LED ‘sunflower’ highbays have stolen the spotlight.

Since their debut, sunflower highbays (or UFO highbays as they are also known), have been cornering the market. Their huge leap in success falls to several key benefits held over their predecessors; the most versatile of which is their enhanced minimalistic profile and extreme light output. Through consideration of the sheer number of applications suited to industrial highbays, it quickly becomes clear just how many businesses and individuals can benefit from the new sunflower
highbay advancements.

Such improvements are possible due to intense light outputs via the unique ‘sunflower’ aesthetic, which allows for maximum heat dissipation contributing to the effective use of more powerful components and a more reliable running life. The nickname ‘sunflower’ attributes to the yellow-centred chips which geometrically harmonise to mimic the visual characters of an actual sunflower.

Thanks to LED technology, manufacturers are now able to produce LED fittings such as the sunflower highbay with higher light outputs than their metal halide counterparts while decreasing the power consumption by more than half.

The new and improved significantly smaller profile allows for much greater range of use, where previously highbays, (LED or otherwise) involved large bulky drivers and reflectors that when combined created a tall and heavy unit. Though retrofitting options do exist in the form of LED corn lights and similar designs, these are ineffective comparatively and significantly more expensive, especially when compared to the benefits received from a dedicated sunflower highbay.

The absence of an exterior reflector in the new sunflower design, allows for a flat, non-intrusive floor facing profile and feature a much more compact driver allowing for the LED chips to sit flush against the fixture. This not only creates a more streamline aesthetic, but also frees up otherwise occupied ceiling space – eliminating a potential complication with older highbay models for warehouses featuring high levels of forklift use.

Many sunflower highbays feature strong polycarbonate lenses; providing extra durability and impact resistance. The improved sunflower design would particularly benefit applications such as gymnasiums and sporting arenas where damage from stray sporting equipment would be significantly decreased.

Many new highbays take advantage of the slimmer design, offering adjustable arms to turn a ceiling mounted highbay into a completely adjustable high powered floodlight. Those rated to IP97 offer the most versatility with many businesses already substituting their traditional floodlights for these adjustable, extremely luminous sunflower highbays.

Previously, heat was dissipated directly upwards through a hefty driver housing often utilising a frilled design, whereas these new sunflower highbays make the most of their surface area through numerous cut outs and holes around the entire excess of the fixture. This allows heat to dissipate from extra positions that are completely separate to any components, further minimising potential wear from excess heat.

In summation, the advances of the new sunflower highbays amount to almost zero maintenance, longer lifespans and highly increased efficiency to name a few.

Written by Lachlan Strike on behalf of ANL Lighting