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A sustained effort by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) on policies for promoting energy conservation and optimisation has resulted in increasing market share of inverter air conditioners in the last eight years.
As per the latest BEE data, during FY16 to FY23, the market share of the more efficient, variable speed (inverter) room air conditioners (RACs) rose from 1 per cent to 77 per cent.
The interventions by the Central government have led to an increase in the market share of the more efficient, inverter RACs. In 2015, the market share of variable speed RACs was less than 1 per cent in the overall RAC market size of 4.7 million units.
ISEER
In June, 2015, BEE introduced a voluntary labelling program for inverter RACs with a new star rating methodology called Indian Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (ISEER) which was made mandatory from January 2018.
From FY16 to FY23, the market share of the more efficient, variable speed (Inverter) RACs increased from 1 per cent to 77 per cent, while that of the fixed speed RAC, reduced from 99 per cent to 23 per cent during the same period, BEE said.
The overall market for RACs reached 6.6 million units by FY21. This market transformation towards efficient technology was possible due to adoption of variable speed (Inverter) RAC policy, which offers benefits to the consumers in terms of electricity and cost saving, it added.
Energy efficiency
India’s energy efficiency policies have not only led to improvement in overall energy efficiency of ACs, but also accelerated the deployment of highly energy efficient inverter technology.
As per BEE data, for split RACs, the overall energy efficiency improvement is 43 per cent for 1-star and 61 per cent for the 5-star level. On the other hand, the overall energy efficiency improvement for window RACs is 17 per cent for 1-star and 13 per cent for 5-star level.
India Cooling Action Plan
These interventions are part of the India Cooling Action Plan (ICAP), which aims to provide an integrated vision towards cooling across sectors encompassing reduction of cooling demand, refrigerant transition, enhancing energy efficiency and better technology options within a 20-year time horizon.
Power Secretary Alok Kumar said the Indian economy is growing at a rapid pace and so the demand for cooling is going to increase multi-fold over next few decades.
“Under ICAP, a detailed action plan has been chalked out. This will ensure that while we cater to our development needs, we do it in an efficient manner,” he added.
BEE DG Abhay Bakre said the ICAP is a comprehensive plan covering all sectors and the government is committed to successfully implementing the ICAP.
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