South Korea takes the lead in standardizing LED lighting

The world market for lighting machines is currently about $71 billion. The reason why LED lighting has received much attention is that its market size is very large. In the field of lighting for residential use, facilities and street lamps, existing lighting is expected to be replaced by LED lighting. Coupled with the active support of governments, the “green action” to convert LED low-power lighting is becoming more active every day.

Regarding LED lighting, Korea is no exception. The Korean Ministry of Knowledge Economy expects the LED market to grow at an average annual growth rate of 30%. By 2015, the market size will increase from US$21.4 billion in 2008 to approximately US$100 billion (Figure 1). In the face of this huge market, the South Korean government has introduced a policy aimed at improving South Korea's competitiveness.

Popularizing LED lighting, "reliability" is also an important factor

Any product that wants to be widely used must have "reliability." The same is true for LED lighting. South Korea aimed at this point and quickly established LED lighting certification standards directly related to ensuring reliability before other countries, and implemented it in March 2009. In the standardization of LED lighting, the Technical Standards Institute of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy of Korea has played a central role. Although Japan is also promoting the standardization of LED lighting, the result is that Korea has taken a step forward.

It is of extraordinary importance to set standards before other countries. With standards, you can take the lead in standardizing international affairs. If Korean standards become the world standard, Korea's LED lighting industry will be more active. Like Korea, Japan's specific non-profit corporation LED Lighting Promotion Association and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are also carrying out activities. However, except for South Korea, other countries have not yet standardized their specifications.

In addition, Japan stipulates that the safety performance of electrical appliances sold in Japan generally conforms to the requirements of the Japanese Electrical Appliances Safety Law (Schedule 8 of the Technical Standards). However, LEDs are not available.

The KS certification standard was revised after 47 years, and the target products were expanded to LEDs and rechargeable batteries.

In Korea, the certification standard for LED lighting products is “KS certification standard”. To be precise, certification standards for LED lighting products are part of the KS certification standard. Originally, the KS certification standard was introduced in 1963 by the Ministry of Knowledge and Technology of the Ministry of Knowledge and Technology of Korea. In 2009, it was partially modified to add some parts about LED lighting. This is the first time the KS certification standard has been revised in 47 years.

The KS certification standard is the abbreviation of Korean Industrial Standards. This standard is an industrial product standard specified in accordance with the Industrial Standardization Law and is equivalent to the Japanese JIS standard. This standard was originally developed for the purpose of improving and maintaining the quality of Korean industrial products. The revision also added and removed quality management products, adjusted review standards, and improved the certification system. Target products include 48 new products in cutting-edge industries such as LEDs, rechargeable batteries, organic ELs and display components.

The main reason for this revision is to improve domestic standards and strengthen international competitiveness. In addition, it is also to raise the previous environmental standards to the international standard level, in order to comply with the electronic and electrical products recycling law and WEEE and other directives.

When selling products in Korea, imported products must also meet the KS certification standards, so Japanese companies must follow this standard. Korean companies will increase their burdens due to changes in standards, and overseas companies will certainly not be able to escape their influence.

The KS certification standard is divided into 17 parts, with the letters A to X as the mark. LED lighting belongs to the category of motor (C). In order to pass the certification, it is necessary to apply to the Korean Standards Association for review of the KS mark and accept its review. At this point, you need to submit a list of licensed factories and designated products.

Applying international standards to IEC proposals to strengthen global competitiveness in overseas markets

The KS certification standard is a standard for Korean domestic, but the LED lighting part of the standard is aimed at international standardization. And it has been published for international standardization. On April 20, 2009, at the International Electrical Standards Conference (IEC) International Conference on Standardization of Lighting (IEC TC 34) at a hotel in Songpo District, Seoul, Korea, Korea proposed the country's LED lighting standard as IEC. Draft of international standardization rules.

The main content of the proposal is to promote the KS national standard for LED lamps and LED lamps developed to replace incandescent lamps and halogen lamps into IEC international standards. At the international standardization conference, 56 international standard experts in lighting fields from 34 countries including the United States, European countries, Japan and China participated. The Korean proposal sets a new "LED Field Technical Committee (IEC TC 34/SC 34E)" to deal with the performance and safety requirements of LED lighting products.

If the Korean proposal becomes an international standardization rule in the future, the world LED lighting standard will have to comply with Korean standards. At present, in addition to the national standard certification work in the field of LED lighting, South Korea is also promoting international standardization work. The Korean government's intention is that if international standards are formulated in accordance with Korean standards, South Korea will gain global competitiveness in overseas markets. South Korea's goal is to ensure 15% of the world's share by international standardization in 2012, and to enter the world's top three as a LED industry power. In addition, the Korean manufacturer's share in the LED lighting market was about 8.3% in 2008, which is to double this value.

It is reported that South Korea will continue to make proposals at international conferences in the future, such as proposing a promotion plan at an international conference held in Hungary in October this year, and presenting more in-depth content at the international conference held in Finland in April 2010.

Note) IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) is a standardization body in the field of electrical and electronic technology. Established in 1906.

Import standard specifications in three stages

As for the LED lighting related items in the KS certification standard, three standard specifications have been developed as of the first phase on March 1, 2009. Namely: "KS C 7651" for converter built-in type LED lamps (for replacing incandescent lamps built in appliances), "KS C 7652" for converter external-mounted LED lamps (for replacing halogen lamps), and embedded LED lamps "KS C 7653". Initially, it was intended to include emergency lighting, but it was postponed due to opposition from the Korea Fire and Disaster Prevention Center, the Fire Industry Technical Institute, and the Fire Equipment Association.

In the second phase, from July 1, 2009, "KS C 7655" for fixed LED lamps, "KS C 7656" for mobile LED lamps, "KS C 7657" for sensor-equipped LED lamps, LEDs "KS C 7658" for street lamps, "KS C 7659" for LED modules for signboards, and "KS C 7660" for AC-DC converters for LED module drive are implemented as standard specifications.

The third phase is scheduled for 2010. It plans to promote six national standard certifications for LED lure fishing lights, LED tunnel lights, LED spotlights, LED airport runway lights, LED railway signal lights and LED aviation obstacle lights.

The development of the work has been twisted and twisted, and finally led by the Technical Standards Institute. In fact, the initial development of the KS certification standard for LEDs in Korea was carried out under the leadership of the private sector. Entrusted by the government, with the assistance of the Korea Institute of Light Technology (Dean: Kim Tae-il), the private sector LED Lighting Standardization Association developed a business case.

However, there are 130 member companies in the association, and when they set standards, they have conflicts of interest. Initially, I wanted to develop six KS certification standards, but it is difficult to coordinate opinions among member companies. Because for enterprises, if the KS certification content is beneficial to their own products, not only can they get the market first before other companies, but also benefit from exporting overseas. Backbone companies hope to develop a KS standard with a relatively high level of technology. Because the higher the level of KS certification standards, KS certification standards will become barriers for companies that want to enter the LED lighting market in the future.

Under this interest, the development work has been slow, so the Technical Standards Institute decided to set up a "Standard Technology Research Association" to promote the development of LED lighting KS certification standards faster and more effectively. The six standards proposed by the Association were actually invalidated, and the KS certification standard was re-established for nine products under the leadership of the Technical Standards Institute.

In addition, the current KS certification standards are based on the Korea Electric and Electronic Testing Institute (KETI), the Korea Electromagnetic Wave (EMC) Research Institute (ERI), the Korea Industrial Technology Laboratory (KLT), and the Korea Institute of Lighting Technology (KILT). Experimental data.

The standards were quickly developed, but the certification application did not progress.

Although Korea has taken the lead in setting standards, the KS certification application for LED lighting products has not been as smooth as expected. It has been two months since the application was accepted (May), but the application has not progressed. Since the certification is “arbitrary certification”, the applicant is the manufacturer, of course, to design and manufacture the product after fully understanding the content of its certification. However, there are too many SMEs in Korea that are engaged in LED lighting. Therefore, some people think that the low understanding of the KS certification standard and the technical level of the industry are still not up to the certification standard, resulting in a zero application status. Many people in the industry have pointed out that there is not enough preparation for registration.

The number of SMEs preparing for standard formulation and management is insufficient. Currently, there are 450 companies that manufacture LED lighting products in Korea. Most companies have about 5 to 10 employees. The current situation of these SMEs is that there is a shortage of people who make a written application and manage the design and production system after deeply understanding the contents of the KS certification standard. In addition, the fees for applying for the KS certification standard become a burden on them.

Therefore, the Technical Standards Institute decided to increase the initial KS certification standards review body. The additional lighting technology research institute and the optical technology institute will be used as certification bodies to expand the review and certification bodies. In addition, a CD containing the practical work contents of the KS certification standard product application and product management will be issued. In order to deepen the company's understanding of KS certification standards, it will work with certification bodies to promote such measures to continuously educate enterprises.

In addition, in order to reduce the burden of certification costs, Korea is also considering a plan to prepare for the elimination of three types of certification (safety certification, high efficiency certification, KS certification).

Setting up LED technology centers everywhere

In order to strengthen the competitiveness of LED lighting, Korea not only carries out the enlightenment activities for the formulation and use of KS certification standards, but also improves the support system in terms of technology and talents.

Specifically, the Gwangju Light Technology Co., Ltd. (KOPTI) of Gwangju will be used to set up the Guangyuan LED Fusion Technology Support Center of Suwon Light, the Qingshan LED Fusion Industrialization Research Center of Gyeongsan, and the Jeollabukdo. North LED Fusion Technology Support Center (Figure 2). This year, we will raise 19.6 billion won from the national, regional, and private companies, and cooperate with Gwangju's light industry cultivation base to support LED talent training and technology development.

How will Japan respond?

South Korea has pioneered the development of LED lighting standards. Although there are not many applications for certification due to the large number of SMEs in the industrial structure, they are one step ahead of other countries in terms of standards. And how can Japan, which has always been ahead of South Korea in LED lighting, go on in the future?

Japan is also preparing to introduce standard specifications as soon as possible, but like South Korea, many people think that the ideas of various companies and industry groups may not be the same. If the standards are set as soon as possible in the LED industry pioneered by Japan and become an international standard, the Japanese LED industry will continue to expand in the future.

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