Zenergy Achieves over 31% Energy Saving in Swedish Study

Online, October 27, 2009 (Newswire.com) - St Jean de Luz, France (The Green Man SARL) 24th October, 2009 -- A Zenergy Lightsaver unit installed in commercial premises in Sweden has just been shown to have reduced the kilowatts consumed by the fluorescent lighting by 31.7%, and the actual power (kVA) by 39.2%, nearly a 40% reduction in the carbon consumed by the lights.

With savings previously around 25%, this is one of the first examples of how the new technology, which permits a voltage reduction of 14%, can now save in excess of 30% of the lighting bill, with no noticeable change in brightness. Typical installations pay for themselves within 20-30 months, the capital outlay being around a sixth of that needed to install a high frequency system (CFLs).

The technology, whose primary component is an autotransformer, has been in use for many years, with some 3,000 installations worldwide. However, with climate change increasingly at the forefront of political and corporate strategy, and the ever-rising cost of energy, the potential savings both financial and ecological have brought this hitherto marginal system into the mainstream.

Additional benefits include reduced maintenance, longer bulb or tube life, and as a retrofitted system, there is no costly up-front infrastructure to renew. Once fitted, the device can be forgotten about whilst the savings may be enjoyed almost indefinitely.

In a study conducted in 1998, Prof. Alexander E. Emanuel, an expert in power electronics at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts, concluded that:

"The Zenergy unit is an effective energy saver that reduces the amount of input electric power (kW) by reducing the voltage supplied to electrical lamps.
"The Zenergy has the advantage that it does not cause additional distortion of the current waveform. (Does not contribute to harmonic current injection).
"Zenergy units are easy to install and are practically maintenance free."