Day Light Harvesting – Leap Info Systems https://leapinfosys.com Convergent Lighting and Building Automation Technology Fri, 25 Mar 2022 08:27:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 The Ins and Outs Of What is Daylighting In Lighting Control https://leapinfosys.com/what-is-daylighting-in-lighting-control/ https://leapinfosys.com/what-is-daylighting-in-lighting-control/#respond Tue, 22 Mar 2022 07:51:00 +0000 https://leapinfosys.com/?p=7389

The Ins and Outs Of What is Daylighting In Lighting Control

Controlling the amount of daylight entering into your room can be a great way to complement existing lighting systems. Natural daylight is vibrant and beneficial because of its impeccable intensity as well as nourishing advantages. More importantly, when you combine the effects of daylight with your lighting equipment, the energy demand reduces significantly, and you save a lot on electricity bills. Sunlight is an important determinant of human function as well. It is very closely linked to human physiology, and hence in commercial spaces, workers require controlled exposure to daylight for better optimization.

In this article, let us take a look at what is daylighting all about, and why people are stressing more on getting sunlight into our commercial systems more extensively.

Table of Contents

What is Daylighting And How Does An LMS Do It?

Daylight-based lighting control is nothing but the easy tweaking of light intensities on observing whether the daylight penetration is sufficient enough to illuminate all parts of a room. However, what remains to be understood here is how any lighting management system is able to implement this strategy? The smallest and the most important units of any lighting management system are its sensors.

Sensors are attached to every lighting equipment individually. Besides helping in changing the parameters remotely, they also deliver important information. This information can be regarding weather forecasts, ambient conditions, etc. Dynamic conditions can be analyzed very easily through the information received from sensors and subsequently, the parameters can be changed by users to increase or decrease the illumination of artificial lights. This way, artificial lights are made to complement sunlight at different points in a day, and this is what is daylighting all about.

What Is Daylighting Offering To Commercial Spaces?

●     Cut Your Business Expenses

Business managers are often looking for only cost-effective solutions to run their business. Reducing the energy consumption of the office, on the whole, is a great way of cutting a lot of expenses. If you are targeting long-term energy savings and a faster return on investment, daylighting can be a very good option for you. In fact, as per research papers published by researchers from across the globe, an expected 24 percent saving on the annual electricity expenditure can be expected with daylighting systems alone. So, what is daylighting trying to achieve? Simple, the target here is to use as much daylight as possible during office hours and keep the lights dim if not switched off.

●     Improved Employee Performance

It is no surprise that the office environment also plays a great role in deciding every employee’s productivity. When it comes to lighting and illumination, the contribution to employee performance and work optimization is immense. With bright and pleasant lighting in the office, the chances of workers suffering from eye strains get reduced by almost 50%. In the long run, this preserves eye function to a great extent. Moreover, working in a dark and gloomy environment often leads to drowsiness, headaches, and even depression.

Then what is daylighting’s tangible benefit, you may ask. Sunlight is a necessity for human existence, and it’s presence in every season is always uplifting for the mood as well as concentration. The body clock works according to the sun cycle, and hence, giving the body an exposure to the right sunlight intensity at the right is the most organic way of facilitating the mind.

●     Towards Sustainability

Climate change is real, and without a significant contribution from each of us, curtailing it won’t be possible. Big commercial spaces require several resources, among which the demand for electricity is simply massive. Therefore, adopting strategies like daylighting is important here because it gives some space to reduce electricity consumption. A reduced electricity consumption is linked to lesser air pollution as the need for burning more coal will primarily be less. Sustainability is an important agenda for 21st Century companies, and switching to daylighting could be the easiest way to start reducing your carbon footprint.

●     Interiors And Aesthetics

When you have a system that combines sunlight with artificial lights to illuminate a given space, you can expect some of the most aesthetically pleasing interior designs. Natural lighting usually makes a room look more spacious. Further, it helps release tight interior elements, making the space look larger. Interior designers are always keen on using more daylight to prepare designs that look fresh for a long time.

What is Daylighting: The Final Note

So, as you can see, the presence of a good amount of daylight in commercial spaces has multi-dimensional benefits. Taking advantage of modern lighting marvels and automated control systems to boost health, productivity, and aesthetics sounds like a useful plan. Since up to 90% of our time is spent indoors, it is crucial to keep services like daylighting in the foreground of building design. Intelligent and programmable lighting control systems allow users to make the best use of daylighting in their offices, shops, showrooms, etc.

elitedali is a renowned enabler for integrated lighting automation and control systems in commercial spaces. We specialize in delivering vendor-independent solutions that allow users to control and manage intelligent light fixtures. From the design and commissioning to the post-sales, we provide the complete solution for lighting control. We help users integrate lighting control panels into their BMS without requiring any third-party protocol converters. Thousands across the globe have sought our assistance to experience lighting automation. When are you planning to give us a chance? Still, find it hard to understand what is daylighting? Contact elitedali executives to know all the answers today.

]]> https://leapinfosys.com/what-is-daylighting-in-lighting-control/feed/ 0 Sustainable Lighting and Control Systems; A gateway to curb energy costs https://leapinfosys.com/sustainable-lighting-and-control-systems/ https://leapinfosys.com/sustainable-lighting-and-control-systems/#respond Mon, 10 Jan 2022 09:49:00 +0000 https://leapinfosys.com/?p=7125

Sustainable Lighting and Control Systems; A gateway to curb energy costs

Table of Contents

When mankind makes prudent use of resources in order to maintain an ecological balance, the usage pattern is said to be sustainable. Leaving the lights on in a room even after everyone has left is not sustainable. Unwise lighting choices and imprudent usage of the same put a heavy toll on organizations, in terms of energy costs. Power consumption for lighting is still one of the biggest contributors to global power consumption values.

Around fifteen percent of global energy consumption rates are made up of power consumed by lighting systems worldwide. Fossil fuels like coal and petroleum are still the primary fuels used for power generation. Resources of coal and petroleum are depleting fast and the unsustainable usage of power for lighting will only increase energy costs. However, lighting is something that cannot be compromised due to its importance in multiple areas.

Lighting is an important factor in more ways than one. In professional settings such as offices, lighting is an important factor that has effects on the well-being and productivity of employees.

The aesthetic quality of lighting is something that the human mind is drawn to, therefore people are drawn towards optimally lit rooms. However, in a bid to use lighting to the fullest, we tend to forget about the impact of excessive and unsustainable usage of lights on the environment. Identifying sustainable lighting options and sustainable lighting controls are of paramount importance in correcting the current lighting usage imbalance. Sustainable fuels, alternate power generation methods such as wind turbines or tidal turbines are not always within the reach of all business owners or even mid-sized corporations.

Why to use sustainable lighting and controls?

The easiest alternative for companies is investing in sustainable lighting and controls for their buildings. Sustainable lighting and controls refer to the use of lighting systems that limits power consumption, without affecting the comfort of occupants in a room. Indoor lighting is classified into two types based on the source of light as natural and artificial. Natural lighting in buildings refers to sunlight, and artificial lighting refers to light from artificial lighting sources such as light bulbs or lamps.

Most office buildings use static lighting for illumination. Static lighting refers to the use of light sources that provide the same intensity of lighting at all times. In a bid to create a green building lighting design, often energy-efficient LED bulbs are used. Even after installing these energy-efficient LED bulbs, high luminosity, uneven light levels, and unnecessary illumination cause discomfort, and in extreme cases, it causes strain to the occupants’ eyes if exposure prolongs. Another drawback of static lighting systems is that they lack the technology to monitor themselves to locate faulty wiring or malfunctions and this leads to energy losses.

In order to create an effective green building lighting design to optimize usage of lighting, sustainable lighting and controls is a sensible choice as it often involves automation and dynamic lighting to a good extent. Dynamic lighting uses light sources that can vary the intensity with which they illuminate the room. Most often dynamic lighting systems are linked to a centralized control unit that collects data about the intensity of lighting from sensors and uses this data to regulate the intensity of illumination provided by artificial lighting sources. Some dynamic lighting systems have advanced features that are able to monitor the system for faults and notify the users.

elitedali’s Dynamic Daylight Harvesting Solution: A step towards a sustainable future

elitedali offers sustainable lighting management solutions to offices, factories, or warehouses. These solutions ensure optimal lighting, energy savings, and efficient workspaces. elitedali offers a Dynamic Daylight Harvesting system which ensures occupant comfort while cutting down energy consumption costs. 

These (IoT) Internet of Things-driven systems are automated by sensors monitoring the level of ambient or available light in a room in real-time. These systems use a combination of natural lighting and artificial lighting to provide optimal lighting. Good natural lighting has a positive effect on productivity, but it is unreliable. Artificial lighting is reliable, but factors such as uncontrolled luminosity could affect the productivity of occupants in a room.

elitedali’s dynamic daylight harvesting solution uses an array of sensors and a connected light management system to provide optimal lighting for a room in real-time based on the ambient or available light and the occupancy in that room. This system has sensors in place to detect uneven light levels and unnecessary illumination in rooms or areas that are not occupied. This helps maintain energy efficiency while maximizing occupant comfort and productivity.

These IoT-driven lighting changes are automatic and so subtle that the occupants would never have to experience lighting that is too harsh or too dim.  Statistics collected from elitedali’s clients show 60-70% savings on energy bills and also enhanced life of light fixtures, maintenance costs are also lesser due to remote monitoring and fault detections.

In terms of occupant comfort and productivity, 37% increase in concentration, and 30% reduction in fatigue caused by improper lighting. Reduced shutdown times due to automation have a direct impact on the production schedules of organizations. Apart from automated decisions, users can make decisions on lighting based on all possible data points that are available on the system.

Bottom Line

elitedali is known for its market disruptive web based IoT solutions for convergent and integrated lighting controls and automation. We have more than 70 global partners and distributors. elitedali lighting systems is based on open standard Niagara framework for delivering convergent lighting controls and automation of DALI intelligent addressable light fixtures. These systems enable clients to not only save energy and costs but also address sustainability. Convergent systems reduce initial investments for control systems and also reduce complexities, energy consumption, and maintenance charges.

]]> https://leapinfosys.com/sustainable-lighting-and-control-systems/feed/ 0 Daylight Harvesting: The doorway to a sustainable future https://leapinfosys.com/daylight-harvesting-doorway-to-a-sustainable-future/ https://leapinfosys.com/daylight-harvesting-doorway-to-a-sustainable-future/#respond Tue, 30 Nov 2021 09:38:01 +0000 https://leapinfosys.com/?p=6985

Daylight Harvesting: The doorway to a sustainable future

Table of Contents

Introduction

Daylight harvesting or daylight response is an automatic lighting control strategy that adapts electric room lighting to natural light target levels, thereby reducing energy costs. It is most effective in places where there is always a lot of natural light, such as offices, and workspaces, also lighting next to the window or near the skylight.

What is Daylight Harvesting?

Daylight harvesting is one of the most sophisticated techniques used in sustainable lighting design for modern day buildings. It automatically dims or adjusts the brightness of the light based on the amount of natural light available in a certain room. By using natural light coming in through windows and skylights, the energy consumption of artificial lighting is minimized.

What is the use of Daylight Harvesting?

The use of daylight is a way to design a new green building to collect and use natural light in the building, if available, to reduce the need for energy-consuming artificial lighting. Of course, all buildings have windows nearby to let in natural light, but green buildings are designed to maximize that light and effectively disperse it deep inside the building.

Older buildings have an electric lighting system that is on day and night when the building is occupied. However, buildings that use daylight  have an automatic lighting control system that measures the amount of natural light in each room and adjusts the electrical lighting accordingly to provide exactly what is needed for the right level of lighting. I have. The need for electric lighting depends on the time of day (day and night), the position of the sun, and  the weather.

How does Daylight Harvesting work?

Daylight Harvesting systems use light sensors, also known as photocell sensors, to detect common light levels in the environment. It then sends the received light intensity to the controller connected to the lighting control system. The control system automatically adjusts the electrical lighting according to the measured light intensity.

How does Daylight Harvesting work?

There are two kinds of Daylight Harvesting systems:

  • Open-loop daylight harvesting

In an open-loop control system, the light sensor only measures  the intensity of natural light, so it adjusts the intensity level of  artificial light to maintain, compensate, or balance the contribution of natural light throughout the day.

Open-loop sensors are usually installed outside the building, near windows, or towards a  source of sunlight. This is known as an open loop because there is no feedback from the electric lighting.

  • Closed-loop daylight harvesting

In a closed control loop, the light sensor records the entire light intensity from both the natural light source and the power source in that area. It also adjusts the intensity of artificial light based on the detected light intensity  to maintain the preset ambient light intensity.

The closed-loop sensor is typically installed indoors and faces the opposite side of the sunlight source.

 

Why should you choose Daylight Harvesting?

  • Saves energy

It enhances the energy saving by dimming or turning off the lighting based on the natural light entering the room. elitedali’s dynamic daylight harvesting systems are designed in such a way that it can optimise and save energy upto 60-70% depending upon the various control strategies.

 

  • Comfortable and Convenient

Adjusting the lighting continuously and automatically helps maintain the proper level of light in the room. elitedali’s dynamic daylight harvesting system comes with an effortless controlling software that you can connect with your PC or mobile thereby bestowing you with the necessary versatility.

 

  • Creates a healthy environment

Providing the right amount of light to employees helps maintain the proper biological rhythm, which is essential for good health and good sleep, and prevents seasonal mood disorders. Natural sunlight at work enhances concentration, creates a positive mood, and promotes a healthier employee life.

What are some advantages of Daylight Harvesting?

The comprehensive goal of using sunlight is to minimize the amount of artificial light and reduce electricity  costs as well as HVAC costs. Electric lighting produces a lot of heat, but natural light produces very little heat when properly controlled.

In most buildings exposed to sunlight, the total energy savings are 15-40 percent. Energy savings and sustainability can be a reason for organizations to choose sunlight first, but they can also  impact  the productivity and satisfaction of employees, students, and even customers and retail customers.

Many people have a natural charm and need to work in natural sunlight. Studies show that sunlight has a direct impact on well-being, productivity, and overall  satisfaction of a human being. Even retailers like Walmart are aware of the environmental and financial benefits of sunlight for both employees and consumers.

A certain experiment found that in stores with skylights in certain departments, the departments exposed to natural light had higher total sales per square foot.

Where should Daylight Harvesting sensors be placed?

Some basic guidelines for placing Daylight Harvesting sensors are:

  • The lights should be placed in such a way that its arrow points towards the nearest window one or two times above the window height.
  • It must be ensured that the light sensors are not obstructed by ceiling fans or other lights.
  • In open plan offices, assign sensors at least every 9m from the window wall
  • Do not place the sensor in direct sunlight from room lighting fixtures. As a result, the sensor readings may be incorrect and the system may not receive proper sunlight.

Bottom Line

With elitedali’s Dynamic Daylight Harvesting organisations can enhance client convenience and comfort whilst saving electricity intake costs. In the Dynamic Daylight Harvesting systems, the maximum green daylight hours harvesting structures are automated, and are designed to screen the extent of ambient or to be mild in an surroundings at any given time.

elitedali provides top-notch and long lasting Daylight Harvesting systems that can help maintain the perfect lighting around your workspace. It offers its customers pocket friendly and long lasting lights so buy them as soon as possible!

Contact us today!

]]> https://leapinfosys.com/daylight-harvesting-doorway-to-a-sustainable-future/feed/ 0 How Can Building Lighting Control Systems Help in Energy Conservation? https://leapinfosys.com/building-lighting-control-systems-energy-savings/ https://leapinfosys.com/building-lighting-control-systems-energy-savings/#respond Sun, 12 Sep 2021 14:00:19 +0000 https://the7.io/logistics/?p=113

How Can Building Lighting Control Systems Help in Energy Conservation?

For most building owners and facility engineers, managing a building’s lighting controls is an environmental challenge. They see an increasing potential for improvement in the way a building’s different lighting fixtures work. To put simply, the light controls in a building still have the potential to reduce energy consumption and optimize the usage of lights.

However, the building managers and occupants have soon realized the significance of controlled building lighting control systems in reducing the environmental impact of increased electricity usage, and in turn, energy consumption.

Be it unnecessary usage of lights during the day or unavailability of the right amount of light at the right time and in the right place; a controlled lighting system ensures optimal use of lights throughout the building.

Let us see how a controlled building lighting control system achieves energy conservation standards.

1.  Provides the right amount of light

Building lighting control systems can provide the required amount of light in a space if they are pre-programmed or controlled to do so. Such systems can adjust the intensity of lights to generate only the required amount of brightness in a particular area; no more no less.

Moreover, controlled systems can also set the required amount of ambience for certain tasks. This way, the energy consumed by the lights is calculated while catering to specific needs of the building occupants.

2.  Avoids unnecessary usage of electricity

It’s human tendency to leave the lights on while leaving a room or bathroom. We even forget to turn OFF lights and fans when we head out of our house. A controlled lighting system can eliminate such events by time scheduling the process of turning lights ON/OFF and employing occupancy sensors.

Occupancy sensors automatically adjust the brightness of light when the space is empty or someone enters it. Time scheduling ensures that lights are turned ON/OFF during fixed hours like office timings or working hours in industries or factories.

3.  Controls lights dynamically

A controlled lighting system has the ability to manage a network of switches or circuits from a single circuit. With such a functionality, it eliminates the need to activate or deactivate certain lights manually with switches fixed on a certain location. The occupants can control the networked switches from anywhere, thereby saving you multiple wiring strategies for different switchboards.

In addition, such a technique comes handy when you are heading out and need all the lights to turn OFF at once or in the case of emergencies when internal/external lights are to be turned ON immediately.

4.  Communicates with other systems

Building lighting control systems that can integrate and communicate with other systems like HVAC, refrigeration, security, audio/visual, and other components are the real game changers when it comes to energy conservation. These components interact with each other and exchange outputs to provide flexibility in managing a building.

When lighting control systems integrate with HVAC and other building controls, it becomes a single automation system that consumes less energy, less time, and even lesser costs of installation and operation.

Such a way of operation triggers a series of events that contribute to energy conservation measures in a building. Take a look.

  • Using lights only when they are needed and reducing wastage of electricity, especially during the day.
  • Using wireless controls to eliminate line-voltage wirings and the associated costs.
  • The number of hours a light is being used in the building automatically reduces.
  • Reducing the use of air conditioners and HVAC size by eliminating internal heat gains due to excessive use of lighting.
  • Flexible control over lights so occupants can reduce the levels and hence contribute to energy saving.
  • Single point of control for the entire building’s lighting results in simple wiring strategies and reduced load on just one system.
  • Using daylight harvesting to adjust the artificial lights, thereby avoiding the unwanted use of electricity.
  • Interaction between the different components of a building management system and lighting controls has enhanced the overall productivity of a BMS. Such an improvement leads to advanced functionality and more energy savings.
  • Digitally controllable lighting systems can monitor a building’s entire lighting controls from one place. From a single room to the entire floor and the building’s campus; the managers can choose to either control the lighting individually or in a group. It further optimizes the maintenance capabilities for a BMS.

The Takeaway

Whether commercial or residential, it is the responsibility of efficient building lighting control systems to look after the occupants’ preferences while complying with energy conservation measures and building codes.

It is all the more necessary to install a lighting control system that can integrate with building management systems to enable a single point of control for building managers. elitedali ensures such an integration is possible without fail by providing system integrators and other manufacturers with DALI-powered lighting controls and convergent IoT automation.

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]]> https://leapinfosys.com/building-lighting-control-systems-energy-savings/feed/ 0 Which is the Best Lighting Control System? https://leapinfosys.com/daylight-harvesting-design-and-application-guide/ https://leapinfosys.com/daylight-harvesting-design-and-application-guide/#respond Wed, 08 Sep 2021 14:00:48 +0000 https://the7.io/logistics/?p=115

Which is the Best Lighting Control System?

It’s not long since stand-alone lighting controls revolutionized residential and commercial lighting. With an ability to customize the intensity and color of lights as per the mood preferences, these lighting controls made their way to almost every commercial building out there.

However, the advent of networked lighting controls made the stand-alone concept seem a thing of the past. As the name suggests, networked lighting controls are a cluster of multiple stand-alone systems that can be controlled from a central point within the same network. In such controls, the output of one device serves as the input for the other, and such a communication between the lighting controls results in a new level of functionality. 

The discussion leads us to a common question – “which is the best lighting control system?”

How would you know if a lighting control system is right for your facilities? To put simply, what are the characteristics of a lighting control system that makes it a perfect choice for people?

Read on to find out!

1.  Occupancy and time-based light scheduling

The best lighting control system includes a framework that allows users to schedule their lights. Time based scheduling enables facility managers to schedule turning lights on and off on a set time. For example, in a commercial building, the lights can be scheduled to automatically turn on at 7 AM when the first person arrives at the office and turn off at 8 PM when everyone leaves the building. 

Similarly, occupancy sensors in lighting control systems can sense the presence of a person in a particular space and turn the lights ON/OFF or adjust the intensity of lights accordingly.

2.  Supplementing artificial light with daylight

One of the must-have characteristics of a lighting control system is its ability to save energy as much as possible. Ideal systems are equipped with daylight harvesting technology which automatically adjust the intensity or brightness of lights in an area which has sufficient amount of natural light entering inside.

For example, during the peak daylight hours, buildings or homes capture enough light from nature through windows and skylights. In such a scenario, the brightness of lamps, bulbs, or any kind of luminaires in that space can be reduced to minimum or even zero to avoid unnecessary usage.

3.  Tuning lights based on specific tasks

While such a feature is popular in commercial buildings, many sophisticated residential spaces are also inclined towards it. Some of the best lighting control systems allow users or building managers to adjust lights according to different tasks that require a specific ambience for the people to complete it.

Task tuning is commonly used in warehouses, industries, or workplaces that involve certain types of manufacturing, packaging, or other similar tasks. Such activities need a specific amount of light for the staff for better performance and productivity. You can also adjust the temperature of the light considering the task at hand.

4.  Asset tracking with sensors

With advanced lighting control systems, it is now easier to manage your assets in any workspace. Whether it is a commercial building, office premises, a warehouse, or a healthcare facility, asset tracking allows you to keep an eye on specific items from the control system.

In such a system, sensors are added to the items which need to be found immediately or are imperative for the organization. These sensors respond to the lights overhead and can be tracked easily from the central lighting controller. Asset tracking has various applications; however, it is beneficial in hospitals, airports, or warehouses to find wheelchairs or inventory items immediately.

5.  Ability to integrate with other systems

The best lighting control systems are now available with the ability to integrate with other building systems like HVAC. Earlier, the buildings used to manage their lighting and HVAC systems separately. The consequences were not limited to significant energy consumption, expenditure, complex wiring, and low performance.

However, lighting control systems that can integrate with HVAC to provide a single automation system for the occupants cut down on costs, energy consumption, and other complexities in operating a building’s several components. These components include refrigeration, security, alarms, audio/visual systems, etc. which communicate with one another to provide a central control over the entire building management system to the building managers.

6.  Streamlining maintenance with monitoring

A lighting control system that offers monitoring capabilities to the occupants or building managers is easy to track and maintain the lighting controls installed in a building. It gives a detailed report on the equipment being used, their performance, issues occurred, and servicing required for their maintenance. The system sends email or text notifications to alarm the managers about certain problems that require immediate assistance.

Moreover, the managers can divide the operations and the type of notifications between multiple volunteers and effectively control a building management system. Such a process improves productivity, reduces the overhead, and avoids unwanted chaos.

The bottom line

The best lighting control system is the one that caters to the needs of all the occupants while reducing the associated costs, energy consumption, and effort required to manage a building.

At elitedali, we understand the problems associated with managing individual lighting fixtures or stand-alone systems. Therefore, we provide system integrators, development partners, building owners and facility managers with the ability to integrate their existing systems with DALI-powered lighting controls. Such controls offer enhanced flexibility and control over your lighting so you can literally “talk” to your lights.

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Lighting Control system – Your Intelligent Lighting Automation Solution

The contemporary world has finally led technological innovation to invade our lifestyle for good. From using voice for performing searches on digital assistants to managing lighting in commercial, industrial, and residential spaces through lighting control and automation systems – technology has come a long way in raising our personal and professional standards.

It was not long ago that we had an app on our smartphones to control a single light. Now, there’s a whole automatic electric lighting control system that could integrate with your building management system to control the lighting system of the entire building.

In the following sections, you will get to dive deep into lighting control systems and their benefits for efficient energy usage and operational excellence.

What is a lighting control system?

The term ‘lighting control system’ has a close relationship with ‘lighting controls’, however, they aren’t the same.

Lighting controls are individual devices that allow you to control the lighting of a particular space. Time Clocks, dimmers, occupancy sensors, touchscreen, and photocells are some lighting controls devices that control a fixed group of lights based on their location.

However, lighting control systems are a network of such devices and even more lighting control units that communicate with each other and the central computing devices of a building. Such systems coordinate the input and output of devices related to lighting control with the other building systems like fire alarm, HVAC, etc. to provide the right amount of light at the right time.

Why do we need a system for lighting control?

The conventional system had independent lighting controls to manage lighting of different zones separately. This resulted in a lot of lighting control devices to be operated manually and the idea of energy saving, and efficiency could not be utilized to its full potential.

In contrast, a central lighting control system that works together with your building management system is your go-to solution for better energy saving, building codes compliance, safety and security, and alignment with green building programs.

A lighting control system literally automates the adjustment of inputs and outputs of your lighting devices and controls.

Certain factors contribute to the process, including:

  • Chronological (time of day/month/year) and astrological (sunrise/sunset) time
  • Occupancy – occupancy sensors that use infrared or ultrasonic technology
  • Daylight availability – photocells that sense the available daylight
  • Alarm conditions – inputs from fire alarms or HVAC systems
  • Dimmers – reduce energy consumption
  • Program logic – a combination of the above factors

Without such an automated system, we were limited to switching lights ON and OFF or controlling the light output with dimmers. While conventional methods did personalize the way we use our lights, but again, they were limited to a particular location and demanded individual calibration.

Moreover, stand-alone lighting controls would need multiple control strategies that have to be layered on the same load. This further results in complex wiring.

On the other hand, a centralized and programmable lighting control system can manage lighting of the entire building or campuses in consideration. In combination with a building management system, it automates lighting control using a single interface device while reducing energy consumption to its fullest.

Benefits of lighting control systems

Apart from energy saving and a centralized control, lighting control systems provide manifold benefits, including:

  • Customization of lighting intensity in a space – you can change/adjust the appearance of your space based on the atmosphere and mood.
  • Adjustments in lighting power – with output from stand-alone lighting controls like switches, dimmers, LED products, the control system adjusts the lighting power around you.
  • Long living bulbs – Lighting control systems adjust the usage of bulbs according to your requirements, thereby increasing their life.
  • Software support for implementation – you can control your lighting system with robust software that allows you to monitor control points and energy usage. The software records your preferences to provide you with automatically adjusted lighting thereafter.
  • Enhanced security – with output from security alarms, the lighting control system can turn lights ON in both indoor and outdoor spaces.

What is the best lighting control system?

The benefits and features extended by lighting control systems leave us thinking about the best control system that can comply with our building’s requirements and energy conservation programs.

Of multiple lighting control systems out there, DALI powered lighting control has the ability to allow users to “talk” to their lights. It offers you more precise and consistent control over your lighting.

What is the DALI lighting control system?

DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) is a communication protocol that governs how different lighting control devices communicate with each other to provide a systematic and centralized control over a building’s lights. These devices include motion detectors, brightness sensors, and electronic ballasts.

It allows building automation systems to control individual lights and lighting groups for efficient energy usage across a building.

How elitedali fits into the big picture

elitedali is your unified IoT lighting controls and automation solution for DALI lighting control system. It integrates with third party software like building management systems or other IoT applications to provide commercial lighting control systems that control, manage, monitor, and analyse DALI lighting fixtures in real-time and from anywhere.

Join the global community of large scale enterprises leveraging elitedali for their lighting automation requirements. 

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