Sinclair Digital unveils energy efficient DC connected lighting system for buildings
Sinclair Digital has this month rolled out its Agile-Core platform, an all-direct current (DC) connected lighting system that the company says provides exceptional energy efficiency, while offering a total cost of ownership comparable to alternating current (AC) line voltage lighting for warehouses, big box stores, and other building types.
Sinclair Digital is a design and implementation firm pioneering sustainable and intelligent buildings, with a primary focus on DC power and microgrids, building controls, and battery energy storage systems.
As recounted in a June 13 press release, Agile-Core is a system of modular, plug-and-play solutions for lighting and IT-based digital connectivity that combines Fault Managed Power, Power over Ethernet (PoE), and Luum.io's extended PoE (X-PoE) technologies to safely and cost-effectively deliver power and data over longer distances using low-voltage wiring methodologies.
Sinclair Digital contends that the system offers per-port granular energy reporting, reduces maintenance with fewer failure points, and uses less copper and rare-earth materials than traditional AC line voltage lighting systems.
See also: Fault-managed power makes its way into the Code and buildings
Value proposition
The Agile-Core system features a Fault Managed Power distribution system that remotely powers Luum network switches that either delivers standard IEEE 802.3bt PoE to connected devices or identifies a passive X-PoE connector to provide 120W of power per Luum X-PoE port without the need for an external device driver.
(Notably, Sinclair Digital and Luum are working together with several lighting manufacturers to produce 25,000-lumen high-bay light fixtures that can be powered and controlled from a single X-PoE switch port, providing a high-bay fixture efficiency of 218.2 lm/W. The partners contend that total system efficiency of approximately 95% is possible.)
As characterized by Sinclair Digital, the Agile-Core system comprises a rack-based headend for power transmission and centralized control, along with one or more remote Building Infrastructure Termination System (BITS) compact racks.
BITS racks terminate low-voltage cabling infrastructure for lighting and other IT devices (e.g., surveillance cameras, wireless access points). Each BITS rack supports high-bay lighting for approximately 10,000 square feet of space.
High-bay lights directly connected via X-PoE connectors are controlled internally by the network switch to enable typical lighting control functions (on/off/dim) per channel. Depending on the wattage of a fixture, one or more lights connected to a switch's X-PoE port can be daisy-chained to fully utilize the per port power budget.
As a value-added reseller with expertise in design/build installations, Sinclair Digital will provide packaged Agile-Core systems to electrical contractors, lighting agents, and specifiers.
The company previewed the Agile-Core system at Realcomm 2023, from June 13-15 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, and is doing so again at the NECA/BICSI Summit, June 26-28 at the Denver Grand Hyatt in Colorado.
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