Energy conscious decisions based on data

Helvar lighting control solutions and luminaire components help to create smart energy-saving environments built for the future, using information, and working with other systems. The commitment to intelligent lighting control solutions, people's wellbeing and the future of smart buildings has led Helvar to develop a full end-to-end solution.

At the Light + Building 2022 trade fair, Helvar will showcase its intelligent, digitalised lighting innovations and will host thought-provoking lectures and seminars throughout the week.

Helvar has taken firm steps to introduce future-proof, energy-saving and people-centric technologies to support its mission of Brighter Spaces. In 2022, Helvar has doubled the number of DALI-2 certified products since its 2021 launch. Over 40 certified DALI-2 application controllers and input devices allow customers to specify the Imagine 950 solution for a wider range of projects and applications, increasing their project portfolio and solution flexibility.

The most significant addition to the Imagine 950 solution in 2022 is the ability to read energy and maintenance information from standard-compliant DALI-2 LED drivers. Helvar is one of the first manufacturers to offer a full end-to-end solution for this standardised data. It consists of LED drivers, application controllers and BMS integration through to cloud analytics, reporting and remote monitoring via Helvar Insights.

"This is a great achievement for Helvar and the industry as a whole, and I am excited to continue our market leadership with the Imagine solution. With this end-to-end solution, customers can know the actual power consumption and energy use of their lighting accurately for each luminaire or luminaire group and view them in easy-to-understand graphs and reports through our digital services – Helvar Insights interface," says Thet Oo, Helvar's Director of Wired Solutions. "Maintenance data is also very useful for facility units. For example, knowing how many hours luminaires have been on compared to their rated lifetime allows facility maintenance to better schedule maintenance and even perform it proactively."

The just-launched Helvar Operating & Energy Insights module – providing energy and maintenance data – adds to the powerful suite of existing Helvar Insights modules such as Monitoring, Control and Occupancy, for space optimisation. This shows that DALI-2 with Helvar solutions is perfectly positioned to take lighting into the next era of smart buildings, giving the ability for clients to make data-driven decisions for their buildings.

Helvar Insights has also widened its scope with energy monitoring and wireless ActiveAhead, meaning customers can now have one user interface showing Helvar Insights for Imagine, ActiveAhead or a hybrid lighting control system. The same user interface and features available to existing Helvar Insights customers using Helvar’s wired Imagine lighting control systems can now be used to get the same efficiency, sustainability, and wellbeing insights from Helvar’s wireless ActiveAhead lighting control systems. With energy prices increasing and with an ethical responsibility to save energy from a sustainability perspective and as a way of helping to ensure a secure energy supply, understanding how customers' lighting system uses energy is an important part of their facility management process.

Through the upgrade of Helvar ActiveAhead Node Advanced in May, Helvar brings new scalability to its award-winning intelligent wireless lighting control solution ActiveAhead. The upgrade has resulted in the ability to connect and control individual DALI luminaires and selected Helvar DALI devices such as sensors and relays. With these additions, the easiness of ActiveAhead can be brought to use cases utilising DALI addressing and to new application areas such as warehouses, new types of offices, retail, and many others.

As a part of its end-to-end solution, Helvar’s efficient LED drivers are designed to consume less energy and bring cost savings for a range of applications where powerful light output is needed. Helvar LED modules help luminaire manufacturers achieve a successful transition to smart, energy-efficient LED lighting solutions with optimised design and outstanding performance.