In October 2022, as Tunisia prepares its final specifications to purchase new photometry equipment necessary for testing lamps in the main usage sectors, senior staff from Tunisia’s National Agency for Energy Management (ANME) and the national test laboratory CETIME, spent four days on a study tour in France to develop a fuller understanding of the technical features and quality of the key measurement systems required. Tunisia will effectively equip a modern photometric test facility to undertake the testing needed to international standards to effectively underpin new energy efficiency regulations across all main lighting products.
A sustainable transition to eco-efficient, higher performance lighting therefore offers huge potential for energy and greenhouse gas emission savings, a measure reflected in Tunisia’s NDC targets and underpinned by the national strategy for energy efficiency.
This transition is being supported by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) United for Efficiency (U4E) Leapfrogging Tunisia’s Lighting Market to High Efficiency Technologies project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), which aims to enhance stakeholder capacity in pursuing strategic lighting policies and regulations to the best international practices as well as the promotion of modern energy-efficient lighting and control technologies among end users and local manufacturers.
The study tour and guidance on the development of the technical specifications for testing equipment are an integral part of the project which aims to build sustainable capacity for the monitoring, verification and enforcement for lighting products market surveillance –an essential element for the successful implementation of any national policy for minimum energy performance standards and labelling for eco-efficient lighting products.
During the Tunisian study tour in France, the objectives included:
- Increasing the participants’ knowledge of the fundamentals of key measurement equipment.
- Increasing familiarity with the operation of these systems and their essential features as well as the quality of the measurement systems required when establishing a highly reputable photometric test facility.
- Awareness of the technical matters that must be evaluated for the key equipment under review for procurement and increasing understanding of the requirements for establishing a new photometric test facility.
The first stop in France, where participants spent two days, was the Laboratoire National de Métrologie et d’Essais (LNE) just outside Paris. Here, the Tunisia delegation were given insights on the basics of photometry, light sources and measuring instruments for photometry, the technical requirements for accredited tests in photometry, photobiology and temporal light modulation, and testing laboratory human and technical resources. This was reinforced with practical, hands-on, training in lighting flux measurement using integrating spheres, goniophotometry and in carrying out photobiology and temporal light modulation tests.
Throughout the two days, participants were able to explore detailed matters, such as calibration concerns, maintenance issues, control software user interface/compatibility and ambient environment control, which may influence the rating assessment of equipment offered as part of the tendering for the measurement system procurement process.
In addition to the LNE visit, the Tunisia delegation spent a further day at LED Engineering Development, an accredited private test facility for lighting products in Toulouse, where participants were given a guided tour of the testing facility and their specialized testing equipment, including their large integrating sphere system, Type C, g gonio-spectroradiometer system, temporal light modulation (TLM) measurement systems and photobiological hazard (namely blue light hazard, UV hazard) measurement systems, in addition to their product aging units.
Feedback from the study tour was extremely positive. Mr Trigui, the Central technical Director of CETIME, said, “CETIME warmly thanks UNEP and U4E for organizing the Study tour. It was a valuable opportunity to learn about photogoniometer technologies, including those used by national reference laboratories. The exchange with the experts we met made it possible to form an opinion on the necessary means to be put in place for the CETIME laboratory as part of the transition project towards energy-efficient lighting.”
To learn more about the study tour and the project in Tunisia, contact U4E’s Soledad Garcia at soledad.garcia@un.org.