Echelon Corp is converging all new and established wireless and wired connectivity solutions for lighting control under itsLumewave platform.The platform is designed to provide industrial and commercial settings (e.g., roadways, cities and municipalities, office buildings, university and corporate campuses, parking areas, stadiums, etc.) with end-to-end lighting control that delivers the utmost in flexibility.
“As lighting systems transition rapidly to LEDs, lighting connectivity and control applications can add tremendous value for customers, from saving energy to enhancing safety, reducing maintenance costs and improving asset utilization,” says Ron Sege, CEO and chairman of Echelon Corp. “Echelon’s converged lighting control platform offers options to connect virtually any fixture, any place, wired or wireless, around the world.”
As part of its converged intelligent lighting platform, the company has announced a number of new Lumewave by Echelon products for adaptive outdoor lighting control. These wireless radio frequency (RF) products are aimed primarily at North American markets:
• The world’s first Bluetooth-enabled very long range microwave radar-based sensor and controller,specifically designed for controlling street, pathway and area lights. The Lumewave microwave sensors use true Doppler Radar and FFT techniques to differentiate between pedestrians and vehicles in real time, detecting approaching vehicles at more than 400 feet and pedestrians at 100 feet, and to adjust lighting accordingly. The MWX-LVE-180U and MWX-LVE-90U models have 10 times the reach of infrared (IR) sensors, while remaining unaffected by harsh environmental conditions.
• 480V support for the popular TOP900 wireless lighting controller, featuring a power supply that operates in the full range from 100V to 480V. This voltage range saves installation costs for applications such as car dealerships and parking areas that require higher volt ages. These products control all types of dimmable light s, including LED, eHID, plasma and induction. They also offer flexible options in communicating with gateways such as Ethernet, Wi-Fi and cellular.
• Embedded GPS support for TOP900 series wireless lighting controllers.
Find out more: www.echelon.com.
Electrician Forum Brought to you by Schneider Electric

As industry experts you know the products you use everyday better than anyone and should have input on what information you receive about products and what could improve them.
Therefore, we want your insight on the biggest challenges or issues you face when installing loadcentres, breakers (CAFI, GFI's…) and other surge protection devices. We ask that you do not provide product specific details but rather your general issues and concerns or any questions that have come to mind while working with these product types. Provide us with your valued expert insight into the issues you have faced so manufacturers can better inform you about the installation and use of these products. Lets generate some discussion that will help guide the Industry.
Make your comments HERE

There has been a lot of talk about cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) models these days but both are relatively new to the lighting industry. Let’s take a look at what they are as well as their roles in commercial lighting.
What is cloud computing?
Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of compute power, database storage, and applications via the Internet with pay-as-you-go or subscription-based pricing. Cloud computing means that instead of all the computer hardware, software, and data that you are using sitting somewhere inside your company’s network, it’s provided and managed for you as a service by another company and you access it over the Internet.
Read More

This article is an excerpt from a technical brief, “Understanding LM-80, Lumen Maintenance, and LED Fixture Lifetime,” by Philips Color Kinetics.
Test results of lumen maintenance in conventional and LED light sources differ considerably. This is known as the lumen maintenance gap. These tests are performed to determine the useful life of a light source. But how do we compare lighting technologies satisfactorily if test results of a same designation do not mean the same thing? These lumen maintenance measurement distinctions are those we will examine in this article, as a clear understanding of this gap will have a significant impact on the installation, maintenance and replacement cost calculations of lighting products.
Read More

By Line Goyette
Meeting people in our industry often comes with surprises. This was the case with Jean-Marc Myette, Business Development Manager of ABB’s Electrification Products Division and chair of the Board of Electro-Federation Canada’s Quebec section. Not only does he know the electrical industry down to the most minute product and technological innovations, he is also a professional car racer on sabbatical, and someone very involved in his business community and personal life.
Read More