Network-powered lighting systems provide building owners with a fully integrated, end-to-end, intelligent system leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT) devices, sensors, building automation, HVAC, analytics, and other technologies. Similar in the way Voice over IP (VoIP) delivered innovations in enterprise telecommunications networks, PoE lighting offers a defining platform that enables new capabilities. In a connected PoE system, each light links to an infrastructure comprised of structured cabling and PoE enabled network switches. PoE technology allows highly customizable environments that can gather and share data, inspire new ways of interacting with people and places, and provide more personalized workspaces that improve safety, comfort, and productivity.
What is a PoE Lighting Network?
This plug-and-play, low-voltage approach utilizing Category 5/6/6A Ethernet cables to distribute power and control as well as PoE network monitoring capabilities switches greatly simplifies the installation process, saving time, minimizing safety risk and helps to alleviate resourcing constraints. By using Ethernet cabling as the medium for data and power transmission from a network switch, an enterprise can gain more control over the utility. PoE lighting solutions merge the digital world with the world of commercial lighting to provide a seamless, code-compliant intelligent building system.
How Does it Work?
Standard AC-line voltage enters a location and is directed to a telecommunication room, where it is then distributed to the network switches or power sourcing equipment (PSE). The PSE equipment constitutes a centralized distribution point and forms the lighting network. Another component of this lighting network is the management software, which sends and receives commands through the graphical user interface to give the facility or IT Manager complete control of the system’s lighting. The PSE equipment converts the AC to DC voltage and sends it down the Ethernet cable, providing power and data to the LED luminaires and lighting the space by activating all the connected PoE lighting.
Real-Time Insights
Once installed, the PoE network offers a simple and intuitive web-based interface for commissioning, controlling, and monitoring connected devices. This real-time data provides insights related to occupancy, activity patterns, temperature, daylight levels, and other factors. Using LED lighting as the backbone of an IP network enhances decision-making about future lighting needs with live usage data. Utilizing less hazardous materials, PoE lighting systems offer the benefits of longer operating life, reduced energy consumption, better color rendition, and dimmability.
Monitor and Adjust the Environment for Better Outcomes
- Temperature
- Humidity
- Light output
- Color temperature
- Circadian rhythm
- CO2 detection
- Ambient light (daylight harvesting)
The Benefits of a PoE Network
- Up to 70% energy savings over fluorescent lighting
- Runs over Category 5e/6/6A cabling without high-voltage requirements at LED fixtures
- Simplified architecture over traditional high-voltage lighting
- Less costly than traditional lighting controls
- Integrates with IP-Based enterprise LAN’s
- Compatibility with Luminetworx and Wiz
- Intuitive and simple configuration changes through management software
- Real time visibility into space utilization and energy usage
- Integrated sensor technology
- IoT enablement for integrated applications with HVAC, Access Control, Surveillance, Life Safety and more…
Applications
Healthcare
Studies have shown that lighting can have a major effect on both mental and physical health. With PoE lighting solutions, healthcare facilities can monitor and adjust the environment, leading to better outcomes for their patients. Intelligent PoE lighting networks allow facilities to adjust the lighting to aid in patients’ recovery by adapting to the body’s natural rhythms. They offer better lighting for precise tasks, such as surgery and other medical procedures, and they even adjust intelligently to complement daylight, improving occupants’ moods by providing brighter environments with light that feels more natural.
Enhanced learning environment
When you think about your grade school and high school days, you probably remember harsh, buzzing, and flickering fluorescent lighting. This type of lighting, common to many schools, does nothing to enhance learning and can, in fact, be detrimental to it. Research shows that lighting is a key factor in learning as it controls the brain’s ability to focus. Studies have demonstrated that students in brightly lit classrooms perform better on tests and earn higher grades than those in dimly lit environments. Additionally, building owners can pinpoint precise temperatures, humidity, and even oxygen levels with IoT systems.