Light Planet Creates LED Resources and Financing Option
From lighting up the Olympic opening ceremony to decorating Tower Bridge (and saving 40% on its energy bills in the process), LEDs have certainly made their mark this summer. Now LED specialists Light Planet are raising the bar even further and have developed a new finance initiative, and new online resources, to support the implementation of energy-efficient lighting technology by businesses and organizations.
Having successfully raised £5 million of venture capital to fund the pay-as-you-save scheme, Light Planet is offering businesses LED lighting solutions worth up to £50,000, giving them the power to reduce their energy bills and carbon footprint without upfront investment or loan commitments.
Despite both government and industry emphasizing the role energy efficiency must play in a secure energy future, finance models were an obstacle to widespread adoption of energy-efficient technologies. Light Planet’s initiative is a stark contrast to the UK government’s approach to encouraging energy efficiency – the Green Deal – which could result in homeowners repaying more than double what they borrow and has unsurprisingly been dogged by predictions of low uptake rates.
Simon Leggett, Managing Director of Light Planet, commented: “At Light Planet we have complete faith in the potential of LED solutions to deliver both significant energy and monetary savings. Our new finance initiative will give more businesses and organizations access to the many benefits of the technology and encourage increased adoption of energy efficiency measures.”
As LED technology has matured and the movement towards energy efficiency has intensified, the impressive benefits that LED lighting can deliver are being demonstrated on a wide scale. In addition to the energy and maintenance savings that LEDs bring to almost all kinds of buildings, they offer unique advantages in a number of sectors that range from enhancing patient wellbeing by mimicking daylight in hospitals to protecting precious artworks in galleries.
Despite these wide ranging and significant benefits, it is often difficult to secure upfront investment – particularly for retrofit projects – and this problem has been compounded by the current economic climate. Rather than expecting organizations to bear the brunt of investment, Light Planet will instead recoup 80% of the financial savings achieved as a result of installing this energy-efficient technology.
A new venture for OCG
Advanced lighting solution specialist OCG Lighting has rebranded as Light Planet to reflect the broadened scope of their offering. Light Planet’s project work has put it at the forefront of the LED market, delivering advanced energy-efficient lighting solutions to a rapidly expanding customer base and range of markets. LightPlanet.co.uk is a new information resource center for solid state lighting in the UK.
The Light Planet website brings together leading suppliers of LED technology to share product information, expertise, case studies, white papers and other content on the site. Visitors will be able to use the site to access data on a comprehensive range of quality products from major brands as well as niche players.
“As an industry we are still dealing with a challenging legacy that includes a lack of accurate information around today’s LED technology and an operating environment that is still very much based on traditional or fluorescent-focused standards,” explained Light Planet Managing Director, Simon Leggett. “The new site is designed to be a comprehensive resource for stakeholders across the industry—from end users to contractors, designers and facilities managers—who all stand to benefit from the adoption of solid state lighting.”
The professional site, LightPlanetPro.co.uk, provides comprehensive product data and procurement tools for industry professionals, as well as a number of free tools to assist in LED procurement and installation, including creating designs and light plans, building project folders and generating quotes.
LightPlanetDirect.co.uk is a dedicated site for domestic consumers, offering accessible product information for a full range of LEDs for the home, from bathrooms to basements, kitchens to cabinets.