PoE LED‘s are increasingly replacing conventional light sources in the workplace. Particularly in modern office buildings in which special emphasis is placed on ergonomics, convenience and energy efficiency, smart lighting solutions are indispensable and PoE LED Lighting is on the rise.
Fluorescent lamps were first used over 80 years ago. Lamps and their ballast units have continued to develop over the course of time. They became dimmable and are now integrable in bus systems thus allowing various lighting scenarios at the press of a button. However, the programming for such bus systems is complex compared with configuring modern smart PoE lighting control IP fixtures at the click of a mouse.
PoE light sources offer numerous advantages over traditional lighting. The light they emit largely corresponds to natural daylight, which makes for pleasant light perception. PoE Lighting is continuously dimmable such that lighting can also be adapted without problems to frequently changing requirements. Above all, PoE Lighting is characterised by unrivalled energy efficiency. They need no high voltage (120-240V) like conventional fluorescent lamps and can be operated at low voltage with energy supplied by PoE network switch. Additionally the power conversion efficiency of high voltage drivers is less than 70% whereas PoE drivers efficiency is over 95%. The reason is that the PoE switch is better adept at power conversion than a driver.
Lighting through Power- over-Ethernet
The energy supply to terminal devices using Power-over-Ethernet is standardized worldwide. In contrast to classical electrical engineering, there are no national differences. The power supply is provided via the data connection and utilises the proven principle of remote supply of terminal devices with DC voltage.
Two variants are currently available
Luminetworx™ Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) in accordance with IEEE 802.3af, Power-over-Ethernet Plus (PoE+) in accordance with IEEE 802.3at typically works with a DC voltage of 54 V. A maximum of 25.5W is available at the terminal device. As the power supply to PoE-enabled devices comes directly via the data connection, a 110-230V connection is not required. The use of low voltage means that a qualified electrician is not required for installation and maintenance, either for the devices or for the necessary infrastructure. Lighting is fully integrated in the infrastructure for distributed building systems and so becomes part of the IT system. Power limitation of the devices supplied (power sourcing equipment or PSE) and the LED lighting smart driver provide an extra measure of safety. If the engine is backed up with a UPS, as is otherwise common in IT, the lighting also works in the event of power failure.
Modern LED lighting solutions
The systems used in building technology are developing towards IP. Telephony led the way, followed by video surveillance and now there are evermore technical equipment systems and building automation: Devices used for admission control and time stamping are available with an IP connection, and increasingly also sensors and actuators that were previously mainly connected via bus systems. The internet of things (IoT) has now become the state-of-the-art in smart buildings. Modern LED lighting systems consist of just a few components: the lamp with the LED light source, a smart lighting controller for communication and integration of lamps and sensors in the IP network, a sensor to measure the environmental parameters, a smart driver to supply lamps with power via PoE+, a network switch as the intelligent control center for the lighting system, and an app as a mini program to provide the necessary functionalities.
Luminetworx™ PoE Switch
Takes care of the energy supply to the lamps with Power-over-Ethernet Plus. It uses suitable, standard data lines (Cat6), as are also used for the IT infrastructure. The Luminetworx™ PoE switch can be installed in a data rack or electrical closet, but also directly decentralized, e.g. installed in a suspended ceiling. The number of switches is determined by the scope and expansion of the PoE lighting system.
Luminetworx™ Sensors
Sensors measure the environmental parameters. Motion sensors identify whether persons are present in the room. Often a light and a temperature sensor are also integrated in the detector housing. Such combination of sensors reduce installation costs as compared with the use of individual sensors and make data available for other systems, such as heating and air conditioning though the integration of building automation systems. When no one is in the room, the light switch or motion sensor, automatically switch the heating or air conditioning to standby mode in order to reduce power consumption. Within the scope of the smart office, sensors from other completely separate systems can be integrated using a building automation systems.
Luminetworx™ PoE Driver
The Smart Lighting driver represents the link between the PoE lamp and the IP network and manages the data traffic between the network and sensors/lamps. It is installed in the rooms with the lamps, but may also be mounted as a separate zone near specific PoE fixtures.
Luminetworx™ Light-Switch
Allow you to move intelligent features to the wall instead of on an app or dashboard. Aside from meeting code requirements in residential lighting, the Luminetworx™ PoE light switches allows you to turn the lights on, off, dimm and have four memory presets. One of the biggest advantages to the PoE light switch is that you only need one per room no matter if you have 1 or 200 PoE fixtures.
Luminetworx™ Applications
Autonomous software modules or apps on the switches provide wide-ranging functionalities. The Smart Director app, for example, takes the entries from the user’s smartphone or tablet and forwards the corresponding control commands to the particular smart lighting controller of the lamps. Configuration and management of the lamps takes place without any complex, expensive software package. Installation and execution requires absolutely no intervention in the switch firmware. It remains unchanged, which significantly reduces the administrative workload. Several apps can run simultaneously on a switch thus offering a wealth of different functionalities.
Luminetworx™ Controls
The motion sensor recognizes a user entering the office or living room and switches the lighting on. The light sensor measures the momentary light intensity and dims or turns off the lamps such that exactly the required brightness is achieved, also known as daylight harvesting.
With daylight harvesting, the PoE lighting supplements the ambient daylight to achieve the desired level of illumination. The setpoint value can be specifically preset for each workplace and each area. Additionally, the lighting can be adapted to individual requirements and preferences at any time. Users can easily change the light qualities like brightness, via the app, dashboard or wall switch. The Luminetworx™ PoE driver on the network sends the relevant commands to the Smart Lighting Controller, which regulates the lamps such that the desired specifications are met. Once the user leaves the room, the lights switches off immediately or after a predefined period of time. While this procedure is a basic example to illustrate the ease of function, our high-performance network switches and intelligent apps enable far more extensive functionalities for greater convenience and even greater energy efficiency.
Intelligent Automation
As PoE LED lighting is on the rise, light tracking means that only frequented occupancy areas are illuminated. Areas in which no one is present – such as corridors or underground car parks – are illuminated in economy mode or remain dark when no occupants are present. Linking this with admission control means the controlled areas can be illuminated before the first employee arrives. Using motion/presence sensors, lighting is switched off automatically in conference rooms and basements, once the last employee has left the room. Office lighting is scheduled to switch off automatically during nights and weekends, provided no one is present. Consistent implementation of these measures enables savings of up to 80% in electric consumption. These same schedules can be applied to environmental systems like HVAC [when integrated with our Olympus BAS]. Using the same example, the HVAC system goes into rated operation in advance of the start of a meeting; and returns to standby once the last person leaves the room at the end of the meeting. Applying intelligent automations to integrated building infrastructure will drastically reduce dollars squandered to needlessly light and conditioning unoccupied spaces.
Decentralized network architecture for smart buildings
Lighting control decentralization solutions simplify planning and implementation of lighting projects, as they can be installed room by room. Cabling with a decentralized switching architecture, such as Fiber To The Office (FTTO), have proven itself over many years as cost-efficient in-house networking. High-performance data lines are routed through to the user area. Here a network Switch is installed as an active element to provide flexible copper connections for network devices. This allows monitored, manageable devices to be deployed in the user area.
Centralized overall control is not required, but is certainly possible. A hierarchical structure can be achieved by using a centralized cabling infrastructure. The Luminetworx™ PoE drivers and lighting controls on the network controls the lighting decentrally in the individual rooms.
Ergonomics and convenience
Decentralized network architectures allow the users to design their workplace environment individually and to fully adapt it to their personal requirements. This applies to heating and air conditioning and especially for lighting. Light intensity and light colour have a direct influence on employees’ well-being, which is proven to lead to higher productivity and lower absenteeism. With individual, decentralized solutions, each employee can adapt their workplace environment to suit their needs, even in open-plan offices. Adapting temperature and lighting to one’s personal needs in just one aspect of “customizing”.
PoE LED lighting is on the rise and our solutions are ideal for any type of home, including single family homes, condos, and townhouses.
If you would like to learn more about the Luminetworx™ PoE Lighting Solution contact us now.