A clear and bold heading

Project Motivation

Fraunhofer CSE and Digital Lumens are working together on the proposal, Validating the Digital Lumens LED Lighting Control Retrofit for the U.S. Department of Defense's Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP). LED lighting has proved to reduce energy consumption; however, several barriers prevent its widespread adoption: most notably, the lack of intelligent lighting controls in lighting fixtures. Implementing intelligent lighting controls can lead to significant energy savings, as well as financial savings.

Digital Lumens developed the Intelligent Lighting System with Connected Light Engine (CLE, for high-bay applications) and Linear Light Engine fixtures (LLE, for linear tube fluorescent retrofits). The idea was to eliminate the on-going issue of schedules being mis-programmed, and lights being left on throughout the entire day. This new Intelligent Lighting System reduces the amount of light energy consumed, is easy to install, requires no maintenance, and allows centralized control and automation. The platform provides analytics of lighting energy use and savings over time, which is also a security benefit. Furthermore, a backup battery is included in case of outages.

Field testing showed a 93% energy reduction in high bay lighting systems, as well as a 43% energy reduction over uncontrolled LEDs. The Lighting Control Retrofit system projects to save the DoD an astounding $390 million/year for lighting retrofit applications, which makes up 10% of their total facility energy expenditures.

This energy saving process is a combination of various control strategies:

1. Occupancy detection. Sensors activate and deactivate/dim lighting based on whoever is in the room.
2. Task tuning. The output of light is controlled to prevent the waste of excess lighting.
3. Daylight harvesting. The output of light is adjusted to the available daylight in the room.
4. Zone control and coordinated control. Individual luminaires are grouped together into zones so that the zones illuminate when a person walks into the room.
5. Advanced dimming controls. Dim ramping is the ability to control the state of a fixture turning on or off. LEDs turning on and off abruptly can be distracting to nearby employees. Instead, this new setting slows down the rate of lights turning on and off. Each fixture actively adjusts the output of light where it is needed. Essentially, the amount of light needed is the amount of light used. Advanced dimming controls give the illusion that the entire room is well lit, even though the lights are actively dimming, which saves energy and money.

More tests are currently being done with DoD to address the market potential of this product.