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Schneider Electric launches Sympholux lighting control system

Tony Chan | July 16, 2010 | 1 Comment

It’s not very often that I visit an office with a fully fitted hotel room in the back, but that’s the case when I venture to speak to Schneider Electric. Inside the company’s Hong Kong office, is a completely furnished hotel room, complete with TV, bed, window curtains, radio, even a back-lit scene of the Hong Kong nightscape, and, of course, lights.

The topic of the day was Sympholux, the company’s new lighting control solution, which promises to reduce operating and maintenance cost of lighting in commercial environments by as much as 60%.

According to Xavier Datin, senior vice president of Installation Systems & Control for Asia Pacific at Schneider Electric, the solution is not simply to turn off lights, but rather to optimise lighting conditions, so people in any room get the desired lighting conditions. And that applies not only to have light available for work, but also to feel good – as in comfortable.

In a nutshell, the system allows administrators to program in, with the help of some sophisticated sensors, different conditions that optimise the user experience. The trick, he said, is to identify the right requirement and then provide the lighting conditions at the right level.

In the case of the hotel room, a simple lighting control panel can now deliver immediate lighting conditions for watching TV, reading, or resting. Instead of fiddling around the room trying to find the light switches for different lights, the control allows users to push a button and all the lights in the room will be configured for the right atmospheric effect.

“Today’s lighting accounts for around 30% of a commercial building’s electricity consumption, and the number is likely to rise. Indeed, we see a growing demand for a quality, tailored energy-efficient lighting control system like Sympholux that brings optimised light and energy savings,” Datin said.

What Sympholux achieves is unite the company’s three energy-efficient lighting control systems: KNX, C-Bus and DALI Control. Each of the three platforms have distinct applications and is suited for different deployments.

According to Datin, KNX’s support for an open protocol means it is ideal for large projects such as airports and stadiums where the lighting system needs to interface with other building systems. C-Bus on the other hand, is optimise for providing ambient lighting so ideal for hotels and residential deployments, while DALI offers enhanced control, down to the each individual bulb and lighting appliance.

However, while the lighting system is automated by Sympholux, current systems are largely independent of other energy management systems, like smart meters. Each of the Sympholux platforms are autonomous systems. In order to connect to a home control system, extra equipment and installation is needed.

For that, Schneider Electric is developing an energy management system, complete with web portal and iPhone app, called, WISER Control. However, such system typically require a greenfield site for deployment because it needs to be tightly integrated with the building’s other infrastructure, Datin said.