Networks Europe Nov-Dec 2018 | Page 46

46 CONNECTIVITY of HVAC costs. For every three watts reduced in lighting, there’s a corresponding one-watt reduction in HVAC load. Low voltage, smart lighting also provides significant health and safety benefits, allowing easy maintenance and office reconfiguration. Advanced emergency evacuation wayfinding uses LED luminaires to flash and change colour to aid employees in locating the nearest and safest exit route. Powering intelligent lighting systems The majority of intelligent lighting systems consist of a centralised LED power system that provides a DC current to luminaires or sensors installed in the ceiling. There are two ways of achieving this: Power over Ethernet (PoE) is a standard that allows both power and control signals to be transmitted along the same RJ45 cable to an intelligent light containing an electronic LED and control interface Power and Ethernet (PaE) is a system where manufacturers provide power to LED fixtures from centralised LED driver units, which may include the ability to use sensors with RJ45 or other connection methods PoE systems are commonly used today within buildings to support VoIP and security CCTV systems, where devices have low power requirements but aren’t currently being deployed in lighting installations due to a significant cost implication as the only high power (>25W) systems available are proprietary, which limits high volume deployments. A new, highly cost-effective DC-based solution termed Power and Ethernet (PaE), offers improved benefits over standard PoE, without the cost prohibitive PoE endpoints (similar to LED drivers), while improving overall system reliability. There are significant advantages including rapid setup and programming compared to traditional control systems. All that’s required is simple low voltage wiring, no need for specialised electricians, as mains voltages are not prevalent Rittal solutions for the technology of the future. Edge computing enables enormous amounts of data to be processed directly at the place where they arise. Securely and in real time. Rittal prepares you and your IT infrastructure for new challenges - flexibly, economically, and globally. www.networkseuropemagazine.com