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Cree: Moving From 'Obedient' To Intelligent Commercial Lighting Solutions

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The Internet of Things continues to advance in the world of lighting. Unlike incandescent or fluorescent bulbs which do one thing – emit lumens - LED (light emitting diode) lighting is a different animal. It’s solid state - utilizing semiconductors - which means it is easily networked. As a consequence, the LED network can then be utilized to provide a high level of intelligence to the overall energy and building management ecosystem. In other words, lights are no longer just about illumination.

An example of this transformation can be seen in Cree’s announcement last month that it was launching its SmartCast® Power over Ethernet (PoE) platform (power over Ethernet systems transmit both data and electricity across a single cable to power devices such as wireless access points, cameras, or –in this case - lighting).

Cree’s system now interacts with Cisco’s Digital Ceiling framework, a network architecture that connects the entire building. At the same time, it delivers light more intelligently and efficiently within the built space. The company claims potential savings of up to 70 percent over standard LED lighting systems.

Image: Cree - look up

Cree’s objective was to develop a solution to a problem that has long plagued the industry: how to solve issues related to commissioning new and smarter lighting systems within existing buildings? After all, if the process is too complex and fraught with difficulties, lighting vendors will find few takers. So Cree created its out-of-the-box SmartCast PoE solution. Putting power and data across the same Ethernet cable eliminates requirements for two separate systems and facilitates commissioning of the building with a single stroke.

In an effort to better understand the implications of this development, I talked to Greg Merritt, Cree’s VP of Marketing and Public Affairs. He led off the conversation by discussing a bit of LED history.

The last eight-plus years were what I would call the first phase of LED lighting. We were trying to convince people that LED lighting could replace traditional technologies. Most of the focus was on trying to get LED lighting to mimic what we had before (in terms of lighting technologies being replaced). We succeeded.

Now, Merritt states, society is moving into the next phase of the conversation, where,

an LED light is really a digital appliance, with processing, software and intelligence, and it is networked. So we are now able to leverage the technology…to deliver better lighting than before and (offer) capabilities that weren’t previously possible.

He observes that technology replacement only truly occurs when the new technology is fundamentally better than the one it replaces. In this case, Cree has developed its SmartCast mesh network lighting system so that it “auto-discovers and auto-provisions the lights.”

In other words, it cuts set-up costs by using “visible light communication to help it discover which lights are in the same room, and which should be controlled by each switch.” Combined with the Cisco Power over Ethernet approach, the Cree solution means that,

A facility manager can relocate lights, unplug and replace without additional training or cost…Lighting is the only IoT application that justifies deployment of intelligent devices pervasively, every eight feet in a building.

In its February launch, Cree also announced that Mobile Public Schools in Alabama had completed an initial deployment.

What we are most excited about is the ability to control students’ experience using connected lighting, to have the ability to change color temperature and go from warm to cool, programmed by network command, based on time of day.

Merritt draws an analogy between the evolution of smart lighting and smart phones, observing that the first functions of smart phones were telephony and email, which enabled deployment of Internet connected devices. That in turn created apps and a broader pathway. By the same token, he notes,

Once the infrastructure is deployed economically, there is a wide variety of applications and use cases available, with both sensors and the ability to control lighting. For example, if you reserve a conference room, you can change the light outside the room to let you know it’s vacant. Or if somebody dials 911, the light from a desk can blink to let first responder know where it was.

The ultimate objective is to create more pleasing environments in which people live and work, and to do it automatically, Merritt says.

If you have to tell lights what to do, they are not intelligent; they are obedient. But if they know what to do they become intelligent. That’s what we see happening with this announcement.

He notes that Cree will utilize its existing sales channels and as the market develops, the company will determine whether other channels are required or more effective. The initial sales effort will focus on North America and will arrange for third-party financing through its internal Solutions division where necessary.

What will success look like to Merritt?

Initially, success will be proving that this concept has compelling value to the customer, which will of course lead to a relatively quick growth in sales. SmartCast essentially works out of the box. You plug it in. It starts the commission process without a lot of setup and a lot of headache.

So Cree has taken yet another step in the evolution to developing a better commercial LED lighting system. Merritt noted that this journey started a decade ago.

We consider ourselves to be ahead of the game here. When we started this trip in ‘06 and ’07, we had to convince people that LEDs were bright enough to do lighting. We’ve come a long way since then.