1-10V ANALOGUE CONTROL

1-10V ANALOGUE CONTROL

We can observe a significant development of lighting control technology, particularly in the industrial sector. It results not only from the care for comfort and safety of work in warehouses and production halls, but also from steps taken by various businesses to reduce the operating costs f business.

We often hear about advanced technologies in digital configuration, which is often complicated and relatively expensive. DALI dominates among digital systems, DMX, and wireless ZigBee, TUYA. It is good to remember about a proven, reliable and affordable analogue light control method, which is 1-10V.

The analogue system is brilliant in its simplicity. It can easily control both, small and complex lighting installations without human control. To make full use of the system, the installations must be equipped with light intensity sensors and optional presence sensors.

In a nutshell: the system operates by applying a control voltage in the range from 1V DC to 10V DC to a suitable power supply unit built into the LED luminaire. When the sensor sends 10V to the lamp, the luminaire will light up to 100% of the nominal luminous flux, while when the sensor sends 1V, the lamp will lower the flux to 10%. There is also a similar 0-10V system, these systems are identical and can work interchangeably, the only difference is that at zero voltage the luminaire will switch off.

Fig. 1 System operation with a light sensor

Thanks to motion and dusk sensors, we are able to significantly reduce the cost of electricity consumption. The ideal example is the dusk sensor, which is able to reduce the power of the lamp depending on the amount of daylight supplied to the room through windows and skylights. An additional benefit is that with one sensor we can control several luminaires.

An equally great, though less frequently used, solution is a motion sensor which generates additional savings resulting from the reduced consumption of electricity and a providing longer lifespan. Motion sensors are designed to turn off the lighting system or lower the brightness of the luminaires when there are no users nearby. Both sensors can manage the lighting installations together as one multi-purpose sensor.

Fig. 1 Microwave motion sensor 1-10V

Fig. 2 Dusk sensor

The use of 1-10V luminaires and sensors does not exclude their use in more advanced systems. Lamps working in 1-10V control system can be adapted to digital work e.g. by using DALI converters - they are generally available and easy to install.

Fig. 2 Schematic diagram of a 1-10V network

Thanks to the unique LED line® motion sensor dedicated to HIGH BAY industrial luminaires, we can easily mount the sensor directly to the lamp. Equipped with the previously mentioned dusk sensor allows us to obtain a simple and reliable lighting control system, which definitely results in greater savings and quicker return on investment.

Fig. 3 Shows the operation of the complete 1-10V control system.

This type of control is very simple to use in terms of configuration, and is practically automatic, requiring no human control. Once installed, in addition to the previously mentioned benefits, the system provides us with peace of mind and convenience. Thanks to a very smooth adjustment of luminaires' brightness we will not notice any changes in luminaires' light intensity during the changes of the daytime. Whether at night or in the bright morning, our room will always be illuminated at a similar level.