How are LEDs Used in Lighting?
LEDs are incorporated into bulbs and fixtures for general lighting applications. Small in size, LEDs provide unique design opportunities.
Lifetime of LED Lighting Products
The useful life of LED lighting products is defined differently than that of other light sources, such as incandescent or compact fluorescent lighting (CFL). LEDs typically do not “burn out” or fail. Instead, they experience ‘lumen depreciation’, wherein the brightness of the LED dims slowly over time. Unlike incandescent bulbs, LED “lifetime” is established on a prediction of when the light output decreases by 30 percent. What are LEDs and how do they work?
LED stands for light emitting diode. LED lighting products produce light approximately 90% more efficiently than incandescent light bulbs. An electrical current passes through a microchip, which illuminates the tiny light sources we call LEDs and the result is visible light.
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LIGHTING
The Benefits of LED Lighting for Businesses
Changing to LED is a simple move to make and can be carried out by an individual quite quickly. The range of bulbs are designed to work with existing fittings. The only area where businesses might need to change fixings is with tube LEDs that replace fluorescents. • LED bulbs last much longer than other bulbs. CFLs are expected to give out light for around 10,000 hours, whereas LEDs can last 60,000 hours.
• Despite being a little more expensive than other types, LED bulbs provide a quick return on investment because of the lower cost in electricity and the durability of the bulbs. • With the recent and rapid development in LED technology there are now some great benefits for businesses that swap to new lamps and tubes.
• LED lighting uses less electricity than other bulbs, even more eco-friendly ones such CFLs. For instance, the equivalent of a 60 watt incandescent bulb in LED terms is around 6 watts.
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LIGHTING
Office Lighting – Improving Productivity While Reducing Costs Changing to LED is a simple move to make and can be carried out by an individual quite quickly. The range of bulbs are designed to work with existing fittings. The only area where businesses might need to change fixings is with tube LEDs that replace fluorescents. The best lighting conditions in an office depend on the ideal contrast between lighting your workstation and its surroundings. The ideal lighting contrast should be no more than a ratio of 10:1. You can test what the ratio is in your office space by comparing the light on a desk with the light at the corner of the office.
Some offices have bad lighting because their lighting levels are too low. Workers aren’t able to see well with these light levels and make mistakes because of it. That has an impact on their productivity impacting the company’s bottom line. Other offices have the opposite problem: too much light. If lights are too bright, it may result in glare. Glare will then affect visibility, and employees’ productivity becomes affected once again. Next
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ENERGY
ELECTRICITY BASICS Generally speaking, the higher the voltage of an electrical current, the more force behind it. Electrical power (the ability to do work) is a function of pressure (voltage) and current (amperage). Double either one and you double the power the current is carrying through the circuit. The actual formula for calculating power is quite basic - simply multiply the voltage by the amperage. In this analogy, if you wish to have increased flow through the pipeline, you will need either a bigger pipe or you will have to push the water (or electricity) through at a more rapid rate. To push the water through a pipeline at high speeds requires high pressure. You can imagine water under high pressure squirting out very rapidly from a nozzle, such as a fire hose, with enough speed and force (power) to carry it to great heights or to knock someone off their feet if they get in the way. Similarly, the "pressure" of electrons flowing is called voltage and is measured in volts (V). Electricity is often compared to the flow of water through a pipe. It can be thought of as flow (current) of electrons through a conductor, generally wire (like a pipe). Electricity basics is an important building block for any work with PV.
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ENERGY
HOW DO SOLAR ELECTRIC CELLS GENERATE ELECTRICITY?
Typically 30-36 cells are wired in series (+ to -) in each solar module.This produces a solar module with a 12V nominal output (~17V at peak power) that can then be wired in series and/or parallel with other solar modules to form a complete solar arrayelectrons flowing is called voltage and is measured in volts (V).
When light photons of sufficient energy strike a solar cell, they knock electrons free in the silicon crystal structure forcing them through an external circuit (battery, inverter or direct DC load), and then returning them to the other side of the solar cell to start the process all over again.The voltage output from a single crystalline solar cell is about 0.5V with an amperage output that is directly proportional to the cell’s surface area (approximately 7A for a 6 inch square multi-crystalline solar cell).
Photovoltaics (PV) can be thought of as a direct current (DC) electricity generator powered by the sun. Electricity flows in two ways: either in alternating current or AC and in direct current or DC. The difference between AC and DC has to do with the direction in which the electrons flow. In DC, the electrons flow steadily in a single direction, or "forward." In AC, electrons keep switching (alternating) directions, sometimes going "forwards" and then going "backwards."
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