The U.S. Department of Energy’s GATEWAY program has released a report describing four exterior SSL projects that have been completed at Princeton University, which has long recognized SSL’s potential benefits. Among the findings: • Installing 41 new LED luminaires in two parking lots undergoing renovation in 2014 showed that grouping luminaires into zones by means […]
Wireless Lighting Control Comes of Age
Typical automatic lighting control applications involve an input device, such as a photosensor, interacting with a power controller, such as a switch. In some cases, these components may be integrated into the same device, as in the case of a wall-box occupancy sensor. In other cases, the components are installed separately, as in the case […]
Green Proving Ground Program Studies Advanced Wireless Lighting Controls
A traditional lighting control design deploys manual switches and simple controls such as load scheduling to control large zones of luminaires. Even when occupancy sensors are installed, these devices are typically assigned to large control zones. Increasingly stringent commercial building energy codes have made control zoning more granular. Emerging control strategies such as daylight harvesting […]
Interview: Hubbell’s Mike Crane Talks Wireless Control
Craig DiLouie, LC recently interviewed Mike Crane, senior product manager for Hubbell Building Automation, for tED Magazine on the topic of wireless RF lighting control. The interview is published here in its raw form. DiLouie: How would you characterize demand for RF wireless lighting controls in both new and existing commercial buildings? Crane: Over the […]
Sizing the Smart Wireless Lighting Controls Market 2013 and Growth to 2018
Not surprisingly, the introduction of LED Lighting has given a major boost to smart lighting controls right across the globe; but we are now entering a new phase of its development, when LED will be dependent upon smart wireless controls, if it is to open up the vast retrofit market in the commercial and industrial […]
Market Research Suggests High Degree of Confidence with LED Lighting and Controls
Given current adoption of commercial building energy codes, conventional wisdom indicates that LED lighting is frequently specified with automatic lighting controls. However, there is little public data available concerning market penetration of LED lighting, how often it is specified as controllable and with lighting controls, owner preferences, and how satisfied specifiers and installers are with […]
Outdoor Lighting Controls: The State of the Art
Outdoor lighting controls is undergoing a mini-revolution that offers new design and selling opportunities while challenging electrical professionals to stay on top of technological change. Traditionally, outdoor lighting control was relatively simple. A typical scheme featured a controller providing automatic ON/OFF based on time of day (using an astronomical time switch) or daylight (photosensor). The […]
Visible Light Communication
Visible light communication (VLC) is a wireless method that uses light emitted by LEDs to deliver networked, mobile, high-speed communication similar to Wi-Fi, leading to the term Li-Fi. It can be used as standalone solution or in a supplementary role to radio-frequency (RF) or cellular network communication. The basis of the technology, conceived by Professor […]
The Next LED Revolution is Control
With efficacy and service life steadily increasing and costs declining by about 18 percent each year (Memoori, 2014), the LED revolution continues to develop at a rapid pace. LED’s inherent compatibility with digital control, aided by other trends, is setting the stage for the next LED revolution: smart lighting control. Many LED products are sold […]
LCA RF Wireless Controls Survey
Radio-frequency (RF) wireless lighting controls are control devices such as manual switches, occupancy sensors and photosensors that communicate via radio waves. Eliminating control wiring may reduce total installed cost while facilitating application of automatic lighting controls in existing construction where installing new wiring would be costly or problematic. As investment has favored existing over new […]