Saudi Arabia SASO Energy Efficiency Class standard for LED lighting
By Amy Topsun lighting
SASO, the Saudi Arabian competent authority, has issued an official document stipulating that from May 1, 2017, lighting products that have not obtained SASO energy efficiency registration certificates will be prohibited from being imported into Saudi Arabia. When they arrive at customs, all lighting products under supervision will be checked by customs for energy efficiency certification and qualified energy efficiency labels. Lighting products without energy-saving certification or labels will not be allowed to enter the Saudi Arabian market.
EER certification scope
EER refers to the energy efficiency ratio, which is a test that reflects the performance of lighting products in terms of service life, lumen maintenance rate, switching cycle, start-up time, color rendering index and power factor.
Currently, the EER certification standards required by the Saudi market are divided into three categories: SASO 2870:2018, SASO 2902:2018 and SASO 2927:2019. These three standards are energy efficiency standards, but the scope of product control is different. SASO 2870 controls light sources, SASO 2902 controls lamps, and SASO 2927 controls street lighting.
The product scope controlled by SASO 2870 includes directional and non-directional incandescent bulbs, self-ballasted compact fluorescent lamps, halogen bulbs, LED bulbs (incandescent substitutes), and LED bulbs for general household or similar purposes (halogen substitutes) with a luminous flux between 60 and 12,000 lumens. Saudi standard SASO -2870:2015 is mandatory from May 1, 2016. On June 8, 2018, SASO issued Resolution No. 164, updating the energy efficiency label style of lighting products and revising it to SASO 2870:2018.
Product scope controlled by SASO 2902: similar products outside the scope of SASO 2870, i.e. similar products with a luminous flux greater than or equal to 12,000 Lm, non-integrated compact fluorescent lamps, ordinary fluorescent lamps, high-intensity discharge lamps, directional lamps, and non-directional integrated lamps, lamp control devices (ballasts).
Product scope controlled by SASO 2927: LED street lights, high-pressure discharge lamps, and street light control units. Products that originally belonged to the scope of SASO 2902 are now included in the scope of SASO 2927. From February 15, 2020, the application standard for street lights will be changed to SASO 2927. Already applied street lights need to be updated to SASO 2927: 2020.
SASO 2870 and SASO 2902 already cover most lighting products. However, some can still enjoy energy efficiency certification exemptions, mainly solar street lights, traffic lights, emergency lights, LED display lights, and other lights whose main purpose is not lighting.
EER certification testing content
EER certification includes two aspects: energy efficiency testing and energy efficiency registration. The 6000-hour service life test in the energy efficiency test requires a longer test cycle. If the 6000-hour test is completed, even day and night testing will take 250 days. Based on this consideration, the applicant can provide a test statement issued by a third-party organization recognized by Saudi Arabia, stating the estimated completion time of this test and guarantee to provide the Saudi Arabian party with a test report within 15 days after the test is completed. After the test is completed, Saudi Arabia will allow the EER registration certificate to be issued first.
The testing and registration processes of the above three standards are basically the same, mainly because the test data requirements under different control categories are different.
1. SASO 2870:2018 covers the requirements for energy efficiency, functionality, marking, hazardous chemicals, and energy-efficiency labels for all lighting products in Saudi Arabia.
2. The main functional tests include product energy efficiency survival factor, lumen maintenance rate, switching cycle, start-up time, premature failure rate, color rendering index, color consistency and power factor. In order to test the switch life of the sample, the switch operation cycle should follow a cycle of 1 minute on and 3 minutes off. Other tests, such as working life, energy efficiency survival rate, premature failure rate, etc., should also follow the same switching cycle.
For the inspection of the test sample marking, the sample should be printed with information such as brand, rated power, input voltage and country of origin using indelible ink. This information needs to be clearly marked in English (and/or) Arabic on the label, outer packaging, instruction manual and website. In addition, the light source type (indirect), lamp holder, luminous flux, service life, color temperature, chemical content, etc., need to be clearly marked with text or graphic symbols. 3. The SASO 2870 standard also requires testing for hazardous chemicals (RoHS). It includes substances such as lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), hexavalent chromium (Cr6+), polybrominated biphenyls (PBB), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) and mercury, for which the following standards set maximum content limits.
SASO Energy efficiency label for LED lighting
SASO2870 energy efficiency is divided into seven levels: A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. From A (highest efficiency) to G (lowest efficiency), different EEI (Energy Efficiency Index) correspond to different levels of labels.
From the above picture, we know that:
(a) is the SASO logo;
(b) is a QR code which needs to include the following:
Manufacturer name Model number Country of origin Luminous flux (lumens) Lifetime(h) Rated power(W) Equivalent power(W) EEI (unit-less) Efficacy (lumens/W) Annual electricity consumption (kWh/year)
(c) is the energy efficiency grade. The energy efficiency grade is also different from the European ERP; refer to the following table. It should be noted here that the bulbs tested must be C grade or above to meet SASO's requirements and can be exported to Saudi Arabia.
EEI value is calculated by a special formula: EEI = Pcor / Pref
Currently, most lamps (except for lamps whose main purpose is not lighting) must be imported into Saudi Arabia with EER certificates and labels. All lighting products within the scope of control will be inspected by Saudi import customs to see whether the lighting products are EER certified and have qualified energy efficiency labels. Products that do not meet the requirements will be prohibited from customs clearance and will not be allowed to enter the Saudi local market. Therefore, Saudi buyers need to pay special attention to imported goods that have passed the EER test and have a qualified and visible EER label printed on the surface of the product packaging.