Wednesday’s blackouts on St. Thomas illuminated the territory’s need to reduce its energy consumption, which one stateside company hopes to help with in the near future.
Southern Lighting Co. held an expo at Wyndham Sugar Bay Wednesday with the goal of introducing the latest technology in energy-efficient light bulbs that use about half the megawatts of the regular incandescent model and in time would reduce consumers’ electric bills.
Frank Saunders, the company’s president, said that the current energy-efficient bulbs, which look like spirals, on the market are not aesthetically pleasing to customers, and unveiled a new line of products that he said are more attractive and even more efficient.
"The most expensive product you can use is that cheap little incandescent bulb, because it’s going to cost you over and over and over again, and you’ll go through 100, or 200 of those before using one of these new bulbs," Saunders said as he showed off his new line. "For the homeowner, please change over, take all of your incandescent bulbs, throw them away and get these energy-efficient bulbs because you will definitely see a reduction in your WAPA bill."
While this expo didn’t draw the crowds Saunders had seen in the past, he said the company, which has a local representative, plans to have another event in September to educate more residents about the ever-increasing price of energy.
"It’s nice to come and be here," he said. "Most people don’t follow this stuff, so they don’t know when the new products come out and are made available. We like to take the show to the customers."
One of the samples on display Wednesday was a solar-powered light that Saunders said would be handy during power outages, particularly during hurricane season. The light was said to be able to keep a charge for 45 hours on low settings and also has a USB port for plugging in cell phones and iPods.
"This is our first sample, and we’re going to bring them in starting next week," Saunders said.
Saunders said the company’s expos are also meant to educate residents about upcoming increases in lighting products, which he said could be seen as soon as Friday.
"We’re in a bind right now because of a shortage of rare earth materials," Saunders said. "Rare earth materials, or rare earth minerals, are being mined right now, and 97 percent of them are being mined in China. China has a lock on it … and those rare earth minerals go into the manufacturing of television screens, computers, plasma screens and lighting products."
The tri-phosphorus that also covers the inside of florescent light bulbs — which is what gives the light its color when turned on — is also a rare earth mineral. Saunders said at one point the United States used to mine its own materials, but because the labor is cheaper, the mining has been outsourced to China, which has slowed down production in order to drive the price up. Saunders said what the U.S. needs to do is pick up production on its own materials.
"So another thing we wanted to alert our customers to is that they are going to see an increase in lighting, not just from us, but Kmart, MSI — any of the places that are selling lighting," he said. "These businesses are obviously going to have to pass along the increases to customers, but hopefully by using products that last longer, particularly like the LEDs we offer that can last five to 10 years, it’s kind of like a one-time purchase."
Participating in the expo Wednesday was Michael Olcha, chief engineer for Yacht Haven Grande, who also won the solar-powered light.
"I think the event went well," Olcha said. "I was introduced to some of the new products in the LED field, which eventually I believe all lighting is going to be turned over to due to the lower power consumption, along with the new plasma technology and new industrial technology."
Olcha said the information he came away with from the expo could help improve the day-to-day operations at Yacht Haven Grande, once he begins to incorporate more of the technology on to the property.
"Everything is going green, especially on our property where we use a lot, a lot, of power to light up the facilities," he said. "If I can go away from using traditional lighting and reduce the cost of lighting up our property, it would be great for our day-to-day operations."
Residents interested in learning more about the company’s products, or other products on the market, can contact Saunders at frank@southernlightingcompany.com, or Robin Hitchcock at (340) 998-7467.
