Despite the higher efficiency, effectiveness, and lower total cost of ownership of LED-based agricultural lighting products, high upfront costs have been a stumbling block. This is partly due to a lack of performance standards for the agricultural lighting industry, the absence of which makes it difficult for consumers of LED-based agricultural lighting products to take advantage of the energy savings rebates like those utilities offer for the incandescent and CFL lighting products used in consumer and commercial applications.
Current lighting standards focus on lighting performance and requirements as they apply to humans in residential and commercial applications. Energy-efficient consumer lighting products carry the Energy Star label, commercial products the DesignLights Consortium (DLC) label. Unfortunately, there is no comparable performance standard and label for agricultural lighting products. This makes it challenging for utilities to specify these products in their rebate programs, which in turn puts these products at a decided cost disadvantage. Farmers can still obtain a rebate by utilizing general-purpose consumer and commercial lighting products and retrofitting them for their barns (including having to enclose them in rugged or wet-location-rated fixtures), but off-the-shelf lighting products designed specifically for animals and barn environments generally do not qualify.
What suppliers and consumers (e.g., farmers) of agricultural lighting products need is a program that rates lighting products specifically with regard to agricultural performance. Such a program, which could be incorporated as part of Energy Star or DLC or even exist independently, would give consumers and power companies the information they need to compare agricultural lighting products while leveling the playing field for rebates. Ideally, the standard would provide uniformity across multiple utilities and address key performance criteria such as durability, performance, reliability, and safety. Efforts at creating such a standard are already underway, with several utilities having already expressed an interest in joining.