What is the Enhanced Capital Allowance scheme?
Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) schemes aim to encourage businesses to invest in efficient technologies. The scheme lets your business claim 100 per cent first-year allowances, i.e. tax relief, on investments in certain technologies and products.
Energy products eligible for ECA
You can only make claims for tax allowances under the Enhanced Capital Allowance (ECA) energy scheme for certain technologies. Qualifying products within these technologies must meet certain eligibility criteria specified on the Energy Technology List (ETL).
The Enhanced Capital Allowance scheme aims to encourage the purchase of lighting controls that realise energy savings by automatically switching or dimming lighting in these ways. Five different categories of lighting controls are covered by the ECA Scheme:
1. Time Controllers
The product must automatically switch the lighting off, or dim it down, at predetermined times of the day or week, or after a predefined interval.
Where automatic dimming controls are used, they must be capable of reducing the power consumption of the controlled lamps by at least 50%.
Compliance
Prolojik systems utilize centralized and distributed time-schedules which have the ability to switch and dim on an individual luminaire basis. Control is available down to minute resolution with an effectively unlimited number of independent time channels.
Prolojik systems also provide astronomical clock functionality which allows external lighting to only be enabled at an appropriate time dependent on the longitude, attitude and time of year.
2. Presence Detection and Switching
The product must automatically switch off the lighting, or dim it down, after the area has become unoccupied.
Where automatic dimming controls are used, they must be capable of reducing the power consumption of the controlled lamps by at least 50%.
Compliance
Prolojik systems utilise occupancy sensors extensively. Sensors are configured in two primary energy conservation modes: occupancy (automatic on and off) and absence (manual on, automatic off). Subject to client requirements, set back mode can also be enabled which will reduce the light level at a prescribed time after the end of occupancy. This further reduces energy consumption.
Prolojik systems can also be configured to adaptive holdtimes, which reduce the occupancy hold time during night modes.
3. Daylight Detection and Switching
The product must monitor the availability of daylight and automatically switch the lighting off when sufficient daylight is available to illuminate the area.
Compliance
Prolojik multi-sensors are capable of individually or on aggregate controlling the artificial light contribution in to switch off artificial lighting when a defined set point has been reached.
4. Daylight Detection and Dimming
The product must monitor the availability of daylight and automatically dim the electric lighting to the level just needed to sufficiently illuminate the area.
The product must be able to reduce the power consumption of the lamps being controlled by at least 50% through dimming.
Compliance
Prolojik multi-sensors are capable of individually or on aggregate controlling the artificial light contribution in order to achieve a specified lux level. The integrated software allows for minimum and maximum dim levels, dim rates and dead-bands to be defined.
5. Central Control
The product must be able to manage the overall operation of the electric lighting installation that includes some or all of the categories of lighting controls set out in Tables 1 to 4 above.
Compliance
Prolojik’s Perspective supervisor is capable of monitoring and controlling all aspects of the lighting control system, including but not limited to:
- Realtime monitoring & feedback
- Sensor and luminaire configuration
- Time scheduling
- System health
- Alarm handling
- BMS integration
- Energy management