Strategies in Light Conference 2020

Attended by Eric Strandberg

Strategies in Light (SiL) is a conference born out of the LED lighting revolution and devoted to education about, and dissemination of, solid state lighting (SSL) technology. Organized by LEDs Magazine, this conference features Keynote Speakers, Workshops, Plenary Sessions, and an Exhibit Hall of Manufactures products from the SSL industry. In addition, there are networking opportunities throughout the conference.

This year there were three major educational tracks:

            Track 1- State of the LED and Lighting Industries/Interesting Verticals

            Track 2- Advancements in LED and Lighting Technology, Design, and Manufacturing

            Track 3- Connected Lighting and the IoT

I spent most of my time between Tracks 2 and 3, as Track 1 was primarily about the business of lighting. The sessions I attended included topics such as:

            Color shift in LED package platforms- An understanding of thermal impacts on chip packages will lead to an improved user experience.

            Laser light sources- Blue laser excited phosphors lead to innovation in both white light optics, and data transfer technologies.

            MicroLED display development- Leading to extremely high resolution and brightness, MicroLED promises to change the display landscape.

            OLED lighting- Organic LEDs are nothing new, but the incremental improvements continue, keeping them in the game as a viable light source.

            Integration of acoustic control into light fixtures- As open plans with lower cubicle partitions become the norm, office environments have become noisier. Now, luminaires are adding acoustical damping elements to mitigate the problem.

            Bluetooth mesh systems- As the quest for more data from ever more devices continues, Bluetooth Mesh offers a pathway to coordinate and standardize the industry.

            LiFi System development- Using light, (LiFi), to transmit data, opens up new opportunities in the increasingly crowded data flow space.

All these sessions represent new or emerging technologies vying to shape the commercial lighting landscape now and in the future. Awareness and knowledge of these topics will bring value to utilities as they continue to find new and different ways to engage their various customer and ratepayer sectors.