Monday, September 26, 2011

Street Lighting market shows momentum is behind quality luminaires

A new market-research report from Strategies Unlimited indicates that street-lighting applications are taking off, though the market is currently suffering from a temporary setback.

This article was published in the September 2011 issue of LEDs Magazine.

Revenues in the street- and area-lighting market are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12% between 2010 and 2015, according to a new report entitled “LED Outdoor Area and Street Lighting: Market Analysis and Forecast.” LEDs Magazine spoke with Vrinda Bhandarkar, the report’s author and Director of Research for LED Lighting at Strategies Unlimited (San Jose, CA), a unit of PennWell Corporation, who has been tracking the street- and area-lighting market since 2006. Bhandarkar discussed recent developments and pointed to a temporary market standstill in China due to quality issues, great momentum in Europe and the US, and misconceptions about the role of stimulus packages.


LEDs Magazine: How large is the street- and area-lighting market?
Vrinda Bandarkar: In 2010, it was a $327-million market, which is not huge, but street lights are sort of a gateway technology. When street lights become feasible, the markets for area lights, parking-lot lights, flood lights, wall packs, billboard lights and other lighting applications become available to LEDs.

What markets are included in that number?
That includes worldwide capital spending on street lights and tunnel lights; plus area lights, which includes parking-lot lights, canopy lights, flood lights and wall packs. This is a worldwide estimate of the market size, primarily made up of the US, Europe and China. Markets in other countries at this time are quite small.
What kind of growth do you expect going forward?
We are looking at a CAGR for unit growth of 28% from 2010 to 2015. However, because LED luminaire pricing will continue to depreciate, the revenue growth will be lower, at around 12% (see Chart). The slowdown in China is reflected in a temporary setback for the market in 2011.
What has been the role of stimulus packages, such as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009?
The large installations, such as the one that happened in Anchorage, Alaska, and the one that’s currently happening in Los Angeles, were not implemented because of stimulus money. They happened because the cities wanted to reduce their operating costs – both the energy used and the maintenance cost of the street lights. These cities did use some stimulus funding, but more funding was provided through grants and financing through other channels such as environmental groups.
But there are so many cities trying LEDs and those are potentially going to result in full-scale installations very soon. I think that was the role of the stimulus – it exposed city officials to this energy-efficient technology. Many people tend to get comfortable with the status quo, but when you are given money and asked to do something with it that will result in energy savings, you take advantage of something like solid-state lighting. Then, when everyone sees the results, there is strong motivation to want to implement LED lighting throughout the city or municipality. I don’t think this would have happened otherwise.
And what’s going to determine whether these pilot programs go to full-scale implementation, aside from solid performance from the pilot run?
The biggest hurdle for these cities is raising the capital, especially in this difficult economic environment.
Are there other benefits beyond the savings?
Yes, uniformity of light and fewer dark spots. But beyond those qualities, I don’t think we can underestimate the value of the political point it makes.
In your press release, you say the US market has taken the lead in proving the viability of LED technology for outdoor lighting applications. Can you elaborate?
Yes, the US put an early emphasis on street-lighting quality. Through several programs, such as the Department of Energy’s Municipal Solid State Street Lighting Consortium and the DesignLights Consortium, a great deal of effort was made to educate the consumers – meaning the cities – on LED technology, the energy efficiency it can provide, lumen depreciation, and other issues. The DesignLights’ qualified-products list alone gives users a good starting point for selecting luminaires.
What about China?
What happened in China was very different. The local governments encouraged the installation of LED-based street lighting and several programs were implemented. However, instead of getting the expected energy savings, there were many cases of premature luminaire failure. As a result, this year China put their street-lighting projects on hold. They realized the need for standards to ensure the quality of every luminaire that is installed.
What will happen next?
Once China implements some standards, and they may borrow from the existing international standards, the market will ramp back up. The top 10-15 suppliers of street lights will begin bidding for projects again, but that may not happen for another year.
Where do you see the greatest opportunities in this market?
The biggest opportunity exists where old technology is in place – starting with mercury vapor lamps, to fluorescent and incandescent lamps – these are no-brainer applications right now because they pay for themselves in energy savings alone.
Linear fluorescent tubes are common in many parking lots. The fluorescent tubes need to be changed out every year and a half to two years. With exposure to heat, cold and vibration, these fixtures do not perform to their maximum efficiency. They represent another obvious area.
In area lighting, people are also going after high-pressure sodium lights. LEDs offer superior light quality, directionality and the user can reduce lumens and increase uniformity of light, which is the biggest plus for LEDs.
Where do you see maintenance being the biggest factor?
For tunnel lighting, it’s critical. When a tunnel needs to be shut down or partially shut down due to luminaire change-outs, the effect on traffic is very disruptive.
What do you see as the next step for lighting-fixture design in this market?
The luminaire designers, especially in Europe, have gotten very creative artistically. When it comes to shop owners and upscale malls, the buyer will be more swayed by the attractiveness of the luminaire and the security the light provides. This is a different value proposition than when luminaires are being sold to a city based mostly on energy efficiency. I think we will see innovative, interesting luminaire designs going forward.

Monday, September 19, 2011

What's New in HID Ballasts

Written by Craig DiLouie

Published: Electrical Contractor Magazine, August 2011

As with other types of lighting, energy codes and legislation are influencing high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting—high-pressure sodium (HPS), metal halide (MH), and mercury vapor—in this era of regulated efficiency.


The Energy Policy Act of 2005 eliminated mercury-vapor ballasts—with specialty ballasts allowed by later legislation—encouraging a switch to HPS or white light. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 eliminated probe-start magnetic ballasts in new 150–500W MH lighting fixtures, increasing demand for pulse-start quartz and ceramic metal halide (CMH) lighting. Pending energy legislation in Congress would eliminate general-purpose mercury-vapor lamps starting January 2016.
Meanwhile, commercial building energy codes continue to impose restrictions on outdoor lighting. California’s Title 24 energy code and the ASHRAE/IES 90.1 2010 energy standard go even further by requiring outdoor lighting to be capable of bilevel switching. And California Title 20 product regulations require 150–500W MH fixtures to achieve a certain level of ballast or fixture efficiency or feature automatic energy-saving lighting controls.


While many of these regulations affect the new construction market, the retrofit/replacement segment also offers opportunity. In 2010, this segment ­represented 46 percent of HID ballast sales, according to National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) sales data. Popular retrofit options include pulse-start electronic HID (eHID) replacements of existing large-wattage probe-start systems, and eHID/CMH replacement of halogen lamps.

As a result of this pressure, innovation is trending toward efficiency, controllability and smaller size. MH is the most popular HID light source with a massive installed base. As the market is shifting to white light options, most innovation is occurring in the MH category.
The big efficiency story is on the ballast side, where the trend is toward higher efficiency and controllability. The eHID ballast has been around for a long time, but its moment has arrived. Sales of eHID ballasts constituted 17 percent of the $231 million HID ballast market in 2010, up from 15 percent in 2009, according to NEMA. Most of this is in the wattages smaller than 150W segment, where the smaller than 39W pulse-start eHID ballast sales increased 338 percent over 2009 and 40–149W pulse-start eHID ballast sales increased 84 percent. Pulse-start eHID 150–250W ballast sales, however, also increased a healthy 108 percent, while those wattages larger than 250W, with fewer offerings, increased 21 percent.

In the larger than 150W segment, we’re seeing interesting innovations. A number of new ballasts feature digital construction, increasing their capabilities. Many eHID ballasts offer continuous dimming to satisfy energy codes, such as Title 24—usually with a range from 100 to 50 percent of lamp power per NEMA recommendations. Some of these products connect to 0–10V DC controls or DALI, enabling them to join a control network.

Another recent breakthrough in high-wattage eHID ballasts is the adoption of a low-frequency square wave shape, already popular in low-wattage CMH systems. The low-frequency square wave shape reduces wear and tear on the lamps, producing better performance.
Some ballasts can be used to operate both MH and HPS lamps, providing eHID options to HPS that were previously lacking and with fast HPS restrike. Finally, we’re starting to see more offerings for higher wattage lamps. Legislation and development has focused on 150–500W MH, but there are viable retrofit opportunities above 500W.
Some products worth a look include Sylvania Quicktronic MH, Sylvania Metalarc Powerball 200W system, GE UltraMax, Sylvania Quicktronic QHO (outdoor product), Universal Lighting Technologies 210W, Philips CosmoPolis programmable digital ballast, Metrolight SmartHID Plus and Empower digital ballasts.

In the smaller than 150W segment, the big story is 15W and 20W systems with eHID ballasts available in an extremely compact size, with the ultimate goal being to make the ballast “disappear.” This objective permits smaller fixture designs to open new track and other applications in both new and existing buildings. With extremely compact components, CMH lighting fixtures are approaching the factor and size of low-voltage MR16 halogen systems, offering an attractive alternative to traditional incandescent and halogen sources.
Let’s start with 20W, until recently the smallest MH system available. A 20W CMH system might replace a 75W halogen lamp, for example. To support CMH as a viable alternative, ballast manufacturers are producing extremely small electronic ballast designs. New ballasts from GE, Universal Lighting Technologies and Hatch Transformers measure about one-sixteenth the size of a standard eHID ballast, allowing for smaller products.

Even smaller than 20W is the recently introduced 15W system. An example is the Sylvania Metalarc Powerball 15W T4 CMH lamp and Super Mini ballast producing output comparable to a 12V, 50W MR16 and savings of up to 32W per lamp (25 percent energy savings compared to the 20W option). This system allows HID to be substituted for lower wattage lamps where the 20W system might be considered too bright.

Market pressure is driving an extraordinary level of innovation in HID ballasts, creating new opportunities in both new and existing buildings.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Are you ready for some football???? Stadium lighting case-study, that is...

Ready for football: GE ingenuity scores at Dallas Cowboys Stadium

As the largest NFL venue ever built, the Dallas Cowboys' billion–dollar stadium is an engineering marvel. GE's contribution to the project -- cost-effective and energy-efficient lighting and electrical distribution equipment -- has satisfied the Texas-sized expectations of the Cowboys organization. For GE Appliances & Lighting, the charge was to go on offense, developing and delivering stadium lighting that provides uniform and maintained light across the field, while eliminating glare and shadows for fans in the stands and at home.

“Our stadium has capacity for as many as 100,000 people, and our football games are some of the most watched in the NFL, so making sure our field has effective lighting is imperative to our business,” says Jack Hill, general manager, Cowboys Stadium. “We needed a proven and robust solution that could enhance and sustain the viewers' experience and GE delivered.”


Sports lighting
At the onset of the project, GE laid out a photometric design that took into account the complex problem of maintaining uniform lighting and light levels on the field that would eliminate shadows and glare for fans, as well as the multitude of High Definition TV (HDTV) cameras positioned throughout the stadium. “This is a complex process that takes substantial design time to render an optimal solution that works within the consulting engineer and architect's requirements,” says Jack Bohner, GE's commercial director – sports and entertainment. “This crucial step serves as the roadmap for delivering uniformity and continuity of light that provides a consistent appearance, style and light quality from any vantage point.”

The result of the GE-recommended design required 668 1500-watt PowrSpot® III luminaires with glare control and 96 1500-watt UltraSport™ luminaries with hot re-strike. The combination of these 764 luminaires makes up the main event lighting, or the entire football field's horizontal surface beyond the sidelines and end zones but not into the stands.

GE's innovative UltraSport offers advanced design light output and efficiency with excellent visibility and color rendering for players, spectators and broadcasters. It features a “hot re-strike” capability that enables the fixture to come back on almost instantaneously during a temporary loss of power. This attribute is critically important during sporting and other large stadium events since standard high-intensity-discharge (HID) sport lighting requires 11 to 15 minutes to cool down and come back on after a momentary loss of power. “Having thousands of fans sit in the dark for 15 minutes is not acceptable,” Bohner adds. “GE's technology solves this problem efficiently and really enhances the quality of light in the Cowboys stadium.”

GE's customized lighting solution of UltraSport and PowrSpot luminaires provides 300 foot candles of maintained light level on the field, which is above the NFL specification of 250 foot candles. Generally, the higher the foot candle level the better for the viewer, as long as it alleviates glare, hot spots and shadows for fans and cameras. In addition, 60 1500-watt PowrSpot III luminaires (non-event lighting) were supplied for use as house and security lighting. Click here for more information about GE sports and stadium lighting.

LED lighting
The organization also engaged a lighting design firm, Craig Roberts Associates, Inc., (CRA), to analyze and design the lighting schematic in some of the suites and club space. The result was a more sophisticated and thoughtful lighting design.

Stephanie King, principal designer with CRA, worked to design the LED cove lighting. “We installed LEDs wherever an architectural opportunity presented itself,” she notes.

CRA integrated coves into dropped soffits, created lighted coffers, and incorporated up lighting within suspended decorative elements. Because of the linear footage involved, incandescent lighting was not an option. CRA specified the GE LED Cove Lighting System for its rich color quality, LED color consistency, integral driver and dimming simplicity.

“The use of GE LED lighting systems in coves has become an irresistible proposition for many businesses,” says GE's Bohner. “Paybacks based on the cost of the product and comparative energy and maintenance costs will invariably show that the GE LED Cove lighting system is preferable to halogen systems. The GE LED system offers a 50,000-hour rated life, so it could run continuously for more than five years.”

King adds: “We wanted to make the spaces feel warmer. It imparts a more residential feel while respecting the contemporary design and functionality of the stadium.” Click here for more information about GE LED Cove lighting.

Electrical distribution
Since sustained power in a stadium is imperative, GE developed a robust solution that includes 70 substations, 15 switchboards and a variety of other electrical distribution products to provide emergency power during an outage or surge. GE's quiet, reliable transformer operation requires no vaults for installation so the transformers can be located right at the load to provide the correct voltage for the stadium's requirements. This eliminates the need for long, costly, low-voltage feeders.

“Given the space constraints in the electrical rooms, the substations were a challenge to fit, but our manufacturing team and suppliers came up with an efficient size design that suited the space perfectly,” says Bohner. “Our solution is an ideal combination of technology and teamwork that exceeded original specifications and provides reliable and energy-efficient power for the stadium now and into the future.“

http://www.gelightingsolutions.com/lighting-news-releases/ready-for-football-ge-ingenuity-scores-at-dallas-cowboys-stadium