TCEQ sports RIngdale ActiveLEDs
Billboards are GrowCapable
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Ringdale Debuting Energy-Efficient LightSpace® Management at LightFair International
Intelligent Controls Offer Cost-Effective Alternative to More Expensive Systems
Philadelphia, May 17, 2011 – Ringdale Inc., a leading U.S. developer and manufacturer of commercial LED luminaires, is demonstrating LightSpace® Management products at LightFair International 2011 (Booth #3251) in the Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia. The Ringdale ActiveLED® booth is located in LightFair’s Building Integration Pavilion, which features companies with products and solutions used to maximize and create energy-efficient buildings.
Ringdale’s LightSpace® Management products allow businesses to save energy and money by managing the interior and exterior lighting they use. Designed to integrate with Ringdale’s ActiveLED® line of LED fixtures, LightSpace enables 10-25% energy savings over the savings realized with ActiveLED lights. LightSpace also offers the flexibility to integrate with third-party building management systems to enable control of a facility’s lighting in conjunction with other operational systems, including heating, cooling and ventilation (HVAC) equipment.
LightSpace benefits facility management via these four products:
LightSpace® Manager – A digital, programmable unit for automatic on/off, dimmer and occupancy control that interconnects with ActiveLED lights. LightSpace Manager has an infrared remote control option.
LightSpace® Controller – A network controller for receiving instructions, firmware or programmable logic control program updates as well as status monitoring of connected devices such as ActiveLED light fixtures, sensors or LightSpace Manager.
LightSpace® Server – A browser-based application that provides remote control and monitoring of all lighting functions as well as data collection
LightSpace® BMS Adapter – A building management system adapter for interconnection with LightSpace Manager or with third-party systems for control of all lighting functions.
Ringdale designs, develops, manufactures and markets the ActiveLED line of energy-saving LED luminaires for commercial applications, including streets, parking structures, billboards, building exteriors and interiors, warehouses, offices, retail spaces, parks and restaurants. The solid-state fixtures deliver better illumination and use 50-95% less energy than conventional lighting sources such as incandescent, CLF, FL, HPS and LED bulb replacements.
ActiveLED Lighting fixtures and products are backed by a 10-year warranty on LED elements and five-year warranty on materials and workmanship.
For more information, contact Tony Sieli in the United States at 512-288-9080 or in the United Kingdom at +44-1444-871-349.
About Ringdale
Ringdale focuses on helping organizations incorporate green savings into their business environments. Ringdale provides ActiveLED® luminaires as well as a wide range of secure document output management, access control and document workflow solutions. Ringdale Inc. is based in the United States with offices in UK, France, Germany, Japan and Singapore and is part of the Network Technology PLC Group of Companies. For more information on ActiveLED, visit http://www.activeled.com/
Thursday, February 3, 2011
LED grow by NASA
LED Grow by NASA Report
Lettuce and LEDs: Shedding New Light On Space FarmingBy Todd Halvorson
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Ask most astronauts and cosmonauts what type of food they miss most on the International Space Station and they'll tell you fresh salads are a culinary commodity craved in orbit.
That situation, however, soon could change.
Researchers here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are parlaying the technology used to develop the latest traffic signals into a salad machine that could enable station crews to grow and harvest their own greens within the next three years.
What's more, the type of advanced lighting systems now used in sprawling airplane maintenance facilities, automotive assembly lines and semiconductor clean rooms are being tested for potential use at Martian greenhouses.
And while a human expedition outside Earth orbit still might be years away, the space farming efforts are ultimately aimed at developing artificial light sources that promise to help make future explorers self-sufficient at space colonies on the moon, Mars or beyond.
"We know for a long-duration mission, say going to Mars, that there will be too much launch mass involved in order to take everything you need," said Gregory Goins, a research scientist with Dynamac Corp., the life sciences contractor here at NASA's coastal Florida spaceport.
"You just can't put enough in the picnic basket to survive."
So Goins and other Space Age gardeners are testing two high-efficiency light sources that future space colonists might use not only to grow food but also to generate and purify oxygen and water -- key sustainers of human life.
The removal of carbon dioxide from a closed environment is another added benefit.
"Plants are the only way we know of where we can generate enough food, water and oxygen to support humans for such a long flight because we know re-supply is not an option. And so plants are a very appealing approach to use," Goins said.
"But in order to use plants, you must have an energy source, and that energy source is light," he added. "And the lights we use in our homes are not energy efficient enough to get the job done. So that's why we're developing these innovative technology lights."
Take the common incandescent bulb invented by Thomas Edison more than a century ago, or the type of fluorescent lamps first developed in the 1920s.
Both contain electrodes that burn out, so the lights must be periodically replaced. And both gobble up electrical power -- a precious commodity in space -- while generating heat, which must be dispelled from closed environments such as spaceships and space stations.
"Standard light sources that we use in homes and in greenhouses and in growth chambers for controlled agriculture here on Earth are not efficient enough for space travel. Not only that, they don't last a very long time," Goins said.
"And in space, heat is like trash. You make it, and you've got to get rid of it, so we don't want heat. We want light."
In recent years, dramatic improvements in lighting technology have provided NASA and its support contractors with new means to develop low-power space-farming systems that will last the life of a building -- or a greenhouse on the surface of Mars.
Working in plant growth chambers the size of walk-in refrigerators, Goins and other plant physiologists here are experimenting with blue and red Light Emitting Diodes, or LEDs, to grow salad plants such as lettuce and radishes.
Similar to devices now used to manufacture advanced traffic lights, the LEDs enable researchers to eliminate other wavelengths found within normal white light, thus reducing the amount of energy required to power the plant growth lamps.
The LEDs generate less heat, and while leaves take on a black hue due to the lack of green light to reflect, the plants grow normally and taste the same as those raised in white light.
"What we've found basically is that we are able to limit the amount of color we give to the plants and still have them grow as well as with white light," Goins said.
"Being plant physiologists, we know the chlorophyll molecule well enough that we know which wavelengths most efficiently stimulate plant growth, and it turns out to be blue and red. So I don't have to devote energy to green light, and my plant will grow just as well."
Nevertheless, green light can be added for aesthetic purposes.
"So if you're in orbit for a long time, not only do the plants taste good but they actually appear as plants do on the ground," Goins said. "But we also know we can eliminate the green light if energy costs are a concern -- and they usually are in space travel."
Another bonus: The LEDs can last the length of a round-trip mission to Mars, unlike incandescent or fluorescent bulbs, which require frequent replacement.
Now used to light up large airplane hangars, shopping malls and gymnasiums, these high-performance lamps were first developed in 1991 and one day might be used to light conservatories on the surface of Mars. "The microwave lamp is a technology where we're thinking about a large-scale system like a greenhouse on Mars, where we can illuminate a large growth area," Goins said. "It is the most efficient electric lighting source known to man."
Twice as efficient as other high-intensity sources, the microwave lamps can generate as much light as the noonday sun. The light in fact is so bright that it can be funneled through pipes and then distributed over large areas, such as a hothouse on the Martian highlands.
The lamps also are dimmable, so space colonists would be able to attenuate light within their greenhouse to match the growing cycles of their crops.
"When there are small seedlings, you don't want a very bright light," Goins said. "But then you could turn the lamps up accordingly as the plants got bigger."
The bulbs, meanwhile, are simple hollow quartz spheres with sulfur and argon gasses that are energized with microwaves. And with no filament to burn out, researchers think the lamps could prove to be the perfect light source for a space colony.
"Theoretically, the microwave lamps should last for years and years, and we've found that to be the case," Goins said.
With an investment of just $80,000 to $100,000 over the past three years, the high-tech lighting systems here have been used to grow potatoes, sweet potatoes, lettuce, spinach, radishes, wheat onion and a whole plethora of herbs such as marjoram and parsley.
The plants typically are grown hydroponically, or without soil. Water laced with a nutrient solution is circulated within plant growth chambers that are lit up with either the LEDs or the Sulfur Microwave Lamps.
And while greenhouses and space colonies on Mars are still a long way off, Goins said a specially designed LED plant growth chamber should be ready for launch to the international station within the next three years.
"I would probably call it a salad machine," Goins said.
About half the size of a tall file cabinet, the plant growth chamber would enable station astronauts and cosmonauts to grow and harvest salad greens, herbs and vegetables during typical four-month tours on the outpost.
"Now this salad machine wouldn't be built on a scale large enough to actually give the crew all the food they need," Goins said. "It would be just a supplemental endeavor in the near term."
But it would have psychological benefits for station crews, too.
"When you're inside a can for several months, I can see where having something green and living onboard would be very appealing," Goins said.
"So to have an herb garden or a salad machine actually on the space station would make the stays in space more pleasurable," he added. They would just love that."
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Ask most astronauts and cosmonauts what type of food they miss most on the International Space Station and they'll tell you fresh salads are a culinary commodity craved in orbit.
That situation, however, soon could change.
Researchers here at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are parlaying the technology used to develop the latest traffic signals into a salad machine that could enable station crews to grow and harvest their own greens within the next three years.
What's more, the type of advanced lighting systems now used in sprawling airplane maintenance facilities, automotive assembly lines and semiconductor clean rooms are being tested for potential use at Martian greenhouses.
And while a human expedition outside Earth orbit still might be years away, the space farming efforts are ultimately aimed at developing artificial light sources that promise to help make future explorers self-sufficient at space colonies on the moon, Mars or beyond.
 |
| Research scientist Greg Goins of Dynamac Corp. demonstrates the sulfur microwave lamp that provides continous broad spectrum white light to plants. It can be adjusted to be twice the brightness of the noon sun on earth. Image copyright © 2001, Tim Shortt, FLORIDA TODAY. |
"We know for a long-duration mission, say going to Mars, that there will be too much launch mass involved in order to take everything you need," said Gregory Goins, a research scientist with Dynamac Corp., the life sciences contractor here at NASA's coastal Florida spaceport.
"You just can't put enough in the picnic basket to survive."
So Goins and other Space Age gardeners are testing two high-efficiency light sources that future space colonists might use not only to grow food but also to generate and purify oxygen and water -- key sustainers of human life.
The removal of carbon dioxide from a closed environment is another added benefit.
"Plants are the only way we know of where we can generate enough food, water and oxygen to support humans for such a long flight because we know re-supply is not an option. And so plants are a very appealing approach to use," Goins said.
"But in order to use plants, you must have an energy source, and that energy source is light," he added. "And the lights we use in our homes are not energy efficient enough to get the job done. So that's why we're developing these innovative technology lights."
Take the common incandescent bulb invented by Thomas Edison more than a century ago, or the type of fluorescent lamps first developed in the 1920s.
Both contain electrodes that burn out, so the lights must be periodically replaced. And both gobble up electrical power -- a precious commodity in space -- while generating heat, which must be dispelled from closed environments such as spaceships and space stations.
"Standard light sources that we use in homes and in greenhouses and in growth chambers for controlled agriculture here on Earth are not efficient enough for space travel. Not only that, they don't last a very long time," Goins said.
"And in space, heat is like trash. You make it, and you've got to get rid of it, so we don't want heat. We want light."
In recent years, dramatic improvements in lighting technology have provided NASA and its support contractors with new means to develop low-power space-farming systems that will last the life of a building -- or a greenhouse on the surface of Mars.
Working in plant growth chambers the size of walk-in refrigerators, Goins and other plant physiologists here are experimenting with blue and red Light Emitting Diodes, or LEDs, to grow salad plants such as lettuce and radishes.
Similar to devices now used to manufacture advanced traffic lights, the LEDs enable researchers to eliminate other wavelengths found within normal white light, thus reducing the amount of energy required to power the plant growth lamps.
The LEDs generate less heat, and while leaves take on a black hue due to the lack of green light to reflect, the plants grow normally and taste the same as those raised in white light.
"What we've found basically is that we are able to limit the amount of color we give to the plants and still have them grow as well as with white light," Goins said.
"Being plant physiologists, we know the chlorophyll molecule well enough that we know which wavelengths most efficiently stimulate plant growth, and it turns out to be blue and red. So I don't have to devote energy to green light, and my plant will grow just as well."
Nevertheless, green light can be added for aesthetic purposes.
"So if you're in orbit for a long time, not only do the plants taste good but they actually appear as plants do on the ground," Goins said. "But we also know we can eliminate the green light if energy costs are a concern -- and they usually are in space travel."
Another bonus: The LEDs can last the length of a round-trip mission to Mars, unlike incandescent or fluorescent bulbs, which require frequent replacement.
Now used to light up large airplane hangars, shopping malls and gymnasiums, these high-performance lamps were first developed in 1991 and one day might be used to light conservatories on the surface of Mars. "The microwave lamp is a technology where we're thinking about a large-scale system like a greenhouse on Mars, where we can illuminate a large growth area," Goins said. "It is the most efficient electric lighting source known to man."
Twice as efficient as other high-intensity sources, the microwave lamps can generate as much light as the noonday sun. The light in fact is so bright that it can be funneled through pipes and then distributed over large areas, such as a hothouse on the Martian highlands.
The lamps also are dimmable, so space colonists would be able to attenuate light within their greenhouse to match the growing cycles of their crops.
"When there are small seedlings, you don't want a very bright light," Goins said. "But then you could turn the lamps up accordingly as the plants got bigger."
The bulbs, meanwhile, are simple hollow quartz spheres with sulfur and argon gasses that are energized with microwaves. And with no filament to burn out, researchers think the lamps could prove to be the perfect light source for a space colony.
"Theoretically, the microwave lamps should last for years and years, and we've found that to be the case," Goins said.
With an investment of just $80,000 to $100,000 over the past three years, the high-tech lighting systems here have been used to grow potatoes, sweet potatoes, lettuce, spinach, radishes, wheat onion and a whole plethora of herbs such as marjoram and parsley.
The plants typically are grown hydroponically, or without soil. Water laced with a nutrient solution is circulated within plant growth chambers that are lit up with either the LEDs or the Sulfur Microwave Lamps.
And while greenhouses and space colonies on Mars are still a long way off, Goins said a specially designed LED plant growth chamber should be ready for launch to the international station within the next three years.
"I would probably call it a salad machine," Goins said.
About half the size of a tall file cabinet, the plant growth chamber would enable station astronauts and cosmonauts to grow and harvest salad greens, herbs and vegetables during typical four-month tours on the outpost.
"Now this salad machine wouldn't be built on a scale large enough to actually give the crew all the food they need," Goins said. "It would be just a supplemental endeavor in the near term."
But it would have psychological benefits for station crews, too.
"When you're inside a can for several months, I can see where having something green and living onboard would be very appealing," Goins said.
"So to have an herb garden or a salad machine actually on the space station would make the stays in space more pleasurable," he added. They would just love that."
Ringdale and Clean Technology Solutions announce first sale of AcitveLED
Ringdale and Clean Technology Solutions Announce First Sale of ActiveLED(R) Lighting Fixtures in Latin America.
Ringdale and Clean Technology Solutions recently signed an agreement to have CTS exclusively distribute the ActiveLED product line to the rapidly emerging green building market in Latin America.
"We are excited that our partnership with Ringdale to bring ActiveLED to Latin America quickly resulted in the completion of a sale that will significantly lower our customer's energy costs," said Adolfo Salume, CEO, Clean Technology Solutions. "ActiveLED, which offers the broadest range of commercial indoor and outdoor LED lighting products in the industry, will benefit Latin American businesses eager to implement energy efficient solutions in almost any application scenario."
Ringdale's ActiveLED line includes fixtures for streets and roadways, parking structures, billboards, building exteriors, warehouses, offices, retail spaces, parks and restaurants. The fixtures deliver better illumination and use 50-95% less energy than fluorescent, incandescent, high-pressure sodium and other conventional light sources, and last far longer.
"We are pleased to have Clean Technology Solutions help us expand our global range of customers," said Klaus Bollmann, CEO, Ringdale. "We hope to leverage CTS's relationships in Latin America to accelerate sales of ActiveLED in the region."
About Ringdale
Ringdale focuses on helping organizations incorporate green savings into their business environments. Ringdale provides ActiveLED(R) luminaires with patented, solid-state lighting control and thermal management technology as well as a wide range of secure document output management, access control and document workflow solutions. Ringdale Inc. is based in the United States with offices in the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan and Singapore and is part of the Network Technology PLC Group of Companies. Visit Ringdale at http://www.ringdale.com/lighting .
About Clean Technology Solutions
Clean Technology Solutions LLC is the premier distribution company for leading edge, environmentally friendly, alternative technology solutions in Latin America, the Caribbean and Europe. Through CTS' affiliation to Sail Venture partners, CTS has access to deep and wide technical capabilities and a substantially large network of subject matter experts that provide technical and business advice both in the company selection as well as in market penetration stages. CTS' mission is to identify and develop markets for new and non-conventional solutions and bring practical improvements to their clients in the fields of Building Efficiency, Automotive Efficiency, Clean Water Solutions and Cellular Technology. CTS promotes the use of clean technologies in Latin America, Caribbean and European enterprises by reducing costs and maximizing resources, thereby lowering their carbon footprint
NASA on LEDs.
LED Device Illuminates New Path to Space Technology Hall of Fame
Originating Technology/NASA Contribution
Studies have shown red LEDs are a viable light source for growing plants in space flight due to their small mass and volume, wavelength specificity, longevity, and safe operation. |
Among NASA’s research goals is increased understanding of factors affecting plant growth, including the effects of microgravity. Impeding such studies, traditional light sources used to grow plants on Earth are difficult to adapt to space flight, as they require considerable amounts of power and produce relatively large amounts of heat. As such, an optimized experimental system requires much less energy and reduces temperature variance without negatively affecting plant growth results.
Light-emitting diodes, LEDs, are a light source for growing plants in space.
Light-emitting diodes, LEDs, are a light source for growing plants in space.
Studies have shown red LEDs are a viable light source for growing plants in space flight due to their small mass and volume, wavelength specificity, longevity, and safe operation.
Ronald W. Ignatius, founder and chairman of the board at Quantum Devices Inc. (QDI), of Barneveld, Wisconsin, proposed using light-emitting diodes (LEDs) as the photon source for plant growth experiments in space. This proposition was made at a meeting held by the Wisconsin Center for Space Automation and Robotics, a NASA-sponsored research center that facilitates the commercialization of robotics, automation, and other advanced technologies. The Wisconsin group teamed with QDI to determine whether an LED system could provide the necessary wavelengths and intensities for photosynthesis, and the resultant system proved successful. The center then produced the Astroculture3, a plant growth chamber that successfully incorporated this LED light source, which has now flown on several space shuttle missions.
NASA subsequently identified another need that could be addressed with the use of LEDs: astronaut health. A central concern in astronaut health is maintaining healthy growth of cells, including preventing bone and muscle loss and boosting the body’s ability to heal wounds—all adversely affected by prolonged weightlessness. Thus, having determined that LEDs can be used to grow plants in space, NASA decided to investigate whether LEDs might be used for photobiomodulation therapy (PBMT).
PBMT is an emerging medical and veterinary technique in which exposure to high-intensity, wavelength-specific light can stimulate or inhibit cellular function. PBMT modulates a body’s organelles—structures within a cell (e.g., mitochondria, vacuoles, and chloroplasts) that store food, discharge waste, produce energy, or perform other functions analogous to the role of organs in the body as a whole—with wavelength-specific photon energy to increase respiratory metabolism, reduce the natural inflammatory response, accelerate recovery of injury or stress at the cellular level, and increase circulation.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)