Analysis: South Africa's forecourt lighting market

One of the biggest challenges facing South African gas station operators is the high cost of electricity. Over the past seven years South Africa's Government has approved hikes in electricity rates that have resulted in a 100% increase of costs for consumers.

Now the Government has submitted an application for a further 25% increase in rates for the 2016-17 period, and with electricity constituting one of the major overheads for gas stations, such a raise has produced uncertainty among operators.

Considering recent events, many of South Africa´s 7,000 gas stations are converting into LED lighting, which can save approximately 70% – 80% of the electricity consumed for lighting. With lighting accounting for around 17% to 20% of the total electricity consumed on a forecourt, moving to LED results in great savings.

The South African market differs from the European or the North American, where certain regulations exist to control the amount of light pollution. It also has different lux (international system unit of illumination) requirements and it includes one element of utmost importance regarding illumination, security.

Products which are highly recommended in Europe and the U.S. do not necessarily provide all the requirements that are necessary for South Africa. There are numerous concerns over some of the products that are being installed, specifically under the canopies.

Some of these are discussed hereinafter.

The lux requirements in South Africa establish a minimum of 400 lux at the petrol pump.
High levels of light spillage around the canopy are required for increased security due to the number of robberies. In fact, most sites also have flood lights on the canopy to light the surrounding area.
Lighting controls such as dimming assist in reducing consumption even further, but are not required in the South African context of security concerns.
Higher ambient temperatures have caused many imported LED canopy light products to fail within the first year of installation.
Erratic and “dirty” power supply is far greater in Africa than in Europe and the U.S. Load Shedding has been rife for the past few years resulting in a large fleet of diesel generators being installed for back-up power, which means imported products struggle to perform.
Maintenance costs are extremely high, specifically if LED canopy lights are failing due to the above circumstances.

Imported and local LED products

South Africa´s special requirements in the lightning market gives local manufacturers and assemblers the upper hand. In addition to local manufacturers making products tailored to the needs of the market, the South African currency (Rand) has suffered a dramatic depreciation over the past year, increasing the costs of imported products and reducing returns.

The country´s manufacturers are able to escape the bulk of these increases by using local labour, raw materials and certain electrical products.

For example, a local 120w – 140w LED canopy light, which delivers an average of over 500 lux at the pump, is currently being sold to dealers at under R5,500 ($335). Meanwhile, imported products range from R6,500 ($400) to R9,500 ($580) and are not ideally suited to local conditions.

South Africa´s regulations to control imports are based on standards set by the South African Bureau of Standards, and monitored by the National Regulator for Compulsory Standards (NRCS – www.nrcs.org.za). Many imported products have not received the relevant certifications (local and international) and are by-passing the NRCS.

Although the petroleum industry has stringent safety standards, specifically in high risk areas found at forecourts, dealers are not keeping to legal requirements - in most cases as a result of ignorance rather than intention.

It is therefore imperative for petrol companies to ensure that their dealers install products that are within the legal requirements. By sourcing and installing local products the industry assists in creating employment, which is a priority in the country, and in saving energy costs.

Written by Peter Goldberg; edited by Oscar Smith Diamante

Peter Goldberg is the owner of Wingold Illumination (www.wingold.co.za) an organisation that specialises in LED Lighting with specific expertise in the petroleum industry sector.