For the past few years, lighting fixtures and LED chip sales have driven much of the growth in the LED industry. Once an innovative and exclusive technology, LED chip phosphor coating patents have expired, generating an influx into the LED market of cheaper, generic LED chips, crafted by Asian manufacturers. With excess supply and lowered chip prices, LED chip sales have declined, resulting in substantially reduced pricing of lighting fixtures and luminaires. The market is shifting, and that shift is toward installing and upgrading to more efficient lighting management systems.
Traditional lighting control systems use triode for alternating current (TRIAC)-based dimmers for AC voltage input dimming control or electronic low voltage (ELV) dimming controls to regulate brightness. When LED lighting was introduced, 0-10V-based brightness control was made possible through the use of a traditional wall-mounted dial or slide switch LED dimming controls, and was implemented as a low voltage alternative to TRIAC or ELV-based dimming systems. In large, higher-end building lighting systems, digital addressable lighting interfaces (DALI) and digital multiplex (DMX) controls are implemented to achieve greater performance in dimming and control. The DALI dimming systems are intended for the management of building lighting systems containing thousands of installed lighting fixtures and luminaires, and DMX controls are implemented in color mixing applications such as stage lights and façade lighting.
With the advent of Wi-Fi and RF communication-based LED lighting controls—which decrease or eliminate the need for wired communication—a need for Cloud-style lighting control systems such as ZWave, Bluetooth low energy (BLE) and EnOcean has arisen to allow smartphones, game consoles and smart switches to control high-end residential lighting. These evolutions continue to shape the future of lighting management systems and provide numerous opportunities for growth.
GRE Alpha is playing a key role in the functionality of these protocols. Acting as an intermediary to allow these different components and lighting control systems to the interface, GRE Alpha’s host of lighting management devices and LED dimming modules make the process of moving to smart lighting as hassle-free as possible. Purchasing a relevant, compatible GRE Alpha dimming module for 0-10V, TRIAC, DALI or DMX lighting systems allows consumers to upgrade lighting systems of all sizes, transforming traditional lighting systems into the lower-cost, higher-efficiency LED lighting systems.
Paving the way for these upgraded systems are GRE Alpha’s newly released 0-10V dimming module and DALI dimming module. The 0-10V dimming module features dimming with no shift in LED color temperature, up to 1024 dimming levels for high-resolution smooth dimming, and single or dual-channel output versions, among other features. The DALI dimming module offers wide range DC input, integrated strain relief, 256 dimming levels, duplicate terminals for parallel connection and more. Both modules offer 97 percent power efficiencies and enable users to achieve the latest in lighting technological advancements—all in a cost-effective manner and with simplicity and flexibility.
GRE Alpha’s 0-10V dimming module and DALI dimming module are just a couple of the exciting, innovative changes coming this summer. Wi-Fi based systems are in the works and will be released later in 2016.
GRE Alpha is committed to innovation and to delivering high-quality, leading-edge LED lighting solutions. For more information about products, or to speak with a GRE Alpha product expert, visit the Enquiries page and fill out the Enquiry form.
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