DC LED Lighting Is Free!
By Dave Bowen
This is a very exciting time in the LED lighting market, as new “amplification” LED interior lighting technology has entered the market and is disrupting the LED lighting market as we know it today.
The largest expense to all retail petroleum, convenience store and carwash locations is maintenance, requiring costly licensed electricians to be called to replace defective components, like drivers, and LED circuit boards and causing delays while you wait for service. Depending on how old your existing LED fixtures are, you can hope the same driver is still available and you get the same lumen output and colour temperature of the replacements. Then there are the sometimes-added disposal costs and recycling fees, where applicable, all leading to a very high price, and that is just for one fixture!
The new “amplification” LED interior lighting technology has “no drivers or electronic components” to fail or replace, and if you have a step ladder, you can do the maintenance yourself. No electrician is required, and there are no costly electronic components to purchase and replace. The repair is immediate, there is no waiting, and output and colour temperature all match.
New “amplification” LED interior lighting takes standard lumen output and doubles the lumens without changing the wattage. For example, A 12-Watt source putting out standard 2000 lumens is amplified to produce 4000 lumens at the same 12 watts. This technology is also fully controllable by your iPhone or iPad, so you can easily dim or raise the light levels depending on whether it is a bright or overcast day. You can also make a section of your c-store brighter to feature specials, change lumen output and colour temperature, and virtually change the look of the interior of your store whenever you like. Amplification LED interior lighting has also breached LED technology to its natural state, meaning it has always been low-voltage DC, usually available in 12, 24, and 48 volts. Due to this fact, ILT technologies has developed a fully Solar DC LED interior fixture offering, thus our title DC LED lighting is free. Our LED light source is all pure DC and is fully compatible with any rooftop or site-mounted Solar technology with no inverter required. So basically, you now have the best of both worlds. You can retrofit your existing system to 120 volts or start to integrate DC Solar lighting and eliminate your lighting costs throughout the site. Either way, you are eliminating any maintenance cost from outside sources, further reducing your overall site costs.
Solar DC LED lighting is the future available now. It is already being utilized in remote applications for cabins and the fast-growing tiny house market, as well as First Nation locations where energy is at a premium. So, as the shift to more solar technology occurs, so does the shift to Solar DC LED interior lighting, meaning a typical c-store can go all solar power for its interior lighting, signage, and even its wall packs on the building.
The technology is right on the edge of exterior LED amplification lighting, which allows carwash and canopy lighting to be solar DC operated and 100 per cent free of energy.
This leads us into the second new LED solar exterior site lighting, which is now actively used across Canada due to advanced technology changes to solar panels, controllers, and especially battery storage. Solar exterior lighting is not new; it has been around for decades, but in most cases, it has been a miserable failure, especially in colder climates, as it just won’t work in low-temperature markets worldwide. The other initial problem was, and still is, that most of it comes entirely made or components supplied from offshore, so there was no consideration for colder climates, as volume did not dictate making a change. Fast forward to now, where we are supplying fully integrated solar LED site lighting rated to minus 40/50 °c and a 10-year warranty with five distribution types, three colour temperatures, and again full dimming capabilities and virtually no maintenance.
An existing site can now be fully converted to solar LED lighting as a retrofit for poles, pylons, other signage, propane filling stations, and vacuum areas. Also, you can reduce liability and increase security if you need lighting in your dumpster area, the back of the lot, the drive-thru, and any other unlit areas. It is a simple matter of a 12-15-foot direct buried pole with a solar LED fixture, digging a hole, setting the pole, and having instant 100 per cent energy-free lighting. It should also be pointed out any solar LED exterior lighting can be very low cost in labour and material as you do not need a conventional lighting pole a proper EPA rated steel pole, again direct buried or anchor base (if required) is supplied, there is no need for hand holes or anchor base mounting plate and anchor bolts (if direct buried) and in most provinces no permit is required as it is an unwired low voltage installation saving further costs. This exterior solar technology has been in the Canadian market for over seven years and has over 1,000 installations across Canada. They are very proud of all the walkway/pathway lighting at Toronto Zoo, which was supplied over 250 units over two years ago.
The final great news is that these technologies are fully 100 per cent Canadian manufactured. No offshore components, no exchange worries and no tariffs, so we welcome “buy Canadian.” The market is changing, and it is long overdue. Costs are spiralling in Canada, as we have not ventured away from conventional designs or buying methods. Both Canadian companies are structured to get this new technology to you as directly as possible; layers of distribution are no longer required, the “same old, same old” just doesn’t apply anymore, as Canadians, you deserve the best costs and quality available.
The future of lighting has never been “BRIGHTER.”
Dave Bowen is president and owner of Roctan 2000 Ltd. and has over 40 years of experience working in the lighting industry. He now specializes in new amplification and solar interior/exterior lighting, UVC LED disinfection, and agri-food, dealing with only Canadian manufacturing companies in these areas. He can be reached at db@roctan2000ltd or 548-888-1113. Visit www.upplandsenergy.com or www.intelligentlightingtech.com and, reference code ROC007, for more information and costing.
