I do not know if my problem is the same as what OP asked, but I have a similar problem and thought it would be a good idea to post the solution here. The CFL light in my family room triggers an adjacent battery-operated First Alert Smoke and CO alarm to beep. I found the answer here (it has to do with the remote-control testing feature of the unit):
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/wiring/msg111948236128.html?17
I was running into the exact same issue as mentioned in this post, and between the info in this post and a bit of investigating I was able to fix the issue.
To recap a bit of this posting, yes turning on a CFL sets off a First Alert smoke/carbon monoxide detector. In my case it was model SC07. As mentioned in this post, both a regular IR remote control and turning on a CFL can set off the test feature of the detector.
The First Alert product documentation states that the IR remote test feature can be disabled by opening the battery door, pressing and holding the test button, then closing the battery door while holding the test button until the device chirps. I did this on all of our detectors and have not been able to set them off with a remote control or CFL since.
One note, if you replace the batteries or open the battery door for any reason you will need to go through this process again.
It is ridiculous that First Alert released a product with these issues.
Here is the exact wording from the user guide:
HOW TO DISABLE THE IR REMOTE CONTROL FEATURE
You may need to disable the IR Remote Control feature because your alarm is located in an area that is in the path of your remote control and is setting off the alarm unintentionally. If alarm cannot be re-located to an optimal location, follow these steps:
1) Open the battery drawer.
2) While holding down the test button, close the battery drawer. You will hear a chirp. Your IR Remote Control feature is now disabled.
Note: You can re-enable your IR Remote Control feature by opening the battery drawer and closing it WITHOUT holding down the test button. Remember, when you change batteries, you must follow the steps above to keep the IR Remote Control feature disabled.