Lighting Technology

Lighting Controls At the nerve center of a lighting system are the controls,which manipulate the level of illumination in each space and provide flexibility in those spaces used for variety of functions. Controls are the only part of the lighting system that the user is able to touch so should be easily adjustable.Lighting controls can aid in managing and limiting the energy consumption in a space, while still providing the individual user flexible light levels in multiple use spaces. There are five basic strategies to save energy, enhance performance and offer convenient  light level changes, they are Occupancy sensing Scheduling Daylight Dimming Tuning Preset dimming Occupancy sensing and scheduling are means of limiting the hours of lighting to the hours of occupancy. Daylight dimming aims to dim electrical light as available daylight enters a space to achieve a constant light level.Tuning and preset dimming allow the user to change light levels for specifi

What is DALI? DALI as an acronym stands for Digital Addressable Lighting Interface. DALI as a concept stands for an intelligent lighting management system that provides increased energy savings,easier installation and maintenance and maximum control and retrofit flexibility.It is an entirely open standard. DALI is not a single product. It is an industry protocol that allows components from different manufacturers( ballasts, controls  systems,sensors,controllers,switches etc) to be mixed and matches seamlessly into complete systems. With DALI, design and user flexibility is dramatically improved over conventional,proprietary systems. Traditional Lighting controls utilized analog interfaces or proprietary digital control methods. image courtesy Dalibydesign DALI advantages to Lighting designers Simple wiring of the control wire Control of individual Lights Flexible Group control Software control allows easy configuration and modification Simple interface with Buildi

How can Light be generated There are basically just two practicable ways of generating light: Incandescence   Luminescence in solid and gaseous media The way in which electric light in particular is generated determines to a great extent the inherent characteristics influencing the visual process. Also the efficiency with which electrical energy is converted into visible radiation varies widely from one light source to another.this also has a bearing on the spectral composition of the light generated,which is why the relation between quantity,quality and cost effectiveness of artificial light  is so complex. Classification of Light Sources There is no basic difference between natural and artificial light. Incandescence The oldest and still the most widespread way of generating light is by bringing a solid body to incandescence by heating.The high temperature necessary to bring a body to incandescence material itself or by employing some type of solid,liquid or ga

Introduction Lighting controls play a critical role in electric lighting systems, providing the functions of turning the lights on and off using a switch; Adjusting light output up and down using a dimmer. In recent decades ,technological development  has increasingly automated these functions and allowed integration of devices into larger ,more flexible systems.The result is significantly expanding energy saving opportunities,flexibility reliability and inter operability between devices from different manufacturers. A good Lighting design includes a good controls design. The goal of an effective controls design is to provide for eliminating energy waste while providing a productive visual environment. A Lighting controls system or device is an appartus that 1) receives information 2) decides what to do with the information 3) changes the operation of the lighting system. A robust Lighting control system provides a control  station, occupancy sensor,photosensor and t

The Importance of Light and Vision Man is dependent on light for most of his life. Without light no life on earth is possible. Man has five senses of which vision is recognized as the most important link with our surroundings. Seeing is possible only due to the presence of light; the natural sunlight,sunlight reflected by the moon and artificial light. We say the lighting is good ,when our eyes can clearly and pleasantly perceive the things around us. Thus lighting should be both functional and pleasant to be effective. The principal criteria on which every lighting installation should be judged ,based on the function of the lighted space or area with regard to visual perception are: * the lighting level * the luminance or brightness in the field of view * the freedom from glare * light directionality and shadows * light colour,colour appearance and colour rendering you have to add aesthetic quality to define the lighting quality. Lighting Level Deciding on the