Challenges and issues discussed at NPL's LED Street Lighting Conference

Gemma Lighting were delighted to attend the Best Practice in LED Street Lighting Conference at the National Physical Laboratory earlier this week, engaging in seminars and discussions on one of Gemma’s key product areas.

LED Street Lighting is quickly becoming the best option for many businesses and authorities across the country, and on this day of debates including participation from contractors, designers and manufacturers subjects such as measurement, application and financing were raised between the members present.

 The NPL hosted the event at its base in Teddington, Middlesex and being home to the Centre for Carbon Measurement the world-leading centre of excellence in developing testing systems was the ideal location to host the day’s proceedings.

Gemma were one of the many LED specialists in attendance with Mike Elwell discussing the challenges of implementing solid-state lighting (SSL) in the first session of the day.

Mr Elwell spoke of the influence of industry bodies such as the Institution of Lighting Professionals (ILP), which was formed in 1924 and now has more than 1900 members.

As with many considerations regarding local authorities in the current climate, the issue of reducing number of consultants in local councils in order to reduce consultancy fees was highlighted as an issue with regards to implementing new SSL, and Mr Elwell highlighted some common reasons given for not switching to improved lighting solutions such as LED.

These were discussed throughout the day but what all delegates were in agreement of was that these common issues were misunderstood – the cost of installing LED light fittings for example was considered too expensive even though prices are lower than when the technology first became available and funding schemes are there to aid local authorities in reducing costs and cutting carbon emissions via projects such as LED lighting.

Of course being at the NPL there was a heavy focus on testing and measurement also, and Mr Elwell highlighted the need for more stringent testing that would become standard across the industry – something Gemma and the other manufacturers present certainly welcomed, as this means higher quality products manufactured in the UK, such as those made at Gemma’s base in Portsmouth, will stand out from cheaper foreign imports.

We then heard about the relationship between the NPL and their Dutch counterparts VSL who have worked together on metrology and environmental factors affecting SSL performance, and from Huw Convery on a street lighting project in Salford before a LUX-TSI presentation on measurement and data confirmation.

After lunch Teresa Goodman from the NPL looked at the relevance of mesopic photometry in LED street lighting, and went over the means in which it can be calculated, followed by a presentation by Steve Fotios of Sheffield University on his MERLIN project, which stands for mesopically enhanced road lighting: improving night-vision.

A panel discussion with the various speakers from the day saw questions raised about LED performance, warranties and power supply options that saw engaged input from many of the gathered delegates.

Andrew Dennington was next to speak on free-form optics and the design and validation process behind their performance, and Graham Scragg took the final session of the day by presenting street lighting projects in Birmingham and Sheffield.

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One theme that clearly emerged from the day was the need for LED lighting specification standards to be mandatory in some form – providing customers with the peace of mind that the technology they are purchasing does what it claims to do in the factsheets. There are current guidelines such as the ‘Guide to specification of LED lighting products 2012’ from the Lighting Industry Liaison Group (LILG) but nothing currently in UK law specifically regarding the design of LEDs.

Gemma Lighting tries to reassure its customers in other ways such as the three year warranty that comes as standard with all LED lighting, and the benefit of having the whole operation here in the UK, from the sales team to the factory floor, so customer communications to be handled easily and efficiently.

The high quality standards of Gemma’s products is one of the key benefits for users, as the longevity and reliability can lead to a lifespan of up to 100,000 hours and massively reduce maintenance costs, and with high IP protection rated fittings Gemma’s LED lighting range is durable against adverse weather conditions and vandalism.

Were you at the Best Practice Conference? Why not give us your thoughts on some of the issues using the comments box below.