There is a growing number of over 300 million street lights in the world, yet the majority are still to be converted to LED luminaires despite their clear technological and economic advantages. While official requirements differ around the world the main principles for good street lighting are the same; high quality illumination that ensures clear visibility and road safety. Whether it is a small pedestrian walkway, high-speed multilane freeway, pedestrian crossing or tunnel, there are multiple ways to illuminate them properly.
Offices consist of many different types of rooms and areas: work areas, public areas, hallways, meeting rooms, showrooms, kitchens, places for relaxation – each requiring a different kind of lighting. Some spaces must follow specific criteria while other areas can be illuminated with much more freedom. Besides visual comfort, people’s wellbeing and safety are important considerations and lighting can also be directly linked to productivity. Today’s advanced electronic controls can follow different phases of the day and balance artificial lighting levels with natural light. Using warmer tones and low intensity at the beginning and end of the day can lower stress, and using cooler tones during the day can be energizing. This is all part of Human Centric Lighting philosophy and is a very important, even vital, especially indoors where we spend many hours a day in artificially lit environments.
Area lighting applications typically include large open air spaces that require broad, uniform illumination. Car parks must have good illuminance levels for visibility and safety, but at the same time minimize light trespass. Outdoor areas such as harbours and airports have very high poles – 30 meters and higher – that have to illuminate wide areas efficiently and without glare on employees working with heavy machinery. Petrol stations, drive-through and other outdoor canopy lighting applications all need to have efficient area lighting without wasting light, and therefore energy, on the surroundings.
It is said “all the world’s a stage” but for stars and those in their shadow there is little point in being centre stage if you can’t be seen. The right light makes stars shine bright while enhancing the mood and magic of the story or music, focusing audience attention and setting the stage for the whole event.
The world is full of specialist fields with their own lighting needs. Medical, mining, transport and signage to name just a few of the areas LEDiL have created solutions for. Every field has its own specific lighting requirements to ensure a safe and productive work environment. LEDiL has a wide range of optics solutions that are fine-tuned and especially designed to meet these requirements. Innovative, patented solutions are LEDiL’s trademark and are the reason for our position at the forefront of the industry. Ultra-narrow beams, side emitters and blade type optics; our portfolio includes many different sizes and shapes, from searchlights to anti-panic and medical lighting. If you can’t find a suitable solution from our extensive line of standard products please contact your local LEDiL sales representative to discuss your project and possible need for a customized solution.
If the wheels of industry are to keep turning the lights need to stay on. But industrial lighting is not just about lighting big halls, machinery or production lines; it is also about providing light for the people that need it to do their work. Having the latest equipment, high-tech facilities and necessary signage in place is not enough if they cannot be seen, and the wrong colour temperature or intensity in areas that require precision can reduce productivity. Getting the lux levels right on surfaces that need to be seen clearly, while at the same time reducing energy consumption is a necessity – especially in large scale projects. Furthermore smart lighting can be used to reduce lighting where and when it is not needed. Good industrial lighting can make daily work easier, safer and more productive.
Tunnels can be found everywhere these days and no matter what they are used for they lack natural light and therefore need effective lighting solutions. To provide safe passage from one end to the other sufficient illuminance levels must be achieved day and night, throughout the year. Sudden variations in lighting levels when entering or exiting a tunnel are not allowed. At night the lighting levels must be dimmer, while during the day they need to be multiplied and concentrated more at the tunnel entrance. Luminance and illuminance levels, glare and light uniformity all play a big role when designing the luminaires for this purpose as they affect people’s safety. Public transport – trains, trams, boats – as well as stations and harbours have their own lighting requirements and must follow national and industry standards.
Introduction to UV-C lighting
Ultraviolet light is a range of wavelengths just below the visible light range. It is divided into three different bands, with UV-C starting from 200 nm and going all the way up to 280 nm. As the DNA and RNA of most bacteria and viruses are most sensitive to radiation between 260−270 nm, (germicidal effectiveness goes up to 310 nm) UV-C light is capable of killing them, acting as a contactless, chemical-free disinfectant. Although it is not always necessary to kill all pathogens, UV-C light can be used to simply prevent them from replicating. This achieves the same germicidal effectiveness at significantly lower levels of UV exposure, which is good for materials and reduces luminaire costs, etc.
There is a huge variety in the size, standard and location of sporting venues and stadiums around the world. Venues may be indoor or outdoor, small or large, in rural or urban locations and either single or multi-discipline, but they all have a need for their own lighting requirements. Stadiums especially, can be unique pieces of architecture, with a need for specific lighting to showcase or enhance the building itself. Venue owners, players, spectators, television broadcasters and their audiences have different needs, and therefore lighting solutions must be flexible so that events can be played and enjoyed by all stakeholders.
Even in the age of internet shopping we still spend time in shops – some more frequently than others. Shops try to make the retail experience as positive as possible and lighting is one key element to this. How comfortable the lighting makes us feel correlates to time and money spent, and how likely we are to return. Spotlights are used to highlight promotional products, and different lighting levels are used to create contrast, mood and drama within a store. RGB LEDs are used to help re-enforce corporate brand colours or marketing campaigns. Lighting certain products with a specific colour temperature has been proven to increase sales. Wall-washing and uplighting techniques can be used to create artistic scenes or to ensure that all the areas of the store remain bright. Lighting shops is an art, but there is also a lot of science and research behind it. Good lighting helps to attract the purchaser’s eye to products, present products at their best and increase revenue. Bad lighting can not only reduce sales and footfall but also staff retention.