LED solutions are being widely and rapidly adopted in India. Greater demand is expected across all applications, including the professional as well as home user segments
By Richa Chakravarty
Tuesday, November 11, 2014: The LED has the potential to revolutionise the lighting landscape in India. The Indian market for LED lighting is expected to grow to US$ 400 million by 2015 (at a rate of 53 per cent per annum), making it one of the fastest growing sectors.
The Indian market has been one of the early adopters of LED solutions, and greater demand is anticipated across all applications in the professional as well as home user segments. The digital capabilities of LEDs allow for tremendous customisation in terms of light output, enabling them to provide optimum light coverage. LEDs have gained significant market momentum in various industries including roads and infrastructure, hospitality, offices, the retail space and city beautification. This article provides a glimpse into how the adoption of LEDs is transforming our cities and society, as well as the consumer mindset. Here are some of the examples of how we are benefiting from this revolutionary technology.
Philips is a household name in the lighting business. The company has been involved in reducing the operational costs and carbon footprint of retailers and industry customers. From lighting up table tops to skyscrapers, Philips has been instrumental in changing the complete lighting scenario across the globe. Recently, while celebrating India’s 68th Independence Day, Philips beautified the iconic Kohinoor Square (a 52-storey tower) in Mumbai with a tasteful sparkle of the tricolour against the night sky. Philips Color Kinetics used an advanced LED lighting technology across the building’s huge façade to achieve a twinkling effect, which when viewed against the night sky, looked like a multitude of stars twinkling in the colours of the national flag.
This was achieved by the Philips Color Kinetics programmable colour-changing LED grazer profiles being mounted in select 482 spandrels (the space between two arches) and the direct view LED profile mounted along the entire length of the building, making the entire façade come alive. Philips Color Kinetics products are designed for low power consumption and high brightness to suit the desired installation location and comply with global standards. The Kohinoor Square complex comprises a 52-storey skyscraper and a 35-storey tower for mixed use. It has been certified as the tallest mixed use complex in India by the Council for Tall Buildings and Urban Habitats. It redefines the concept of luxury living with high end commercial spaces—uber comfort, swanky residences and signature hotels.
In 2012, Philips undertook a beautification project of the magnificent Miami Tower in Miami in the US, which is
famous for its colour-changing lighting that enlivens the city’s night skyline. To light up the exterior of the building, hundreds of large 1000W and 400W metal halide fixtures were used. Creating the colour effects on the building was costly, and required a maintenance crew to use cumbersome and expensive gels. At a time when people were paying particular attention to sustainable practices, the Tower’s inefficient exterior lighting system was becoming a target of criticism. Philips, with its revolutionary LED lighting system, helped the Miami Tower building owners to save almost US$ 260,000 annually in energy, maintenance and operating costs.
Another marvellous lighting innovation was undertaken by Osram. To mark the 450th death anniversary of Michelangelo, Osram illuminated the artist’s masterpiece ‘The Creation of Adam’ as well as other works on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, Italy. Lighting experts from Osram developed a sophisticated LED lighting concept that increases illuminance by five to ten times, elevating the colours from the semi-
darkness of twilight and illuminating the complete colour spectrum of the frescoes in highly homogeneous and optimally controlled light. The five colour channels of the luminaire can be independently controlled to allow fine adjustment of the colour temperature between 3000K and 6000K in accordance with changing works of art in exhibition spaces. Nearly 40 luminaires, 20 on each side, are mounted at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in groups of four, and accommodate a total of 140 red, green, blue and white high performance LEDs. Each of the luminaires is approximately 80cm wide, with the heat sink only around 100mm in depth.
By achieving high illuminance levels with low energy consumption, Osram has wonderfully showcased (even while carefully preserving) perhaps the most extraordinary frescoes ever created by human hands. Art lovers visiting the interiors of the Sistine Chapel are now experiencing the art in a completely new way.
Being in the business of delivering optimum lighting solutions to its customers, GE launched a programme to upgrade one of the largest and most prestigious of its own R&D facilities—the John F Welch Technology Centre (JFWTC) located in Bengaluru. The centre is spread over 50 acres and has a built-up area of about 108.51sqm. Many of JFWTC’s existing facilities were built in the last decade. The facility had earlier used conventional light sources such as CFL, HID and LV halogen fixtures. A detailed lighting audit was conducted, which involved lighting level measurements, as well as studying the current business needs such as hours of operation, nature of work and current workspace infrastructure. After working with the lighting design team, a plan was proposed and the main products that were installed included Maple (standard and dimmable), Fern, Swivel, LED tubes, Cedrus, Palm and LED signage lights of varying wattages as per applications and recommendations. Implementing this plan resulted in the R&D centre saving almost 50 to 70 per cent of the energy consumed earlier. The LEDs offered a working life of 50,000 hours, hence minimising maintenance costs. Along with this, the environmental benefits included reductions in CO2 emissions and in other air pollutants.
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