10 August 2015

Plessey retrofits its manufacturing facility with MaGIC LED kits

Plessey says that it is retrofitting its manufacturing facility in Plymouth, UK with LED modules designed using its MaGIC (Manufactured on GaN-on-Si I/C) GaN-on-silicon LEDs. The retrofit involves replacing aging fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent bulbs in existing fixtures to use new LED light modules produced in the same facility.

The manufacturing site currently has about 2700 fixtures with 4200 fluorescent lamps that consume 1,000,000kW/h of electricity at a cost of £100,000 a year and costs about £5000 in materials and 200 man hours a year to maintain. After the retrofit is completed, the firm expects to see a 25-40% reduction in electricity consumption, saving tens of thousands of pounds per year.

Lighting solutions using LED technology are over 50% more efficient that their fluorescent and compact fluorescent (CFL) counterparts, notes the firm. LED lights can be dimmed, have higher-quality colour control and do not use highly toxic mercury. LED lights also have much longer working life expectancy than any other forms of artificial lighting, lasting up to 100,000 hours compared with 10,000 hours for fluorescent tubes and 1000 hours for tungsten filament light bulbs.

Market research firm Strategies Unlimited's new 2015 report projects a global LED-retrofit-lamp market exceeding $3.7bn by 2016. The growth in solid-state lighting (SSL) products intended for existing sockets is from a $2.2bn base in 2011, and the report projects annual 30% growth in the number of units sold.

"With recent process enhancements, our LED modules create efficiencies well above existing lighting technologies," claims Plessey's operation director Mike Snaith. "We have not only developed an efficient fixture, but have developed cost-effective ways to implement the retrofits, which is key in the return-on-investment calculation," he adds. "Generally, all lamps on-site are replaced annually. Fluorescent lamps, due to their mercury content, cannot just be thrown in the bin and have to be processed by a special waste facility. Therefore, they also present a toxic hazard when carrying out maintenance should a lamp break."

Predominantly illuminated by conventional fluorescent technology, Plessey's facility has three main types of fixture: the batten, the pod-style downlight, and the reflector-style ceiling troffer. It also has a selection of high-intensity discharge (HID) lighting in the form of high-bay and low-bay fixtures.

"The LED retrofit kits offer the facilities engineers and installation contractors a cost-effective, quick and easy method to take advantage of the new technology," says Plessey's senior facilities engineer Thomas Abbott. "Another benefit is the dramatically reduced power consumption," he adds. "It only takes between 5-10 minutes to retrofit a fixture and, as a result, the emergency light fixtures now require less or smaller battery backup, meaning increased cost savings as well as reduced frequency for maintenance."

Tags: Plessey GaN-on-Si HB-LEDs

Visit: www.plesseysemiconductors.com/led-plessey-semiconductors.php