Page 32 - enLIGHTenment Magazine - September 2016

Get Smart

harvesting. These systems are easily expandable.”
of switches and panels by 2030. “A camera will rec-
Li pointed out that lighting is important because it ognize you and know which temperature you like,” he

is in every room of the home: “It’s the most pervasive explained.
element in the built environment.” He mentioned Anticipating future market opportunities, Middel

having His and Her lighting scenes where His could said, lighting could play a central role to bridge the
involve movie/sports watching and Hers could incor- gap for IoT due to its universal prevalence, electrical

porate yoga, mahjong, or reading. Li believes that the connectivity, and digital capabilities. “The most impor-

next major trend will be smart lighting technology tant part of the IOT description is that it can be done
to create a “frictionless” living experience. “It’s LED- with no human interaction,” he added. Middel be-

based, it’s networked, it’s controllable, addressable, lieves that the combination of lighting infrastructure
“Don’t talk and easily integrated,” he explained. PCCW’s expan- and IoT will enable lighting to go beyond illumination.

sion into smart technology is a lateral move, and Li Referring to it as “The Kodak E ect,” Middel noted
about LED
said there is a global trend for major telecommunica- that “digital cameras became the enemy of Kodak
anymore; it’s tions companies to explore IoT and smart technology
and the smart phone took over that position from

consumer solutions.
digital cameras. The only thing that companies like
no longer Agreeing that the next generation of lighting is in
these, and Uber, are doing is collect data. We have

the “smart” realm, fellow panelist Tjaco Middel, head to think beyond illumination. Don’t talk about LED
special.
of R&D APAC at Tridonic China, pointed out the anymore; it’s no longer special. Talk about connectiv-
importance of connectivity. Since LED technology ity; this is our Kodak moment. Digital controllers are
Talk about
has plateaued in terms of e ciency and cost savings, becoming cheaper, and the building blocks are there
Middel believes that the evolution of lighting will shi for lighting to bridge the gap to IOT. Soon, if you have
connectivity;
from focusing on the green/energy-saving aspects lighting, you’ll have connectivity,” Middel remarked.
this is our
to the controls and connectivity realm. The cost of “IP-connected lighting is already here; it makes sense
LED is decreasing while the e cacy is increasing. “In to be fully interoperable. There is also POE (Power
Kodak
2020, once you reach 200 lumens per wa , you Over Ethernet) out there.
can’t get much be er. The only way to be more ef- “You can save energy with LED, but you can save
moment.”
cient is through controls — and when you do that, even more by using controls,” he noted. It is estimat-

you get be er comfort,” he noted.
ed that the global net households with smart systems
—Tjaco Middel, Middel expects that in the future, lighting will be is projected to rise to 224 million by 2019.

Tridonic China
fully immersed in IoT and that it will also be the end
Speaking from both his academic and profes-
sional experience, Dr. KF Tsang, founder of Citycom

Technology Ltd., discussed developments in lighting

connectivity. While exploring the feasibility of a vari-
ety of di erent connectivity technologies, Dr. Tsang

identi ed the ZigBee mesh network as an ideal con-
nectivity solution for lighting that can incorporate

energy management and automation applications. RF

control can also be a plug-and-play solution. Dr. Tsang
said that ZigBee “provides an open standard platform
SA
for application development and is a reliable proto- M/U
col. Wireless gives you plug and play for ease of use.”
O
K.C
Dr. Tsang also discussed his past work for the Mira KH
IN
Hotel as an example of how a ZigBee network can be TH
used for lighting connectivity. The network was used SIA
KA
in guest rooms to connect numerous lighting struc- HIN
tures to di erent “control methods,” he explained.
.T
WW
Visible Light Communication (VLC) is another av- W
TY
enue that is being explored, according to Dr. Tsang, ES
who noted that it is cheaper than wi- . “Using wi- URT
O
makes a lighting system more expensive than using O C
VLC,” he said. OT

PH

30 enLIGHTenment Magazine | SepteMber 2016
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