In-building lighting management system with wireless communications

Smart Grid refers to the next generation power grid in which the electricity distribution and management are upgraded by incorporating advanced communications and capabilities for improved control, efficiency, reliability and safety. Among all fields covered by the term Smart Grid such as renewable energies, smart metering, electric vehicles, etc. lighting control in home and building facilities is one of the Smart Grid aspects which is still using very inefficient technologies. The energy consumption in lighting can be heavily decreased by applying the new information and communication technologies. This paper focuses on the development of a lighting management system making use of wireless sensor networks and implemented using commercial electronic ballast with DALI communication protocol. The approach consists of integrating into the master controller device a wireless sensor network in which any DALI ballast is controlled by a network node. Experimental results about consumption and the system performance are presented and discussed.