SQN - Abhay, can you tell me what's so exciting about the LED market?
ABHAY - It's the fastest growing segment in the lighting market because LEDs consume about 1/10 of the energy of regular lights at the same lumen output and they last 50-100 times longer than an incandescent bulb.
SQN - So why is Echelon interested in this market?
ABHAY - We think the total available market for LED lights is in the multiple billion unit range. What's missing from the current LED market is control technology. So far, we're talking about on/off with no ability to create things like lighting scenes with color mixing. Controls enables customized mood lighting, self-installation that lower cost, and improved diagnostics. Echelon brings both Pyxos technology and power line networking to the market that we believe meets all the controls requirements in this new space.
SQN - Examples?
ABHAY - Architectural public lighting, e.g., a bridge or large building, requires high power low bandwidth communications so power line is a great fit. Theater, lounge, and nightclub lighting requires much higher bandwidth and far less power so Pyxos is a great fit. And for everything in between, like indoor residential and commercial, retail stores, etc, either works depending on your installation and wiring restrictions.
SQN - How does this fit in with Clean Technology when LED lights already save so much energy?
ABHAY - That's a complex question. Our belief is that energy management through clean technology should be intelligently applied. So while it's great to save energy through turning down your air-conditioner, it doesn't necessarily mean you want to sit and sweat for an hour each day to do so. To us, clean technology should enable both energy savings AND increased comfort and convenience.
With LED lighting, the energy savings is inherent in the technology, yet controls can deliver greater savings. What makes controls for LED lighting different is that while controls improves the energy efficiency of LED lighting a moderate amount, controls increase what you can do with LED lighting well beyond on and off.
Comments