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TECHNOLOGY / LIGHTFAIR INTERNATIONAL, PHILADELPHIA, USA
Dr Geoff Archenhold is pleasantly surprised to find a Lightfair International show that proves US Lighting can be elegant and innovative.
LIGHT FANTASTIC
It has been over three years since I last made the trip to Lightfair International (LFI) but it was definitely worth the long transat- lantic flight as I could witness the signifi- cant progress that incorporated technology advances, business models and quality of product design. LFI has exploded as an exhibition since its days in New York with 538 exhibitors packed into over 233,000 square feet of exhibition halls and over 26,000 attendees. Of course the event isn’t just about being the world’s largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show but just as equally important is the LFI Conference which offered 66 accredited courses and over 200+ hours of education- al lectures covering topics in retrofitting, daylighting, LEDs, Net Zero, lighting design, controls, energy efficiency, exterior and roadway lighting, solar power and more. Another area which is of particular interest is the LFI Innovation Awards, which this year received 307 submissions from 156 different companies and spanned fifteen innovation categories which exemplifies the best in innovative design and thinking. I will talk about a few of the winning entries later on as they offer some unique perspectives on how LED technologies can be used for various lighting applications. Over a decade ago, I used to travel to the US regularly, and I witnessed lighting fixtures that had been designed with all the elegance of an elephant wearing a tutu. Virtually all the products I saw were bulky, hideously over-engineered, ques- tionable in design styles and on the whole, poor technically compared to the elegantly designed and technically superior (at least in my mind) European products. However, within the last three years there has been a dramatic change in products being offered in the US market which I can only believe is due to innovative thinking inspired by LED technology becoming predominant through- out virtually all lighting applications and the tremendous US Government support pro- vided by the DoE and EPA SSL programmes. I think we have to pay tribute to the US Government who have really supported SSL over the last 6 years ensuring innovation, high quality and education programmes
are coordinated to ensure SSL technology succeeds in the US market in a sustain- able way. I think such unusual government department foresight and coordinated programmes have really helped accelerate the indigenous US lighting industry to be world leading and in the long term fully sustainable. For example, the vast majority of lighting fixture manufacturers in the UK are starting to jettison home-grown produc- tion in lieu of importing lower cost Asian sourced products where price seems on the whole to be the overriding key factor. In contrast, when speaking to many of the US fixture manufacturers they are much more bullish about being able to compete with US manufactured products and their key aim is to offer a technically superior product at near-equivalent Asian pricing (when taking into account quality rejects, logistical costs and upfront inventory funding) and I was consistently told the American consumer would prefer to purchase American made goods when they can!
INNOVATIONS TO LOOK OUT FOR There were some really interesting innova- tions on offer during the event and I only have space to cover a few but I definitely think you need to get to the US next year and see more for yourself.
CONTACTLESS TECHNOLOGY HEICO lighting, founded in 1985 and based in Quebec, showed off its contactless LED technology which supplies power to LED modules by induction. Several start- up companies are looking into or have launched such technologies recently and such induction technology offers one solution to reduce energy consumption as it can convert power to drive LEDs at up to 92% which is higher than most LED driver technologies today. Another significant advantage of induction based systems are in installation and reliability with the benefits of less maintenance and operating costs with zero electrolytic capacitor drivers and dimmers. Heico claims the contactless technology allows a perfect customization to all projects and applications through a wide range of possibilities with the option
Figure 1: Heico’s induction lighting system with modules.
of mixing colours, beam angles and intensity on the same single stranded wire.
HID AND TUNEABLE WHITE REPLACED BY LEDS LED Engin launched their Studio White LED emitters to enable the design of compact, cool, safe and reliable LED alternatives to HID arc lamps. HID’s have proved one area of difficulty for LEDs to match as they offer relatively high system efficacies and light output in a compact footprint however LED Engin have created a high lumen density product which features a daylight colour temperature of 5300K, a colour render- ing index (CRI) of greater than 85 and R9 red content of 50 which results in natural rendering of skin tones and other colours. The Studio White emitters come in a range of package sizes for different power ratings from 10W to 80W and delivering between 600 and 4400 lumens output. The emitters also come with a range of total internal re- flection (TIR) lenses ranging from 9° narrow spot to 50° wide flood beam versions. The compact emitter/ lens combination pro- duces uniform lighting on the target area, smooth beam profiles and minimizes light outside the target area, reducing unwanted glare compared to HID and larger LED array solutions. HID is used extensively throughout retail applications and this is a step forward in re- placing the traditional technology with true LED equivalents enabling manufacturers to overcome lifetime and heat issues common- ly found with HID. LED Engin also announced LuxiTune, the
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