POE lighting

[brig001]

Is anyone using or installing POE lighting?

What Is Power over Ethernet Lighting - PoE Lighting?

Power over Ethernet lighting, or PoE connected lighting, is smart lighting that uses Ethernet technology to power, connect, monitor, and control LED lighting systems.

www.cisco.com

Looks interesting for commercial, and probably domestic eventually. Installations could look very different in a few years

Brian

 

[plugwash]

AIUI the big advantage is that POE wiring is considered non-hazardous, so it can be worked on by any old labourer even in places that have tight H&S policies. It can also easilly be connected back to a central control system without needing any kind of protocol translator.

The downside is going to be losses in the POE equipment and cabling.

 

[brig001]

Losses are going to be worse for sure, but Cisco are saying:

LED lights need DC power to operate, so AC-powered LED fixtures need a transformer to convert their power source to DC. This can result in a 20 percent loss in power. In addition, the transformer itself can be bulky, and it emits heat because of the conversion.

I have no idea where they think the power is going to come from. Cable losses will be higher too as lower volts has to mean higher amps, and it’s a thinner cable

Brian

 

[ericmark]

Used ASii years ago, 24 volt DC with a superimposed signal from the PLC, so seem to remember 32 units each with 4 in and out using 24 volt, this was turn of century so nothing new.

However we also had problems, machines doing odd things, we banned mobile phones in case connected with their use, and it got worse, then found operators were hiding their mobile phones in the enclosures, which was why it had got worse. Using the systems to turn a light on/off is OK, but a 50 ton press working when you don't want it to, is rather dangerous.

Free use of the firms cordless phones did stop mobile use, and the faults did seem to vanish, but next machine was hard wired.

 

[Why Not Indeed]

PoE lighting isn't going to happen. Ubiquiti tried it, abandoned the product. Would make more sense to use USB-PD!

 

[hllns]

Well, it's Cisco, when you're the one producing Ethernet hammers everything looks like a nail.
The newest switches for our our latest install support the latest IEEE PoE standard (802.3bt) which is 90w over 4 pairs, the switch has two power supplies for a total PoE budget of 2200W according to the spec which isn't nothing but it's not particularly cheap.
There are also cable bundling heating effects which doesn't seem to have any coherent industry guidance though some vendors have some (https://blog.siemon.com/infrastructure/siemon-cable-bundling-recommendations-for-poe-applications)

 

[SimonH2]

I can see it happening - but it's going to stay niche and expensive. As mentioned, Ubiquiti tried it, but theirs was proprietary and had very limited options - so not surprised it didn't catch on. With only panels, market would be restricted to offices etc. where either the compkication isn't needed or they'd go with an industry standard (e.g. DALI).