Modular Light System - 2,800 to 11,200 Lumens

rmteo

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This is a concept for a modular lighting system. It is 55 watts with an calculated output of 2800 lumens. The housing is 220mm. (8.66in.) wide, 99mm. (3.90in.) tall and 70mm. (2.76in.) deep. This version is designed to run off 110V/0.60A AC. It has 0-100% dimming via the knob on the side. It contains 15 neutral white LED's in 5 clusters of 3 with integrated optics.

As a modular system, multiple units can be stacked on top of each other. A 3 high stack measures 297mm. (11.70in.) tall with an output of 8400 lumens. Any comments, especially with regards to an acceptable MSRP, is appreciated.

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Re: Modular Light System - 55W/2800 Lumens

Why triple optics and not discrete ones?

Also, when it's operating, you'll get better convection if the fins are roughly vertical rather than roughly horizontal.
 
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Re: Modular Light System - 55W/2800 Lumens

The triple optics is to facilitate efficient automated assembly of the PCB and LEDs. Agreed that vertically oriented fins are more effective. The housing is designed around a custom designed extrusion. Having the fins vertical would require a much larger extrusion die (costing quite a bit more).

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Re: Modular Light System - 55W/2800 Lumens

Regarding the fin orientation I think you might not need them at all. I made a 40 watt light this size before with no fins (just a piece of rectangular tubing) and it never exceeded 65 C.

If you are going to stack the devices wouldn't that require some sort of attachment method?

Also your rendering does not appear to have a power supply or a power input. Is it an internal or external supply?

As for MSRP, I think that would depend on the target market. Who exactly would be using this light and for what? What existing fixtures would it be similar to?
 
Re: Modular Light System - 55W/2800 Lumens

For this configuration, the entire power supply and driver will be on the main PCB (shown in blue). It is for running of 110V AC mains - I did not show the power input. For stacking, a connecting bracket will be available. This is an example 3 high (8400 lumens).

Added - Power input shown on MASTER unit in next post.

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MASTER:
a. 2800 lumens output.
b. 110V/0.6A AC input.
c. 0-100% dimming control (using built-in knob OR RF remote controller).

SLAVE:
a. 2800 lumens output.
b. 0-100% dimming control (from MASTER unit).
c. Power derived from MASTER.
d. Up to 3 SLAVE units can be attached to a MASTER.

REMOTE CONTROLLER (Optional):
a. Controls up 16 independent MASTER units with selectable addresses.
b. 0-100% dimming control.
c. 900 MHz RF - line of sight not needed.
d. Output level of all 16 channels displayed simultaneously on graphic LCD.
e. Channel selection with a single button push.

MASTER and SLAVE units are 232mm. (91.13in.) wide, 99mm. (3.90in.) tall, 70mm. (2.76in.) deep. Estimated weight is 1.20kg. (2.65lb.) for both types.

Budgetary Pricing:
MASTER - US$800
SLAVE - US$600
REMOTE - US$250 (Optional)
Mounting hardware - TBD

2800 Lumens (1x MASTER) - $800
5600 Lumens (1x MASTER, 1x SLAVE) - $1400 (shown below, MASTER on top)
8400 Lumens (1x MASTER, 2x SLAVEs) - $2000
11200 Lumens (1x MASTER, 3x SLAVEs) - $2600


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Looks like a very good idea. I don't know how marketable it will be though. I know that I wouldn't have a use for it but others might. Good luck.
 
Cool idea,


It will be easier to market if it would take 110V/230V.


Will be watching this closely.


Benny
 
These units look like they would be viable replacements for car park lighting and other permanent outdoor applications.

I am in the process of building something similar, however if you were to build this and offered an optic option approx 60 degrees, I would definitely consider using them in banks of 2 to replace our current 300W halogen floodlight units. The remote control idea is great.

Are you sure about that pricing though? The sort of control that you're talking about there sounds like you'd struggle to get that to retail for that price. If you can get that price, you're definitely competing with any high-end outdoor lighting applications, especially shopping centers and other public venues where light maintenance is a big part of the cost.

I too will be following this project closely :popcorn:
 
I like the remote control but think the added cost greatly limits the market. Shopping centers, car park lots, etc, do not need any of this advanced functionality, nor a dimmer. They simply need on at dusk, off at dawn (or on a timer -off that's already wired into their lighting circuits)

Therefore, pricing will depend on your target market, existing products you directly compete against.

Not so sure the master/slave arrangement is necessarily desirable either, generally when selling to a business that needs continual uptime (which is the case with lighting), they need field-serviceable units that any random Joe Sixpack with a basic electrician's ability can maintain, with no instructions. Then again it comes back to the target market, for non-permanent installation or when an engineer is on-site, let alone using the lights, more features are a selling point.

Although integration is nice, for this price I think it needs be more modular, not having the driver and all LEDs on one PCB. While vertical fins would be more costly, does it need to be so rectangular, slim and wide? Granted it gives more fin area to space the LEDs out a bit but it looks like there is a lot of wiggle room to rearrange them, decreasing heatsink width.

Also if it's meant for outdoor applications, much wider spaced vertical fins will collect less debris. Lights attract insects, insects attract spiders, spiders make webs, leaves stick to webs as do insects, etc, etc. I think it only needs be small for portable interior applications, or perhaps emergency exit lighting above doorways.

I've gone off on several tangents, to know if it's a good design/price tradeoff we'll need to know what it competes against and what advantage the target market would have to entice a purchase. Maintenance cost reduction for intermittent use portable lighting isn't so much as for permanent installations but it seems best for intermittent use portable lighting.
 
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This is a concept for a modular lighting system. It is 55 watts with an calculated output of 2800 lumens. The housing is 220mm. (8.66in.) wide, 99mm. (3.90in.) tall and 70mm. (2.76in.) deep. This version is designed to run off 110V/0.60A AC. It has 0-100% dimming via the knob on the side. It contains 15 neutral white LED's in 5 clusters of 3 with integrated optics.

As a modular system, multiple units can be stacked on top of each other. A 3 high stack measures 297mm. (11.70in.) tall with an output of 8400 lumens. Any comments, especially with regards to an acceptable MSRP, is appreciated.
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Four p7's would have the same output at the low end, use less power, allow a simpler design, and smaller package.

Not knowing the market, $800.00 seems a bit steep for less than what two 100 watt light bulbs will produce.
 
I don't think P7 will allow a smaller package, the limitation already for this caliber of light is keeping sufficient heatsink area for long term use. When you use more energy dense LEDs you actually need a larger, instead of smaller heatsink as the higher thermal density requires a lower average heatsink temperature to offset it. Then again, we don't know the running temperature in worse case environment so... maybe enough margin
 
Honestly I think a 500 Watt Halogen is still more practical for this kkind of applications, but each to his own.
 
Honestly I think a 500 Watt Halogen is still more practical for this kkind of applications, but each to his own.

In what way? The only reason I think halogen still dominates this market is simple absence of product yet.

LEDs are best suited for outdoor lighting, as colour temp is not as important as indoor applications, bulb life is more important due to high maintenance costs (replacing a bulb is more complex when it's 200 feet up a pole) and power savings are more noticable given the long duty cycles and large number in operation in a given space.

I see absolutely no advantage of halogen over LED other than product availability.
 
I don't think P7 will allow a smaller package, the limitation already for this caliber of light is keeping sufficient heatsink area for long term use. When you use more energy dense LEDs you actually need a larger, instead of smaller heatsink as the higher thermal density requires a lower average heatsink temperature to offset it. Then again, we don't know the running temperature in worse case environment so... maybe enough margin

Four p7's, at the low end of the batchwould be using about 40 watts to give 2800 lumen.
The proposed design uses 55 watts.
Using the same voltage to both means that the one would be drawing more amps.
More amps, more heat and it's an inverse square problem.

If they could cherry pick the LEDS they could reduce the heat load even more and sell the low end product to us.
 
In what way? The only reason I think halogen still dominates this market is simple absence of product yet.

LEDs are best suited for outdoor lighting, as colour temp is not as important as indoor applications, bulb life is more important due to high maintenance costs (replacing a bulb is more complex when it's 200 feet up a pole) and power savings are more noticable given the long duty cycles and large number in operation in a given space.

I see absolutely no advantage of halogen over LED other than product availability.
In general, yes, but these devices are priced higher then what is currently available for street lights and have fewer lumins.
LED Street lights WARNING Put on your dark glasses before viewing the pdf.
 
Four p7's, at the low end of the batchwould be using about 40 watts to give 2800 lumen.
The proposed design uses 55 watts.
Using the same voltage to both means that the one would be drawing more amps.
More amps, more heat and it's an inverse square problem.

Isn't it an inverse square problem with regards to thermal density too? Take for example 50 x 0.1W LEDs, or 10 x 1/2W LEDs, they arguably need no heatsink at all even though it's more power, while 1 x 3W LED does need 'sinked.

Granted, given a sealed enclosure of minimal metal surface area possible it reaches a limit where internal temperature gets too high but that comes back to the point of not trying to make the housing smaller just because a certain arrangement of LEDs might fit in something smaller.

It is possible to cool a 55W load with a smaller heatsink than a 40W load, but I don't know the characteristics of this heatsink nor how large an effect it'll be with them in close clusters of 3 LED vs a P7.

If they could cherry pick the LEDS they could reduce the heat load even more and sell the low end product to us.
That would require another process step/expense, leave low end versions needing even larger heatsinks else tarnishing the perceived quality of the product line, and I doubt the price difference could be much if all other features were the same.

It would be better to design for the worst possible (still in-spec) LEDs than the best possible. Leave some extra margin, that's often what differentiates poorer products from better ones, not the performance per watt when it's meant to run off AC power... at least when the performance per watt difference isn't exceptionally large.
 
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In general, yes, but these devices are priced higher then what is currently available for street lights and have fewer lumins.
LED Street lights WARNING Put on your dark glasses before viewing the pdf.

So it's as I said, the difference is unrelated to the technology.

On the price issue, surely the massively reduced maintenance bill reduces the long term cost of ownership?
 
So it's as I said, the difference is unrelated to the technology.

On the price issue, surely the massively reduced maintenance bill reduces the long term cost of ownership?

Appropriate price level is always within the context of the performance versus the other competing products. One aspect of performance would be the features but if they don't need those features then next will be reliability and lifespan. Just because an LED could run for a long time, that doesn't necessarily mean a finished product will run for a long time in any particular environment.

I'm not suggesting this light is any better or worse than the other alternatives, only that those looking to spend several thousand for lights, or actually even less as the fewer you have the more important those few are in many situations, are going to look carefully at what they're getting, including the warranty and service aspects.
 
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