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CHAPTER 4. SCREENING ANALYSIS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

4.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 4-1

4.2 SCREENED-OUT TECHNOLOGIES .................................................................... 4-2

4.3 REMAINING TECHNOLOGIES ........................................................................... 4-2

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.3.1 Fluorescent Lamp Ballast Design Options ................................................... 4-3
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CHAPTER 4. SCREENING ANALYSIS

4.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter discusses the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) screening 

analysis of the technology options identified for fluorescent lamp ballasts. As discussed 

in chapter 3 of the technical support document (TSD), DOE consults with industry, 

technical experts, and other interested parties to develop a list of technology options for 

consideration. The purpose of the screening analysis is to determine which options to 

consider further and which to screen out. 

Section 325(o)(2) of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) provides 

that any new or revised standard must be designed to achieve the maximum improvement 

in energy efficiency that is determined to be technologically feasible and economically 

justified. (42 U.S.C. 6295(o)(2)) In view of the EPCA requirements appendix A to 

subpart C of title 10, Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), part 430 (10 CFR part 430), 

Procedures, Interpretations, and Policies for Consideration of New or Revised Energy 

Conservation Standards for Consumer Products (the Process Rule) sets forth procedures 

to guide DOE in its consideration and promulgation of new or revised efficiency 

standards. These procedures elaborate on the statutory criteria provided in 42 U.S.C. 

6295(o) and, in part, eliminate problematic technologies early in the process of 

prescribing or amending an energy efficiency standard. In particular, sections 4(b)(4) and 

5(b) of the Process Rule provide guidance to DOE for determining which design options 

are unsuitable for further consideration: 

1. Technological feasibility. DOE will consider technologies incorporated in 

commercial products or in working prototypes to be technologically feasible. 

2. Practicability to manufacture, install, and service. If mass production and 

reliable installation and servicing of a technology in commercial products could 

be achieved on the scale necessary to serve the relevant market at the time the 

standard comes into effect, then DOE will consider that technology practicable to 

manufacture, install, and service. 

3. Adverse impacts on product utility or product availability. If DOE determines 

a technology would have significant adverse impact on the utility of the product 

to significant subgroups of consumers, or would result in the unavailability of any 

covered product type with performance characteristics (including reliability), 

features, sizes, capacities, and volumes that are substantially the same as products 

generally available in the United States at the time, it will not consider this 

technology further.

4. Adverse impacts on health or safety. If DOE determines that a technology will 

have significant adverse impacts on health or safety, it will not consider this 

technology further.
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Section 4.2 discusses the technology options DOE screened out from further 

consideration. Section 4.3 lists the remaining design options DOE considered in its 

analyses. 

4.2 SCREENED-OUT TECHNOLOGIES

This section addresses the technologies that DOE screened out, having considered 

the following four factors: (1) technological feasibility; (2) practicability to manufacture, 

install, and service; (3) adverse impacts on product utility to consumers; and (4) adverse 

impacts on health or safety. 

 DOE examined all of the technology options presented in the technology 

assessment. Of those options, DOE screened out one: laminated sheets of amorphous 

steel. The following discussion details DOE’s consideration of this option in the context 

of the four screening criteria. 

The transformer affects the efficiency of magnetic and electronic ballasts. For 

electronic ballasts, transformers influence the efficiency of the electromagnetic 

interference, power factor correction, and output stage of the ballast. For magnetic 

ballasts, the transformer influences the efficiency of the output stage and current-limiting 

portion of the ballast. Ballast efficiency can be improved by using higher-quality 

inductors. One method of decreasing transformer losses is to create the core of the 

inductor from laminated sheets of amorphous steel, insulated from each other. 

DOE screened out this technology because this method increases the size and 

weight of the ballast. DOE has learned that the overall market trend is to create 

increasingly smaller ballast sizes for use in smaller and more highly optimized fixtures. 

As the trend toward smaller fixtures has existed for a number of years, new building 

designs are already incorporating smaller plenum spaces. Thus, an increase in the size of 

a ballast could affect its ability to be used in certain existing buildings or in new 

construction. Accordingly, DOE considers any increase in the existing footprint of a 

ballast to have adverse impacts on product utility and product availability. Additionally, 

larger inductors may cause problems installing and servicing ballasts because the existing 

fixture may not be able to accommodate the heavier weight. Therefore, DOE screened 

out laminated sheets of amorphous steel as a design option because it fails to meet the 

screening criteria of practicality to manufacture, install, and service, and has adverse 

impacts on product utility. 

4.3 REMAINING TECHNOLOGIES

After screening out laminated sheets of amorphous steel in accordance with the 

policies set forth in 10 CFR Part 430, Subpart C, Appendix A, (4)(a)(4) and 5(b), DOE is 

considering the design options in the following table as viable means for improving 

ballast efficiency. Chapter 3 provides a detailed description of these design options, 

which DOE will consider in the engineering analysis (chapter 5). 
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Table 4.3.1 Fluorescent Lamp Ballast Design Options

Technology Option Description

Electronic Ballast Use an electronic ballast design.

Improved 

Components

Transformers

Use grain-oriented silicon steel or amorphous steel to reduce core 

losses.

Use litz wire to reduce winding losses.

Diodes Use diodes with lower losses.

Capacitors Use capacitors with a lower effective series resistance.

Transistors Use transistors with low drain-to-source resistance.

Improved Circuit 

Design

Cathode Cutout Remove filament heating after lamp has started.

Integrated Circuits Substitute discrete components with an integrated circuit.

Starting Method Use instant start instead of rapid start as a starting method for 

lamp operation.