How do I calculate the carbon footprint of an LED panel light?
Weigh the aluminium frame, diffuser, light guide plate, LED strips, driver and packing, and multiply each by its supplier's figure. Add assembly, ageing and testing electricity per panel. The aluminium frame and driver are usually large shares.
Materials
- Aluminium frame or back cover by weight.
- Diffuser and light guide plate in acrylic or polystyrene.
- LED strips, driver with its PCB, and wiring.
Making
- SMT line for LED boards, if done in house.
- Assembly and ageing racks, which draw power for hours.
- Testing, cartons and inserts.
Per unit
Report per panel by size and wattage; buyers may also ask per lumen.
Worked example: panel assembly per unit (one month)
- Electricity: 15,000 kWh x 0.710 = 10,650 kg CO2
- Panels passed: 30,000
- Plant total: 10,650 / 30,000 = 0.355 kg CO2 per panel
- Add aluminium, plastics, LEDs and driver for the full figure
Inputs are illustrative; use your own bills and production records.
What Senseible does here
Senseible reads the plant's electricity bills (CEA grid factor 0.710 kg CO2 per kWh, CO2 Baseline Database version 21.0) and fuel invoices (IPCC 2006 defaults) into a fingerprinted Scope 1 and 2 record, the plant-level input to a per-unit figure. Bought-in materials go to the supplier evidence trail; product reports are self-declared drafts.
Sources: GHG Protocol Product Standard, ISO 14067:2018, Carbon footprint of products (iso.org), IPCC 2006 Guidelines, Volume 2 Energy (fuel defaults), CEA CO2 Baseline Database, version 21.0
Last reviewed 2026-10-20.