducting the Energy Star validation test, which is hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
With the acquisition of license for conducting international official testing from the US EPA and the Korea Laboratory Accreditation Scheme (KOLAS), LG Innotek is expected to further systemize systems for development of eco-friendly LED, and drastically reduce the time and expenses required for validating Energy Stars, which will significantly boost its competitiveness in LED lighting module business.
Energy Star is a program, in which the U.S. government validates energy efficiency of electrical and electronic products, including lighting devices. This standard constitutes essential conditions for a company to participate in public procurement programs in the U.S.
Products with Energy Star certification are highly popular in the private sector market, and are entitled to tax benefits, and hence the certification is highly sought after by lighting companies. In order for a company to win Energy Star certification through an external testing agency, it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars and takes more than nine months per product depending on the product.
By winning the license as an international official testing agency, LG Innotek is set to conduct the LM-80 test related with LED lifespan, among various standards for Energy Star validation. If a company produces LED lighting with LG Innotek’s LED products that pass this test, the product can acquire Energy Star certification.
The LM-80 test is designed to measure the ratio of lighting speed sustenance, and accords Energy Star certification to a product that maintains more than a certain level of lighting speed (intensity of radiation), after the product undergoes a reliability test that lasts a total of 6,000 hours per product.
In order to secure the highest level of time and cost efficiency in the industry, LG Innotek constructed infrastructure that allows it to simultaneously test LED products twice the volume of industry average. The conduct of LED certification tests on its own will result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in saved costs per year for the company.
Additionally, in a bid to elevate the precision levels when testing LED performance, LG Innotek has been managing LED testing samples and measuring systems in partnership with the Korea Institute of Standards and Science since 2008.
An LG Innotek official said, “The acquisition of license as a testing agency for certifying Energy Star, which holds high credibility globally, constitutes recognition of LG Innotek’s global standard capacity in LED performance evaluation and management,” adding, “This will serve as a watershed event for LG Innotek to further accelerate its advance into the global LED lighting module market, as well as the North American market.”
