LED Technology
Programmable LED lighting lays the foundation for IoT
Mark Needham is vice president of European Sales for Fulham, manufacturer of innovative and energy-efficient lighting sub-systems and components for lighting manufacturers worldwide. In this article, he talks about how smart lighting and IoT is working together to create next generation building management infrastructure
T
he Internet of Things (IoT) offers tremendous potential for energy savings and optimisation through building automation, but the adoption challenge is the lack of building connectivity. Without a communications system to collect and share data traffic you can’t deploy an IoT solution. However, new smart lighting technology is being retrofitted into existing commercial buildings, and with this lighting intelligence comes a new potential platform for IoT. The new generation of programmable LED drivers supporting Bluetooth mesh has the promise to lay the foundation for an extensible IoT building management infrastructure. LED luminaire retrofits are gaining popularity with commercial building owners because they are environmentally friendly and cut energy costs. Research shows that lighting and HVAC account for
semiconductor-based lighting. Now you have programmable light fixtures. Using embedded intelligence, LED luminaires can be individually tuned for hue and brightness to match existing lighting, or programmed to manage power consumption. We have termed these standalone, programmable luminaires as “clever” lighting.
Having clever LED luminaires makes it possible to customise lighting systems either at the factory or upon installation to address a variety of very real customer issues: Dim-to-off – A common problem is
controlling light intensity when turning off LED luminaires. Most LED drivers vary the input voltage and often reduce the voltage so the LED appears to be off when in fact, power is still flowing through the luminaire. Programmable LEDs make it possible to actually dim luminaires to consume zero power. Programmable
dimming curves – LED luminaires do not dim consistently. A unit from one vendor could have one light level at 50 per cent
dim which differs from another
vendor’s 50 per cent intensity. With clever lighting you can program the dimming curves to make it easier to deliver consistent dimming when intermixing LED luminaires.
NTC thermistors – Negative temperature
71 per cent of commercial energy consumption. However, when you consider that only eight per cent of commercial space is new construction and more than half of all commercial buildings in use are 60 years old, there is clearly a large market for lighting retrofits. Installing programmable LED luminaires makes it possible to address immediate lighting issues and energy usage, while paving the way for future upgrades.
Clever lighting addresses real- world problems Using LED drivers to replace fluorescent and incandescent lighting not only saves energy but it means you are installing
www.cieonline.co.uk
coefficient (NTC) thermistors can prevent overheating. Luminaires can be programmed to detect the operating temperature and reduce power consumption when it gets too high to extend the life of the luminaire. While these clever lighting capabilities solve a number of issues with LED retrofits, to enable lighting controls, luminaires need to be connected. The real retrofit challenge is connecting those individual luminaires into a common communication system that can not only manage building lighting, but lays a foundation for IoT.
Programmability and connectivity equals intelligent lighting To implement an intelligent lighting ecosystem, you need to connect clever lighting components into a common
infrastructure so they can be monitored and managed from one central dashboard. That means adding some form of communication. To eliminate this problem, most LED
luminaire manufacturers are introducing wireless networking options. Existing standards such as ZigBee already support wireless lighting, but Bluetooth mesh has emerged as a more versatile wireless solution, especially since it can accommodate more vendor’s Bluetooth- enabled devices.
Bluetooth originally was developed for device-to-device links, but the standard has been recently extended to provide many- to-many communications – Bluetooth mesh. Bluetooth mesh uses a flood network architecture so it can connect multiple devices or nodes at once. Bluetooth mesh also has automatic failover,
rerouting data traffic as needed to ensure a reliable connection; Bluetooth devices can be added or removed without disruption. Connecting clever luminaires via Bluetooth mesh is an ideal way to monitor and manage luminaire power for even greater savings. You can detect power fluctuations, so if you are getting 235V or 225V rather than 230V you can take steps to normalise power. You also can identify power hogs, such as faulty HVAC systems. If you are leasing building space, having the means to precisely measure power use makes it easier to bill energy back to tenants.
Beyond lighting controls Since light fixtures are the most prevalent electrical devices in any building, equipping strategically located luminaires with Bluetooth mesh capability is an ideal way to establish building-wide wireless controls. Installing Bluetooth mesh in emergency and exit lights, for example, is an easy way to automate the required monthly and annual testing.
Using sensors installed in strategically located smart LED luminaires it’s possible
to monitor and control different building operations and functions. For example, LED sensors can be used to detect environmental conditions, adjusting the room temperature or raising and lowering automated blinds depending on available light. Intelligent sensors also can be connected to emergency systems, detecting smoke, gas, or carbon monoxide, as well as monitoring for occupancy to tell first responders where people may be trapped or need to be evacuated. And since the infrastructure is based on Bluetooth mesh, centralised access and management is possible from any web-enabled device, including your smartphone.
So what does all this mean for the next generation of LED luminaire components? You can expect to see more programmable, upgradeable lighting components coming to market. These components can be preprogrammed at the factory, by the distributor, or with a little instruction they can be adjusted by the contractor or end user prior to installation. Also expect to see a new generation of transitional drivers to bridge the gap to intelligent lighting. Fulham and other vendors are introducing new wireless Bluetooth bridges that can be used to add wireless controls to installed 0-10v or DALI LED drivers.
These next-generation LED components will be easy to install and cost-effective, especially for lighting retrofits. Once wireless lighting controls start to gain in popularity, smart buildings with IoT intelligence won’t be far behind.
www.fulham.com Components in Electronics November 2018 25
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
