BAKU, Azerbaijan, August 5
By Sadraddin Aghjayev - Trend:
Signify’s lighting devices are highly innovative, Eric Benedetti, Vice President and Director General of Signify in Russia and the CIS, told Trend .
“Innovative lighting solutions make people's lives safer and more comfortable, cities – more pleasant to live in, and enterprises – more efficient,” Benedetti said. “Signify, formerly known as Philips Lighting, has always been at the forefront of technology development. To ensure and maintain our leadership positions, we annually invest more than four percent of our turnover in research and development work.”
“One of our developments is the Interact IoT Platform,” vice-president said. “Today, solutions based on this platform are actively used in lighting cities, architectural objects, public spaces, offices, shops, stadiums, factories, warehouses and logistics centers.”
“With its help, you can combine any number of light points into a single network, collect and transmit various data, program lighting scenarios, control lighting from anywhere, and much more,” Benedetti said. “In addition, the platform allows you to remotely detect failures in the operation of lighting devices, identify the cause of failure, show the energy consumption of each individual lighting point.”
“The implementation of such a solution allows to optimize energy consumption by up to 80 percent, which provides an additional reduction in CO2 emissions and lighting costs,” vice-president said.
“Another striking example in the field of Signify innovations is lamps with Li-Fi technology (Trulifi),” Benedetti said. “Similar to Wi-Fi, instead of radio waves, it uses light waves of the visible spectrum to transmit data, providing 250 Mb/s internet connection (10-20 times faster than Wi-Fi) without compromising the quality of the lighting itself.”
“Trulifi is designed for use in public places, offices, hotels, industry and transport-wherever the wireless connection does not work well, is unavailable or limited,” the vice-president added. “User data is securely protected: to access the network, you need to be in the same room where these lamps are installed.”
“Therefore, this system is especially recommended for use by financial institutions and organizations with high data protection requirements – for example, military or defense facilities,” Benedetti said. “Trulifi uses one of the most secure encryption algorithms – 128-bit encryption.”
“In addition, Li-Fi is more environmentally friendly – it uses only the light spectrum, unlike Wi-Fi,” vice-president said.
“In 2019, we implemented a pilot project, within the framework of which we installed an internet transmission system using light to buses,” Benedetti said. “Passengers could connect to the network through a light source overhead.”
“They have the opportunity to adjust the level of lighting above the seat and the operation of the air conditioning system, as well as order food during the trip,” vice-president said. “Today, our portfolio already includes more than 200 pilot projects with Trulifi. Next, we plan to expand this development for the consumer segment.”
“Trulifi has a huge potential,” Benedetti said. “In the future, when driverless cars become commonplace, transport can be controlled using streetlights, and Li-Fi will transmit information about the movement of the car to the owners.”
“This technology is already available today,” the vice-president added. “It will also allow to find out the arrival time of the next bus or even reserve a place in public transport by simply placing a phone under the light of a lantern.”
“Among the innovations of Signify, it is also worth noting the internal positioning system or LED navigation,” Benedetti said.
“We equip the lighting points with special sensors that send a signal to the user's smartphone, determining its location on the building map with an accuracy of up to 30 cm,” he added.
“After that, the system plots the optimal route to the desired location,” Benedetti said. “This solution can be used everywhere – in retail, offices, hospitals, airports, educational institutions and shopping centers. For example, in a large hypermarket, the light will indicate the way to the shelves with products and provide information about promotional products nearby.”
“The data collected by the system will allow store owners to get information about how they move around the hall, where they stay and how customers behave,” vice-president said. “This will help to further optimize customer service, as well as analyze the effectiveness of ongoing marketing campaigns and optimize the layout of the premises.”
“In a museum, such a system can give recommendations on navigation, as well as work as a guide, providing up-to-date data on each individual exhibit,” Benedetti said.
“Lighting with an internal positioning system is installed at the Hamdan bin Mohammed University of Dubai, it allows students to view the lecture schedule and navigate the university premises using light navigation, as well as in the Russian supermarket Lenta in St. Petersburg – it has become easier for visitors to search for the right product,” said the VP.
“In addition, Signify has an online service for creating personalized luminaires from recycled materials on a 3D printer,” Benedetti said. “The functionality allows to design decorative luminaires according to individual requirements in just a few clicks – users can choose the appropriate size, color, texture and shape of the housing, the type of LED lamp and add a logo.”
“The luminaires are made of polycarbonate – heavy-duty plastic is resistant to light, water, temperature changes and is completely suitable for recycling,” vice-president said. “The possibility of reuse of raw materials allows to reduce the carbon footprint of the luminaire by 47 percent in comparison with a standard metal one.”
“If the service life of a conventional luminaire is 10-15 years, then the one printed on a 3D printer is 60 years,” Benedetti said. “In Azerbaijan, we have already equipped 7 stores of the Bravo chain store with similar solutions.”
“We are also implementing the latest technologies in the agricultural segment, helping agricultural complexes to grow various crops in closed ground conditions throughout the year,” vice-president said. “Philips LED solutions can complement or replace natural light, they can be used to adjust the required spectrum and illumination level. Using the control system, it is easy to install lighting scenarios, that is, to fully automate the control of light in the greenhouse.”
“Thus, thanks to modern LED systems, it is possible to increase crop yield by up to 30 percent, while reducing water consumption in production by 80 percent,” Benedetti said. “Recently, the company has completed a pilot project in the Russian "Agrokultura Group" greenhouses. Philips’s lighting made it possible to increase the yield of tomatoes by almost 24 percent in winter.”
“At the same time, it was possible to achieve energy savings: a similar amount of light generated by sodium lamps consumes 40 percent more electricity,” vice-president said. “Inter-row LED lighting also turned out to be 50 percent more efficient than the upper sodium one.”
“Specialized lighting is also available for fish and livestock farms – it creates more comfortable conditions for animals, increasing the productivity of farms,” Benedetti added.
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