Lumens as a service. Could it be a solution for lighting PPPs in Brazil?

The lighting sector has been modernizing and investing more and more in products with greater energy efficiency. In addition to the already known lighting system with LED lamps, there is also the development of increasingly sophisticated lighting control systems. The market for efficient lamps remains very buoyant due to the high rates of return on investment provided, great potential for saving consumption. The major obstacle currently is not finding the initial capital necessary to acquire these equipments. products, for personal use, from a seller in a specialized store or directly from a manufacturer. No alternative service model deals with the provision of services by the contracted company and not the sale of a physical product.

LUMENS AS A SERVICE – LIGHTING IS THE PRODUCT, NOT THE LUMINAIRES.

The alternative model can be called Lumens as a service. This model means that those responsible for managing buildings and condominiums do not need to invest more money to make a large initial investment to implement energy efficiency in their buildings. The service companies make this investment and the client pays the company with part of the savings obtained with a more efficient lighting system. To simplify things even further, many contracts are made as a type of monthly rental of the equipment, or leasing, thus avoiding the often complex procedures of measuring and verifying performance contracts.

In this model, both parties involved seek to implement the most energy-efficient system so that it is possible to extract the maximum income from this service. This model is interesting for both parties, since the client is able to increase the value of their building with the introduction of new technologies, in addition to no longer being responsible for maintaining the system and the costs associated with it. The company will be able to see its sales grow solely and exclusively due to the efficiency of its service.

ADVANTAGES OF THE PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP MODEL

For some time now, some city governments have opted to install public lighting systems with LED technology, since, as a rule, this type of system provides better lighting quality and lower energy consumption. Often, the location chosen for replacing the lighting is tunnels that, because they are lit 24 hours a day, will have a return on investment much more quickly.

The more attentive observer may notice that in many urban tunnels in the city of São Paulo the system does not work efficiently; sometimes groups of lights can be seen that have been turned off, and in other places it is possible to see that the lighting is much brighter than necessary, not only hindering the vision of drivers, but also unnecessarily increasing energy consumption. The city government purchased these lighting systems (through bidding processes) and is now responsible for maintenance, and it is the city government that suffers from excessive consumption. If these lamps perform worse than expected, the city government will be the one to bear the burden. None of these problems would occur if we had the Lumens as a Service model, since we would have a company that would be responsible for maintenance and, given that it would be responsible for paying for the lighting consumption, it would be the company most interested in ensuring that the system is designed and operates as efficiently as possible. The city government would only be responsible for ensuring that the service, in this case the lighting measured in Lux = Lumen/meter², purchased is as agreed.