The DC Lighting Advantage: DC lighting is a practical & impactful “Direct Load” for the output of renewable power sources that can optimally catalyze energy, efficiency, economic & environmental benefits for microgrids and building power infrastructures, adding sustainable value toward empowering grid resiliency & maximizing the value of renewables.
Optimizing the Value of Renewables: “Direct-Coupled” (DC-to-DC) with renewables (solar/battery storage), DC lighting unlocks optimized grid resilient strategies for lighting security, cost control, carbon reduction, and load sharing among renewable power sources.
Return on Investment: When used as the primary load beneficiary of the power produced by renewables to subrogating the electric load from the utility, a DC lighting grid can be used to calculate the Return on Investment of the microgrid capital. Further, DC-to-DC propels increased efficiency and cost reduction over standard AC lighting for microgrid applications, eliminating the need for inverter hardware, and in many cases reduced conduit and labor costs.
Here is a breakdown of core DC lighting benefits over four (4) key business indicators:
4 Core “E-Benefits” of DC Lighting
Energy
Optimize load management & electric power control
Economic
Reduce installation & material costs (inverter hardware, conduit, labor)
Mitigate risk of lighting downtime = greater security
Efficiency
No AC/DC inversions = Greater Efficiency (15% +)
Directly quantify ROI of Renewables
Environmental
“Direct-Coupling” to renewables catalyzes Net Zero Emissions objectives
