Solar power
Perth, 2nd January 2010
This morning I took a slightly different and longer route on my “daily dose of daylight” walk to check out the residential neighborhood. Though still early in the morning the day seems to shape up to a scorcher with temperatures expected to reach past 35 degrees C. But a gentle breeze made the walk a pleasant one. As so often here, not a cloud in the blue sky. It is therefore not surprising that Western Australia has one of the highest numbers of average daily sunshine, as far as I know, more than 8 hours a day! During my morning walk I noticed (not surprisingly), that many more houses had solar panels on their roofs.
The Western Australian government gives subsidy or rebate of up to 50% to stimulate the use of renewable energy. The solar systems here are generally connected to the power grid and the solar energy generated is sold back to the grid when not used. But there is a big debate going on about the price of the solar energy as the power grid companies so far are paying less for the renewable energy they buy then what they are selling it for. A bit of “power” play going on?
Even though it currently still takes well over 10 years (even with subsidy) to earn back the investment of a solar energy system, I believe it won’t take 10 years before we will be able to generate all our private (lighting) energy needs from solar energy. Not in the least because the fast development of LED lighting technology.
I would be interested to hear more about this from specialists in this field as well as experiences in other parts of the world.
Happy New Year!
Perth, 1st January 2010
The start to a new year somehow always gives this excitement of anticipation of good things to come. Whatever did not materialize in the year past we feel that this year it is all going to happen! We want to! We all want success and achievement. But with the New Year’s resolutions in place we should never forget our loved ones. Our family, our friends, can never be taken for granted. For me they are my backbone, my support. So ringing in the New Year will also mean expressing my love and appreciation to all those who are there for me and believe in me.
As I write my blog entry, fireworks are probably still painting the skies in many countries further to the west. In Australia we are one of the first to enter the new year (and new decade) which sort of gives us a head start :). The Sydney Harbor Bridge has become Australia’s landmark for the New Year countdown with the most amazing fireworks (and lighting) you can imagine. It is later followed by the European landmarks such as the Eifel Tower in Paris, etc, and then finally New York’s Time Square with its spectacular “Grand Ball” drop.
Fireworks, like lighting, has come a long way. It is no longer some “explosives” lit with a fuse. It is now a highly sophisticated, computer controlled spectacle with every effect timed and planned to the second. Fireworks, like stage, show and event lighting are timed operations. Unlike permanent architectural lighting installations they are not there for prosperity. They only live on in our memories after the event.
My thought for today is to make sure that whatever we do this year whether as a person or in our profession as a lighting designer, we give it our very best so that our actions, achievements and contributions will help make our world a better place to live in with great memories to look back on.
Cheers to 2010!
Once in a Blue Moon…
Perth, 31st December 2009
If you look up to the sky tonight when you make your resolutions for the new year, you will note a rare event; it is a full moon on New Year’s Eve, at least in this part of the world. Not only that …it is the second full moon of the month, the previous one having occurred earlier this month on the 2nd December. A second full moon in a month is called a “Blue Moon”. Two full moons in a calendar month only happen every 2-3 year and it happening on the last day of the year is an even rarer event. Hence the saying …”once in a Blue Moon”… It is not clear why it is called “blue” as it is not physically blue, but some explanations go back to the Middle Ages when the event was called Belewe Moon or “betrayer” moon (Belewe being old English for “Blue” as well as for “Betrayer” according to Wikipedia). It is also believed that in some occasions dust and particles in the air created a blue halo of light.
In terms of lighting the moon is a metaphor for reflections as it reflects light from the biggest and brightest light source we know…the sun. With this year and the first decade of the new century coming to an end today (gosh, did that go fly past…!) it is a good time to reflect on the year that was and make our resolutions for the year and possibly the decade to come.
I truly wish that all your resolutions (both private as well as professionally) for the New Year will come through as you envisage them and that they will not happen only once in a Blue Moon! 🙂
Enjoy your New Year’s Eve where ever you are with your family or friends with some spectacular fireworks perhaps! Cheers to a fantastic new lighting year in 2010!
LED specifications
Perth, 30th December 2009
One of the big challenges we have as lighting designers is to properly specify the light fittings we believe we need to do the job right. Most of the time we start with the lighting effect we want to achieve and work backwards to the light fitting that will do the job. Sometimes we cant find the right fitting and have to customize a light fitting for the purpose. At least that is how I work… I visualize the spatial lighting effect and then look for the fitting that will achieve the desired effect. Once in a while it is the other way around when I find a light fitting with a lighting effect that I really like and then look in how I could use it in my project.
Now most of the traditional lamps and light fittings have straight forward technical specifications and we know how to document the required specification. But with LED lighting we have come into a new and partly unknown terrain. Many manufacturers are still coming to grabs with what constitutes the right LED specifications from color characteristics, life span to beam angles. Not to forget the addition of control software required to drive the LED. Specifically the color issues (binning!) and life time seem some way away of being resolved clearly. No manufacturer to my knowledge has yet been able to really establish 50,000 hrs of testing, so no wonder life span of LEDs have gradually reduced from 100,000 to 50,000 with now some manufacturers only claiming 15,000 hrs.
My point is that vigilance is very much needed when we go about LED specification and we should certainly use our expertise to educate our clients about these issues in order not to create false expectations.
The super light bulb
Australia, 29th December 2009
Keeping up with the latest lighting technologies and developments is of prime importance as a leading lighting designer. Clients hire us because they expect us to know about the latest and best practice in lighting. Going to leading light fairs, attending lighting design seminars or conventions, reading professional lighting magazines or visiting lighting websites are the things we do to keep up with it. As I am flying over the great Australian Bite from Sydney to Perth I have one of those relaxed and undisturbed moments to catch up with the latest lighting magazines.
One of the articles that caught my attention (amongst some others to which I may come back in another blog entry) was an article about the ongoing global search to develop the next super bulb. A competition launched by the US Department of Energy is spurring the development of a lamp that can replace the now defunct 60W incandescent lamp. But then packing it with all the latest technological innovations, comfort and energy requirements that would make the lamp truly a “super bulb” by current standards. The super bulb would have an efficiency of more than 90 lumens/watt (better than any incandescent or compact fluorescent lamp currently on the market) and consume less than 10W with an output of at least 900 lumens (which is the equivalent of the 60W incandescent lamp). Its life expectancy should be at least 25,000 hours and critically its color characteristics should have a CRI greater then 90 and a color temperature between 2700K and 3000K. And it will have to be economically viable. It seems obvious that LED technology will be used to achieve these targets.
The interesting thing about this competition is not that it has a deadline…it will simply be awarded to the first manufacturer that will manage to prove compliance to the competition criteria! I doubt it will take long before a winner will be announced…
Avatar
Australia, 28th December 2009
Those who have seen the movie probably know already what I am going to say! After 2 days of trying we finally managed to get some tickets to see the movie in 3D. I am not a sci-fi fan (my last experience was Lord of the Rings…) and did not know what to expect but it certainly surpassed all my expectations and more. I was particularly blown away by the imagination of how this planet Pandora was brought to life. From a lighting point of view obviously the way they gave life to the night scenes with glowing trees, luminescent creatures and the power of the assumed earth energy that lights up as you move around in the forests or when the Na’vi (Pandora’s natives) tap into their earths energy . Magical. I was particularly struck by the finesse of the colour palettes, the greens, the purples, the blues, the pastel tones, the transparency, the lightness…the 3D effect only making the experience so much stronger. Light here not only used to create the night but also to simulate the power of their planet’s energy. You are totally sucked into this world and I must say that the lighting effects are undoubtedly a key element in the success of this movie. Where Lord of the Rings was more dark and gloomy, this movie thrives on the magic of light, colour and beauty (well, at night of course).
After my lighting experience at the exhibition yesterday, this was another experience that is sure to stimulate the senses. An experience not to be missed. See also www.avatarmovie.com for some more background info.
Take your time…the power of visual art
Sydney, 27th December 2009
Lighting design is often described as painting with light. There are many artists who have used light as a medium to create beautiful art pieces. Today I went to see a very inspirational exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney. The exhibition is called “Take your time” and showcases visual art put together by Olafur Eliasson’. The Iceland native conceived several installations using light, shadow, transparency, interception and reflection. The visual journey starts with a room of monochromatic light where your eyes have to adjust to the intensity of the yellow light. You then become aware of the purple or even black after image as you move your eyes around in the room. It is quite intense on your senses. Then as a sharp contrast the next (circular) space encloses you 360 degrees with a soft glow of light moving through the full colour spectrum. In yet another space he beams white light on a softly rotating dicroic glass filter, creating a yellow projection on the opposite wall from the light shining through the filter and a complementary bluish reflection in the rest of the room. Very Intriguing. There are also a number of kaleidoscopic effects with simple uses of mirrors and other spatial effects. One whole wall is covered with live reindeer moss that will gradually change colour and appearance over the duration of the exposition!
By far the most “sensational” installation is where he projects a beam of light on a moving spray of water which produces an ever changing breaking of light in the colours of the rainbow as a result. You can keep looking at this…
A very inspirational exhibition indeed. You can find out more on either www.mca.com.au or www.eliasson.com.au. If you have the opportunity I certainly recommend the visit. It is sure to inspire you in your next lighting project in some form or way.
Wind energy
Sydney, 26th December 2009
Boxing Day! Traditionally a big day in Australia. On the commercial front because of the after Xmas sales with some shops and department stores opening their doors at 5am! But for Australia being a sporting nation, the two big events really are cricket and sailing. First there is the Boxing Day Cricket Test playing at the MCG. As I write this Australia is leading Pakistan 178-0 just after tea. And then there is the famous Sydney to Hobart sailing race across the Bass Strait with currently Wild Oats, Alfa Romeo and IPAC Leopard battling for the lead. The boats started this afternoon from the Sydney Harbour and with the wind and weather as it is at the moment (it is rainy and windy) they are expected to cover the distance to Hobart, Tasmania in less than 2 days. I just saw them sail past along the East Sydney coast line. These leading maxi hulls are packed with the latest technology, with sails designed to maximize every rush of wind. Its quite an amazing sight.
Which brings me to wind energy to create power for our lights. Wind energy is fast becoming a main stream alternative power source for our electricity needs. While solar energy has been long accepted as a sustainable solution, wind energy is rather new. But more and more you can now find wind mill parks that generate consumable electrical energy. There are projects of the coast of Holland for instance where the wind generators are located on a bank in the North Sea. However the wind generators are generally big and not easy to integrate into building architecture like you can with solar panels. So creative minds have begun to look at ways to do so with some amazing architectural design concepts where sky scrapers have been designed with integrated rotators at various levels to capture wind.
I come from the country of tulips and wind mills, so to me there is something really familiar to capturing wind to generate power. I believe it wont be long before we will be designing our lighting with wind energy in mind like we already start doing with solar.
Lighting against anti social behavior
Sydney, 25th December 2009
This is the time of the year, especially in the southern hemisphere where the summer is upon us and therefore we have our Xmas parties, barbeques and friends and family get togethers at the beach or outdoors on the verandah enjoying the balmy breeze of the night. We had ours yesterday, first with friends on the beach, later in the evening dinner with loved ones. Today we continue with some more… Besides food, drinks are an elementary part of the enjoyment…and I mean with that alcoholic drinks. Hence you can imagine the police being out in force with their “booze” control. Divers caught intoxicated can count on double demerit points and temporary confiscation of their driver’s license! It does not take much to be over the legal limit!
Most of the beaches in Australia are supposed to be alcohol free zones and in order to increase safety and combat so called “anti-social behavior” lighting of the beaches and beach fronts can be found at most city beaches as part of the urban development plans. The same holds for important central city key areas, such as plaza’s, railway stations, etc. Some years ago we completed a study and redesign of the lighting for Perth City Centre in relation to anti social behavior and we found indeed that crime and anti social behavior had significantly reduced after the lighting was installed compared to what was before. Most of the lighting however is very functional and basic, cost and energy saving obviously being one of the driving considerations. But there is no doubt that the lighting extends the use of these places and though basic, allows the public to enjoy themselves into the night much more safely.
Cheers!
Xmas blues
Sydney, 24th December 2009
I don’t know about fellow lighting consultants but I am pretty sure I am not the only one with the Xmas blues. What I mean is this never ending chase from clients for lighting design information, as if there are no Xmas holidays! Even though we have informed our clients well in advance about the closure of our office during the Xmas holidays there seem to be no respect for it. Today again I received a request to issue some documents and drawings this week and some more by the end of next week. Is it so difficult to understand that we have our holidays as well? Come their own holidays (like Chinese New Year Holidays for instance) for sure we need to respect theirs. I know the client is supposed to be King but some respect and understanding would be nice. Certainly if we communicate this properly and advise on the schedules for our document issues.
Every year again I am telling myself, ok this year we will make sure all is well covered so we can have our holidays in peace, but every year again somehow there seem to be a few projects that have no consideration of the Xmas holidays. It may be the curse of doing international projects in countries with different cultural backgrounds… If anyone has a good suggestion how to deal with this let me know!
Merry Xmas everybody!
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