PhotonStar host major lighting feature at global sustainable design event

PhotonStar LED Group plc, the British designer and manufacturer of smart LED lighting solutions, will be the primary sponsor this year for EcoBuild’s 300m2 lighting feature “Evolution of Light”.EcoBuild, the world’s biggest event for sustainable design, construction and the built environment, will take place from the 5th to the 7th March at the ExCel Centre, London. 

With a visitor count of 60,000, it is a key event on the global architectural calendar. The  “Evolution of Light” feature, housed inside three giant connected domes, will take visitors on a dynamic audio visual journey through light, providing visitors with essential information about our biological lighting needs, lighting energy challenges, and lighting in the future connected world. 

The feature will demonstrate the latest ChromaWhite dynamic lighting solutions from PhotonStar controlled by award-winning Pharos lighting controllers. Representatives from key industry bodies and other manufacturers will be supporting PhotonStar and contributing to the feature to provide the very best educational experience. Visitors will be able to interact with the installations through their smartphones and will have every opportunity to ask questions or talk to trusted professionals with knowledge and experience of all aspects of lighting. 

A comprehensive seminar programme will also run throughout the exhibition, educating visitors about the most pertinent issues affecting the lighting industry, and setting out many of the possibilities for the future. This educational programme will be delivered by PhotonStar and other leading experts in the lighting industry, who will provide trusted advice and responsible solutions. Key seminar topics will include:

• Daylight and Health
• Controls and Dimming
• How to Specify LEDs (The new 2012 LILG Guide)
• Truly Sustainable Lighting
• Holistic Solutions, including DC systems
• Lighting and the Internet of Things

PhotonStar LED Group PLC (“PhotonStar” or the “Group”) is a British designer and manufacturer of smart LED lighting solutions. The Group’s proprietary technology seamlessly integrates LEDs, sensors and controls to provide intelligent lighting for commercial and architectural applications which benefit from greater CO2 reduction, lower cost of ownership & improved functionality compared to other available light sources. 

Photonstar’s lighting products have won numerous awards for performance, innovation and reliability, and are unique in the industry for the use of recycled, and recyclable materials, which means they have 90% less embodied CO2 than equivalent products providing the same levels of illumination.PhotonStar comprises two divisions: LED Lighting Fixtures which works with lighting designers, architects, house builders, facilities management companies and sustainability consultants to provide intelligent, high-end LED lighting solutions for the commercial and architectural market, and LED Light Engines which provides LED lighting solutions for specialist applications such as film & television production lighting, UV curing and medical applications. 

PhotonStar is based in Romsey, Hampshire with manufacturing in Wales.  

www.photonstarlighting.co.uk

www.ecobuild.co.uk

Academics use LEDs for LI-FI internet

Tiny LEDs are being developed by academics to deliver Wi-Fi-like internet communications.


As well as lighting buildings and outdoor spaces, LEDs are being used to transmit internet communications by academics at the University of Strathclyde.


Researchers say that by creating tiny LEDs which can flicker on and off thousands of times a second, and altering the length of these flickers, it is possible to send digital information to PCs and other electronic devices.


Described as the digital equivalent of Morse code, Li-Fi would make the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum available for internet communications.


Professor Martin Dawson of the University of Strathclyde, who is leading the research, said the university is developing smaller, micron-sized LEDs which can flicker on and off 1,000 times faster than larger LEDs and therefore transmit data more quickly. For example, 1,000 micron-sized LEDs can fit into the space occupied by a single 1mm² LED, with each LED acting as a communication channel. The result is the ability to communicate a million times more data. With each micron-sized LED acting as a tiny pixel, a large LED array display that is lighting an office boardroom can at the same time display information and provide internet communications.


Professor Dawson said: “Imagine an LED array beside a motorway helping to light the road, displaying the latest traffic updates and transmitting internet information wirelessly to passengers’ laptops, netbooks and smartphones. This is the kind of extraordinary, energy-saving parallelism that we believe our pioneering technology could deliver.”


In January, Lighting reported on Bytelight’s location-based technology which uses lighting to give building owners the ability to send and collate information to occupants at precise locations. The company uses lights as positioning beacons that can transmit signals that can be picked up by camera-equipped mobile devices.


The university is working with a consortium of UK academic institutions on the LED research project, including the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Edinburgh and St Andrews. With the aim of bringing academia and industry together to discuss solid-state lighting/electronics and its implications for custom-controlled lighting systems, the University of Strathclyde is also setting up an Intelligent Lighting Centre.


The LED project is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. To hear more about the project, access the audio slide show Li-Fi Multi-tasking micro-lights could spark a communications revolution.

www.lighting.co.uk

PhotonStars new RGB CLE modules

Comic Ed Byrne to perform at Lighting Design Awards

Irish comic Ed Byrne (right) has been booked to host this year’s Lighting Design Awards.

More than 700 of the lighting industry’s top names will watch Byrne take the stage at the awards taking place on Wednesday, 27 March at Park Lane’s London Hilton.As well as performances on the international comedy circuit, Byrne has been a guest panellist on the BBC’s Mock the weekand Have I got news for you. To get a feel for his barbed sense of humour, you only need to check out the comedian’s attempt to tear apart singer Alanis Morrisette’s song Ironic.
The awards shortlist was announced at the end of last year and can be viewed here. 

To book a table at the awards contact Francesca Verdusco on
020 3033 2660.

www.photonstarlighting.co.uk

View the new RGB CLE Modules from PhotonStar™

CLE RGB LED Module

Compact RGB Light Engine optimised for colour mixing.

Luminous Flux	-	R=338lm, G=343lm, B=421lm
Wattage	-	20
Controller/Driver	-	20W DMX PST Smart Controller or select from our driver list*
		*Thermaloc is only available when the PST smart Controller is used.

• 3 Channel RGB
• High Luminous flux up to 750lm (+/- 10% @ 25oC Ambient)
• Intelligent thermal protection with integrated temperature sensors (If used with PST RGB controller (DMX))
• Pre-mix colour mixing optimised for spot reflectors
• Compatible with PhotonStar LEDsmart controls (If used with PST RGB controller (DMX))

The video below displays the colour abilities of the RGB module:

     

Find more information/ Technical data by viewing the data sheet.


Website: http://www.photonstartechnology.co.uk/technology/rgb_modules/

Email: info@photonstartechnology.co.uk

Phone :+44 (0)1794 526741

Fireflies inspire brighter LEDs

Researchers from Belgium, France and Canada have drawn inspiration from nature by mimicking the design of the bioluminescent firefly, which they say can help maximise the glow on LEDs by up to 55 per cent.


A recent study by the University of Namur in Belgium into the structure of the Photuris firefly found that the serrated scales of its abdomen enhance the glow emitted from it. It does this by minimising internal reflections, meaning more light is expelled. For fireflies, this extra light intensity proves useful when it comes to attracting a mate.


Scientists recreated the firefly’s serrated surface in the form of an LED overlayer, which increased light extraction considerably. It is hoped the overlayer can be applied to existing diodes to reduce the amount of light that gets lost to internal reflections.


Researchers at the University of Namur studied the fireflies using scanning electron microscopes and found structures such as nanoscale ribs and larger, misfit scales on the fireflies’ cuticles, a part of the insect’s exoskeleton. The researchers then used computer simulations to model how the structures affected light transmission and found that these misfit shapes let out the most light.


Nicolas André, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Sherbrooke in Canada, created a jagged overlayer on a standard gallium nitrate LED. He deposited a layer of light-sensitive material on top of the LEDs and then exposed sections with a laser to create a triangular profile. The LEDs were made from a material that slowed light more than the fireflies’ cuticle, so André adjusted the dimensions accordingly to a height and width of five micrometers to maximise the light extraction.


The researchers say there is no need for a new LED to be created for this process. Instead, it is hoped that existing diodes can be easily coated and laser patterned.


Annick Bay, PhD student at the University of Namur, said: “The most important aspect of this work is that is shows how much we can learn by carefully observing nature. The Photuris fireflies are very effective light emitters but I am sure that there are other species that are even more effective. This work is not over.”


This research has been published in two papers in the Optical Society’s (OSA) open-access journal Optics Express.

www.photonstarlighting.co.uk

www.chromawhiteled.com

CSR Lighting Demonstration at CES

PhotonStar LED Group plc, the British designer and manufacturer of smart LED lighting solutions, continues to work with CSR plc in the development of its Bluetooth Smart home lighting products. These demonstrations are shown on the CSR booth at CES International 2013 in Las Vegas, a major global consumer electronics show. 

As part of this process, PhotonStar worked closely with CSR to create a joint LED lighting demonstration at CES 2013, showing how Bluetooth low energy wireless technology can enable smartphones, tablets and other connected devices to control systems such as lighting throughout the home. 

Photonstar’s existing LED lighting system is fully colour tuneable and dimmable, and the addition of CSR’s Bluetooth low energy technology increases its flexibility and intelligence. Lights can be controlled individually or in groups using an app creating one-touch buttons to adjust the lighting in a room for different uses such as reading, dining or watching movies. James Mckenzie, CEO of PhotonStar LED Group PLC, commented “Our work with CSR on the wireless connectivity for our lighting systems has produced some exciting results, as demonstrated at CES 2013. 

There is great potential for our lighting solutions to work with everyday technology, creating optimal lighting for the connected home or business as part of the future ‘internet of things’ vision.” PhotonStar LED Group PLC (“PhotonStar” or the “Group”) is a British designer and manufacturer of smart LED lighting solutions. 

The Group’s proprietary technology seamlessly integrates LEDs, sensors and controls to provide intelligent lighting for commercial and architectural applications which benefit from greater CO2 reduction, lower cost of ownership & improved functionality compared to other available light sources. 

Photonstar’s lighting products have won numerous awards for performance, innovation and reliability, and are unique in the industry for the use of recycled, and recyclable materials, which means they have 90% less embodied CO2 than equivalent products providing the same levels of illumination.PhotonStar comprises two divisions: LED Lighting Fixtures which works with lighting designers, architects, house builders, facilities management companies and sustainability consultants to provide intelligent, high-end LED lighting solutions for the commercial and architectural market, and LED Light Engines which provides LED lighting solutions for specialist applications such as film & television production lighting, UV curing and medical applications.

Visit the CSR website to view the benefits of using their technology

Visit the PhotonStar LED Lighting website

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