Welcome to the LEDs Magazine News & Insights newsletter for Mar. 31, 2021. Well, the boys of summer return this week and even here in California some fans will be allowed at games. I expected a few announcements this week about MLB (Major League Baseball) ballparks being newly LED lit. None have arrived. I can count upwards of ten teams from memory that have made such a retrofit in recent years. Maybe it’s just not considered news any longer to install solid-state lighting (SSL) for playing fields and other teams have converted quietly. Given the combination of energy savings and improved light quality for fans and players, it’s hard to believe any MLB team would be sticking with legacy lighting at this point. Baseball fans are all optimists today. But I think my Padres have a real shot his year despite being in a very tough division. And the team has very cool LED lighting.
We do have an LED-centric story for you today related to another professional sport. The NHL (National Hockey League) that operates in the US and Canada signed a very-broad partnership agreement with Signify relative to various forms of electromagnetic radiation and connectivity technology. I wasn’t trying to be vague with my characterization of lighting products in the prior sentence. The scope of the deal includes non-visible radiation in the ultraviolet (UV) band, as you may have guessed.
Signify’s UV-C-band products will be used to deactivate SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogens in locker rooms. The deal will also include LED lighting for playing surfaces and other facilities. Moreover, the NHL is unique in that it has partnered in North America with community and recreational facilities to help grow support for the sport. Signify said the deal will provide more than 4800 ice rinks with simplified access to its technologies.
We have another beautiful city project story for you this week, which frankly are among my favorite things we publish. Especially in the past year I get to think about where I might visit post-pandemic. Still, the story of Terrassa, Spain also reveals unexpected advantages of SSL and highlights a quality-of light angle that I have been championing for two years now. This Catalan city was concerned with consistent dimming curves of luminaires from many different vendors and resolved that concern by specifying the drivers used throughout 29,000 luminaires from seven vendors.
Our Carrie Meadows has posted about horticultural lighting and AgTech on our blog page. The post summarizes a number of recent horticultural projects and research efforts. I am deep in the planning of our HortiCann Light + Tech Conference for September. Contact me with ideas for sessions now!
We had two excellent webcasts recently on germicidal UV applications. You can still catch the archives. Visit our webcast page to see all our archived and planned presentations.
I have hammered home our Sapphire entry message in every newsletter of the past couple of months. You won’t have to deal with that messaging much longer — at least until next year. And now I’ll offer up the worst-kept secret in our universe. The deadline for entries is tomorrow, but we will extend the deadline until Apr. 15. This is a one and only one extension. Seriously, get those Sapphire Awards entries completed.
You will find many more stories of interest in the body of today’s newsletter. And always feel free to contact me to discuss content we post or to pitch a contributed article.
- Maury Wright, (858) 748-6785, [email protected]