Light Sculpting: An Innovative
New Approach for SSL Luminaires
Lighting Fixture Design Conference
2014
Contact: info@quarkstar.com
Who is QuarkStar™
An Experienced GlobalTeam
Dr. Louis Lerman
Nevada, USA
Dr. Peter Stormberg
Hertz Fellow, Stanford University, Scientist,
Entrepreneur in Large-Scale Development,
Construction, and Robotics (now Boeing-Insitu)
Former CTO,
Philips Lighting
Tenerife / Germany
Dr. Robert Steele
Dr. Roland Haitz
California, USA
California, USA
Former Director, LED Market Research
Practice of Strategies Unlimited
Former CTO,
Semiconductor Products Group
of HP and Agilent (Now Avago)
Brent York
British Columbia, Canada
Former CTO TIR Systems &
IP Strategist for Philips
Wilson Dau
Alberta, Canada
Former Chair IESNA Office
Lighting Committee (RP1)
Ingo Speier
British Columbia, Canada
Senior Photonics Scientist
...and many others
SSL Fixture Challenges for Lighting
1.Quality and functionality of light
Structure
of Light
2.Sculpting light distributions in space and time
3.Managing glare
Spectral
Tuning
Controls
Market
Advantage
4.Mixing of SSL sources
5.Tuning the spectrum of light
6.Compatibility with controls, artificial intelligence
7.Personalization: digital controls and analog light shaping
8.Differentiation of design
9.Economics (initial & operating costs)
The Solution
Almost all SSL challenges are impacted or solved
by the sculpting of light in space, and not just time:
Sculpting Light in
Space. . .
. . . Is Powerful
Like Semiconductor: Leveraging Scale Changes Everything
Vacuum Tube
Transistor
Integrated Circuit
Incumbent
Transition
Revolution
Filament Tube
Light Emitting Diode
Integrated System
The future
of
Lighting
Leverages
Scale of LED
Courtesy of Dr. Roland Haitz
Implication #1: The changing physical scale
Old Scale of Light
NEW Scale of Light
LED 100,000
times smaller
Fluorescent Lamp
LED Progress
Implication #2: The changing luminance scale
Limit of visual
tolerance
100
1000
10,000
100,000
1,000,000
10,000,000
100,000,000
Luminance (cd/m2)
Office
Fixture Limits
T8 Lamp
Raw LED
Typical
source
LED 10,000+
times brighter
SSL: 10,000X brighter than a typical source
109
Glare is “Visual Noise”
“LEDs have not improved recessed troffers.
But they have made them more efficient.”
“Even diffuse LED lamps produced a more ‘stripy’
troffer appearance and increased perceived
glare, compared to fluorescent lamping.” *
*Naomi Miller, et. al, April 2013,
“CALIPER 2013 – Exploratory Study: Recessed Troffer Lighting”
“LEDs can cause glare, which may negatively impact
adoption in some applications.”*
SSL: Early Lessons Learned on the Way to Market
(DOE 2014)
Brighter LEDs only make
the glare problem worse.
Simple Substitution = Undifferentiated Solutions
DOE assessment of direct illumination SSL troffers
Radiation patterns do not
disclose glare or other “issues”
*Naomi Miller, et. al, April 2013, “CALIPER 2013 – Exploratory Study: Recessed Troffer Lighting”
Light Without Glare
A New Approach
Introducing a new optical system
that efficiently mixes and
distributes light in a minimal
structure with virtually no glare
in fields of view.
The Glare Free Filament
The filament becomes the fixture
How Light Sculpting Works
LEDs
Optical Efficiency > 90%
flux luminaire
coupling
flux LEDs
mixing
extractor
reflector
Light is well mixed and
tightly controlled so that
it can be distributed
more optimally in the space.
Scale With Control
Like a “Directed Linear Lamp”
Glare Free Filament:
full control
Linear Fluorescent:
no control
The Elimination of Glare
Low
Brightness
Zone
Eliminates
Hot Spots Above
Fixture
Uniformly
Illuminates
Ceiling
High
Brightness Zone
Low
Brightness
Zone
Moderate
Brightness Zone
(improves contrast
on work surface)
Avoids Glare
In Environment
How This Approach Achieves High Efficiency
New Solution:
Glare Free Filament™
Standard Solution:
Conventional LED Luminaire
“Lossless”
(<1%) Lost in Transport
Incoupling
(<3%) Lost at Coupling
Extraction
(<6%) Lost at Extractor
•
•
•
•
“Lossless” Total Internal Reflection (TIR)
Light is concentrated and mixed
Light is split and precisely sculpted
Glare is managed
Optical efficiency 90% +
Lossy
Lossy
(3 - 15%) Lost Per Reflection
(8 – 18%) Lost Per Diffusion
•
•
•
•
Lossy Diffuse Reflection/Diffusion
Light bounces many times, it is WASTED
Creates semi-lambertian profile
Glare problems
Optical efficiency 65 - 85%
Future Proofing: An Inherent Property
Economic Advantage of Sculpting Light
Glare Free Filament 2ft x 2ft
Wasted Light
& Energy
Low Max:Min
Target Light Level
Conventional 2ft x 2ft Recessed
Wasted Light
& Energy
Target Light Level
Inadequate Light Level
Better distribution of light means
fewer fixtures & more uniform lighting
High Max:Min
A Simple Case Study
Current Solution:
High Performance SSL Pendant*
400 lux mean
Higher contrast on ceiling and floor
48 pendant fixtures
Glare Free
Filament Solution*
400 lux mean
Smoother light on ceiling and floor
33 pendant fixtures
Improved light distribution improves vertical surface levels on walls and vertical
surfaces, with higher application efficiency with FEWER fixtures.
*AGI32 computer simulations normalized to 400 lux with 125 lm/W LED source in 18m X 18m open office
Smaller, Lighter, Fewer = Lower Initial Cost
Current Solution:
High Performance SSL Pendant
~ 10 in.
~15 lbs
Glare Free
Filament Solution
< 1 in.
< 6 lbs
One Filament: 10X Range of Applications
25000
Commercial & Industrial Lighting
(Warehouse, High Bay, Manufacturing)
4’ Filament Output (lumens)
Commercial & Office Lighting
(Office, Retail, Institutional)
20000
15000
10000
5000
Mid-Power LEDs
0
0.9X
1.8X
3.2X
High-Power LEDs
3.7X
6X
8.3X
T8 Fluorescent Tube 32 W Equivalent Flux Output
10X
Engineering Concept Prototypes: A detail review
Filament Fixture Concepts: A Sampling
Garage
Q-Blade™
Recessed
Trendant™
Q-Blade™
Pendant
Troffer
Pendant
QuarkStar: Trendant™ Luminaire Prototype
QuarkStar™: Q-Blade Pendant & Recessed Luminaire Prototype
QuarkStar™: Q-Blade™ Troffer Luminaire Prototype
QuarkStar™: Q-Pendant Luminaire Prototype
QuarkStar™: Garage Luminaire Prototype
Sculpting of Light Helps Solve SSL Challenges
1.Quality and functionality of light
Structure
of Light
2.Sculpting light distributions in space and time
3.Glare
Spectral
Tuning
4.Mixing of SSL sources
5.Tuning the spectrum of light
6.Compatibility with controls, artificial intelligence
Controls
Market
Advantage
7.Personalization: Digital controls and analog light shaping
8.Differentiation of design*
9.Economics (initial & operating costs)
*Over 50 patents filed, 11 patents granted to date
Light Sculpting: An Innovative
New Approach for SSL Luminaires
Thank You! Questions, Follow up
please contact us below
Contact: info@quarkstar.com