David Shiller

Louisiana’s utility regulators, the Louisiana Public Service Commission, voted in late January to approve creation of the first state-wide, independent, energy efficiency program in the Southeast U.S. The program will have a mission to reduce energy usage and energy bills for both homes and businesses across the state. Measures can include things like insulating buildings, [...]

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite internet constellation now has over 9,000 communications satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO). The satellites form an enormous mesh network utilizing infrared lasers that share information across space, between satellites, known as inter-satellite laser communication. The inter-satellite system achieves a bandwidth of 42 petabytes (PB) per day, which equals 42 million gigabytes [...]

  The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) has announced that Wi-Fi HaLow is ready for smart home and commercial IoT deployments across a range of verticals and use cases. Wi-Fi HaLow is designed for long-range and low-power connectivity and is based on the 802.11ah standard. The WBA has released a white paper that provides an overview [...]

IONNA is a new joint venture founded by BMW, General Motors, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis. The seven automakers received regulator approval and announced the new IONNA charging network, last week. The network is being modeled on the successful European network named Ionity. The plan is to have at least 30,000 new EV chargers [...]

LEDucation is expected to be the largest lighting industry event of 2024. The Virtual Conference Sessions are March 14-15, 2024, and the Trade Show with On Site Sessions are March 19-20, 2024. LEDucation is held every year, in New York City, at The New York Hilton Midtown. Registration for the 18th LEDucation is now open, [...]

  A group of researchers with leaders from the Department of Bioengineering, Imperial College London, solved the mystery of why flying insects collect around artificial lights, whether fires, candles, or various technology electric lamps. Old, unproven ideas include theories of “lunar navigation” and “escape to the light.” These researchers conducted high-resolution motion capture in the [...]

    A small town in the Netherlands, Zuidhoek-Nieuwkoop, has become the first town in the world to install red street lights. The primary motivation was to protect local, rare bat populations. The red light isn’t perceived by the bats but allows humans to see at night. The red street lights are manufactured by the [...]

  Simultaneous and separate crises are occurring at the Panama Canal and the Suez Canal simultaneously. These are the two most important global shipping canals. The Panama Canal is suffering from a drought in the lake that supplies its water. The drought is likely caused and made more severe by climate change. The Suez Canal [...]

    Last week, I attended the annual IPPE poultry show in Atlanta, GA. Poultry lighting is one of many interesting niches within the lighting industry. Most of the show is NOT lighting. In fact, the show is not for the faint of heart. The IIoT poultry processing machines were on display with grim signs [...]