Selecting the optimal system for energy efficient lighting control

The lighting industry has long marketed control and regulating systems claimed to possess great energy saving potential, and at the same time campaigned for increased use of these systems. However, lessons learnt from the R&D project 'Functional protection of energy-efficient lighting controls' showed that there are a number of barriers to achieving the expected energy savings and user comfort. 

The lessons learnt are connected with technical problems related to the products and their regulating functions, options for sep-up, user friendliness and manuals.  All these problems limit the realisation of the energy-saving potential and hinder efficient and wider use in the long run. The lighting industry acknowledges that a main part of existing lighting-control systems do not function as intended. Therefore, the technical functions of the different systems and their energy-saving potential should be systematically investigated and this has not previously been done. 

The overall aim of the project is to further the use of energy saving, stable and user-friendly systems for control and regulation of lighting system in offices, schools, institutions etc.  The project is carried out in the Daylight Laboratory at SBi, where installation and performance tests for each lighting control system are carried out.

Data and experience from laboratory experiments with the individual installation is continuously communicated to the manufacturer. The manufacturer is informed of any weakness detected in their product and this can be a great advantage for further product development. If the results provide sufficient basis, they will be incorporated in future related SBi Directions. 

The results from the laboratory experiments will provide important documentation for the architect's schools training in lighting and automatism, for technical universities, consulting engineers, manufacturers, contractors, etc.