David Shiller

I had the pleasure of interviewing Kassim Tremblay, V.P. of Business Development at Sollum Technologies about their approach to smart horticultural lighting for greenhouses and other CEA facilities. They’ve integrated some interesting capabilities. Shiller: Some readers know that Sollum Technologies is an LED grow light manufacturer. Can you please share what makes Sollum unique in [...]

An increasing number of manufacturers of Bluetooth® wireless lighting control components have recently released long-range / outdoor components. Some examples include: LiteTrace Casambi McWong in partnership with Silvair These long-range components can include: fixture controllers, sensors, and signal boosters. Most of these manufacturers utilize external antennas to achieve ranges between 500 to 1,000 feet between [...]

  I wrote about ENERGY STAR’s plan to sunset the Luminaire and Lamp programs here, in late March. Part of that plan was to create a new ENERGY STAR recessed downlight specification because recent DOE general service lamp (GSL) regulations excluded recessed downlights and downlight retrofit kits. On March 23rd, ENERGY STAR released their first [...]

  The 2023 National Electric Code (NEC) has a new requirement that prohibits battery-powered wall light switches unless they have a back up power supply. Battery powered wall switches have become a popular form of wireless lighting control, whether that be Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-Wave, LoRa, or a proprietary wireless technology. The exact 2023 NEC code [...]

California’s energy code, Title 24 2022, became effective January 1st, 2023. In it were new code requirements for indoor horticulture spaces, including grow light requirements. This was in part motivated by a large surge in energy use after the 2018 legalization of recreational cannabis in the State. Urban indoor grow facilities took off and energy [...]

The American Lighting Association (ALA) has shared information about a China tariff exclusion that has been reinstated by the Biden Administration. This exclusion for passive infrared (PIR) sensor luminaires could reduce tariffs on certain fixtures depending on the light source (socketed vs. integrated). As part of the Section 301 tariffs on goods imported from China, [...]

  Glass blocks have been utilized for many decades to create translucent walls or wall sections. However, glass block is not able to create loadbearing walls and is not a good insulating material. A group of Swiss researchers have developed a new aerogel-filled translucent brick that is both highly insulating and can create load-bearing walls. [...]

Designing for disassembly (DfD) refers to the practice of designing products or systems in a way that makes it easy to take them apart at the end of their useful life or for maintenance purposes. DfD is an important aspect of sustainable lighting and circular design. This design approach aids the recovery and recycling of [...]

Electronic shelf labels (ESLs) are a technology that allows retailers to remotely update product prices and information displayed on shelves in real-time. ESLs have the potential to revolutionize the way retailers operate, but they also have significant implications for manufacturers: Increased price transparency: With ESLs, retailers can quickly and easily change prices on the shelves, [...]