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Articles - new technology - lighting controls (1)  Based on these
characteristics, some manufacturers see ZigBee as more suitable for
large-scale commercial than residential applications.
One such manufacturer is Philips Lighting Electronics, which, through its Advance division, is planning to introduce a ZigBee-based wireless integrated lighting control system (including ballasts, sensors, controllers and software) in 2006. The system, controlled by a central computer, will enable dimming and on/off switching, daylight and occupancy sensing, scheduling and the ability to group and reconfigure fixtures. “Until now, there have not been as many wireless options for commercial applications,” says Sandoval. “Over the coming year, however, the demand for wireless control solutions in commercial applications will increase and may at some later point even surpass sales of these products within the residential market based on the number of nodes required in a commercial application versus a residential application.” He points out a number of advantages for wireless control as a means to achieve the benefits of lighting automation in a commercial setting:
“Complete SCADA
systems can be configured using wireless technology,” says Walters.
Supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems gather and
analyze real-time data, enabling the system to respond to a variety of
inputs as they occur. “The main benefit will be a lower cost of
implementation. A secondary benefit will be increased flexibility in
deployment. With wireless components, the system can grow over time and
be reconfigured if needed at a much lower cost for a hard-wired system.” The potential for new wireless control technologies includes systems that enable control of lighting wirelessly from a central computer through a simple, flexible, and fully customizable screen interface, and via interaction of control components in the system. The system monitors the lighting and receives information as well as transmits control commands. Courtesy of Advance. “It appears that protocols that are public and open will, in the future, be ideal for commercial applications,” says Sandoval. “Today, there are very few open protocols, such as ZigBee and BACnet, in the marketplace, but they are starting to take command. Customers like options and open protocols allow for those options. In addition, customers do not want to be tied down to a single vendor. In the wireless arena, ZigBee as an open standard will allow other devices to integrate and interoperate so that building owners can choose how, why and when to use a specific vendor.” He adds that the possibilities in commercial control are endless, but it will take time for new technologies to penetrate the market. Sandoval believes wide adoption will occur in 2-3 years. The first customers, he says, will likely be applications such as commercial A-grade buildings, hospitals and big box retail stores. Walters agrees that ZigBee is positioning itself as the leading technology for commercial building control primarily due to its higher node counts. He believes wide adoption may take a little longer than Sandoval estimates, but that it will likely occur in 3-5 years. He sums up his view of Z-Wave and ZigBee. “Z-Wave systems place the emphasis on low power consumption to allow for battery-powered devices while maintaining excellent range, node count and sufficient bandwidth for residential control,” he says. “ZigBee provides greater bandwidth and node count at the cost of range and power consumption, and is more suitable for commercial applications. Both of these technologies promise reliability and attractive price points. Both emphasize low power consumption so that battery-powered devices can be used, providing application solutions such as ‘peel and stick’ occupancy sensors. Finally, there are powerful, flexible, affordable technologies that can be used to bring high-performance automation to the mass market.” Table 1. Comparison of RF wireless control protocols. Source: Philips Lighting Electronics/Advance, with additional comments by Leviton.
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