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E L E CT R I C AL CONNE CT I ON
W I NT E R 2 01 5
GUIDING LIGHT
Beyond illumination
E
very two years, the lighting design
community comes together to
share insights, experiences and
the latest technologies at the SPARC
international lighting event. The highly
anticipated event, which is held during
Vivid Sydney, sees lighting specifiers,
designers, electrical engineers and
manufacturers, including Philips, discuss
the latest lighting solutions developed
locally and abroad, and to hear from
industry experts at the top of their
respective fields.
One of the topics of conversation at
SPARC 2015 was connected technologies
and the potential that these technologies
have to transform the way we light
spaces and the way we engage with
light within spaces.
Of particular relevance to the electrical
contractor is ‘where to next’ for luminaires
and how the digitisation of light through
LED is driving a shift to connected lighting.
Specifically, understanding what’s behind
the growth in demand for LED luminaire-
integrated controls, and the opportunity
for contractors who can identify the
inherent value these new lighting solutions
can deliver.
LED: THE DIGITISATION OF LIGHT
The digitisation of light through the
introduction of LED has opened up
lighting to a world of possibilities, to deliver
capabilities through connectivity far
beyond illumination.
At the most basic level, all luminaires
that use LED sources for illumination have
some form of integrated control and may
also offer a range of additional capabilities
such as the ability to communicate
information about their own status and
operation. This could include internal
operating temperature, energy metering
and lifetime monitoring - which lighting
system owners and managers can use to
optimise system performance, efficiency
and maintenance.
In addition, other LED luminaires use
integrated sensors to collect information
on usage and environmental factors in
illuminated spaces, including occupancy
levels and activity patterns, temperature
changes and daylight levels.
There are many conversations taking
place about how much control or
intelligence to integrate into luminaires
themselves. But whatever your position
is on this, when the market for lighting
with controls reaches an inevitable tipping
point, the lighting industry will be affected
from end to end, and with it, the role of
the electrical contractor. So much so,
the lighting and electrical industries are
expected to look more like the electronics
and IT industries, than the industries we
know today.
WHAT LUMINAIRE-INTEGRATED
CONTROLS MEAN FOR THE
CONTRACTOR, THE FACILITY
OWNER AND THE DISTRIBUTOR
With advanced capabilities, digital
wireless control and systems integration,
projects that used to be strictly about
providing excellent, energy-efficient
illumination are now focusing more on
how to use the lighting infrastructure
to deliver measureable business value
to customers.
From an electrical contractor or
installer perspective, intelligent and
connected lighting systems represent both
opportunities and challenges. Installers
form an integral part of the value chain
for both traditional lighting and intelligent
lighting. But the transition from one to
SPARC 2015 has come and
gone for another two years.
Steve Arthur
looks at the
pervasive trend of ‘connected
lighting’.
The opportunity for electricians to create value through lighting has never been greater.