Controls

The lighting industry continues to undergo historic change marked by extraordinary trends enabled by rapid adoption of LED lighting. Connectivity and networked control, the Internet of Things, lighting and health, restrictive energy codes, and rebates are all driving change. For electrical contractors that compete based on lighting expertise, this presents the challenge of reviewing one’s skillsets and learning what needs learning to remain competitive. In this informative roundtable, ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR talked to six lighting industry experts to find out what impact these trends are having and where they’re going.

Virtual personal assistants use speech recognition technology to execute voice commands by users. Now homeowners can control their lighting, shades, thermostats, A/V, and other smart devices using virtual assistant apps and devices compatible with popular smart lighting and home automation systems.

Tuesday’s elections had a number of upsets, one of which was Democrat Lee Carter winning a 9-point victory over a Republican incumbent for a Delegate seat in the Virginia legislature. His decision to run for political office was inspired by his experience installing a lighting control system connected to a miswired lighting control panel.

My lighting column in the October issue of ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR describes the DesignLights Consortium’s market transformation program aimed at networked lighting controls and describes the first utility rebates promoting the technology.

The energy savings potential of networked lighting controls has attracted interest from utilities, prompting the DesignLights Consortium (DLC) to develop a market transformation program that may prove a game changer in the industry.

My contribution to the July issue of ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR talks about dimming curves and why they’re important. As dimming becomes more important, electrical contractors may benefit by becoming familiar with dimming curves. The dimming curve defines how dimmers set voltage output in response to control signal input, such as a slider position. Intuitively, it would [...]

Lisa L. Isaacson (NuLEDs) and Michael S. O’Boyle (Philips Lighting) discussed power over Ethernet (PoE) systems at the National Lighting Bureau’s Annual Lighting Forum during a session called “Illuminating the Future, Part One”. Randy Reid (EdisonReport) moderated. According to Isaacson and O’Boyle, PoE differs from conventional DC networks in that the cabling used can carry [...]

Below is a short news article I wrote for tED Magazine on the topic of NALMCO’s new controls certification. Reprinted with permission. The interNational Association of Lighting Management Companies (NALMCO) has launched the Certified Lighting Controls Professional (CLCP) designation. With no prerequisites, the CLCP is open to all professionals in the building, information technology and [...]

PC WORLD recently published an article about the type of visible light communication we don’t want, one that leaks passwords and other data. Here’s how it works. Malware hijacks the blinking lights on a PC, which then transmit data to a drone. The researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev demonstrated how it could be [...]