APPARATUS AND METHOD OF ENERGY EFFICIENT ILLUMINATION
First Claim
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1. A method of operating an outdoor illumination system, the method comprising:
- processing by at least one control subsystem information indicative of a level of illumination sensed by at least one sensor over a plurality of daily cycles;
the processing by the at least one control subsystem including;
causing at least one illumination source to be turned ON at a first illumination level during a current one of the daily cycles;
causing at least one illumination source to be turned OFF during the current one of the daily cycles;
causing a level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be reduced from the first level to a non-zero level between the at least one illumination source being turned ON and OFF during the current one of the daily cycles;
determining when to cause the level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be increased, the increase to occur between the causing the level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be reduced from the first level and the at least one illumination source being turned OFF, the determining based at least in part on the sensed level of illumination sensed during at least one previous one of the daily cycles which occurred before the current one of the daily cycles; and
causing the level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be increased between the causing the level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be reduced and the at least one illumination source being turned OFF during the current one of the daily cycles.
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Abstract
An illumination system reduces a level of light output, and hence power consumption, at a time after turning ON a light source, and increases the level of light output at a time prior to turning OFF the light source. A control subsystem can determine when to increase the level of light based on a predicted time when the light source will be turned OFF. The control subsystem may determine an average or median length of time that the light source has been turned on for a number of recent daily cycles. A control subsystem may be an integral part of a luminaire or may be a retrofit.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method of operating an outdoor illumination system, the method comprising:
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processing by at least one control subsystem information indicative of a level of illumination sensed by at least one sensor over a plurality of daily cycles;
the processing by the at least one control subsystem including;causing at least one illumination source to be turned ON at a first illumination level during a current one of the daily cycles; causing at least one illumination source to be turned OFF during the current one of the daily cycles; causing a level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be reduced from the first level to a non-zero level between the at least one illumination source being turned ON and OFF during the current one of the daily cycles; determining when to cause the level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be increased, the increase to occur between the causing the level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be reduced from the first level and the at least one illumination source being turned OFF, the determining based at least in part on the sensed level of illumination sensed during at least one previous one of the daily cycles which occurred before the current one of the daily cycles; and causing the level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be increased between the causing the level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be reduced and the at least one illumination source being turned OFF during the current one of the daily cycles. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system for outdoor illumination, comprising:
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a control subsystem that includes at least one control circuit, the control subsystem communicatively coupled to receive signals from at least one sensor, the received signals indicative of a level of illumination over a plurality of daily cycles and that; causes at least one illumination source to be turned ON at a first illumination level during a current one of the daily cycles; causes at least one illumination source to be turned OFF during the current one of the daily cycles; causes a level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be reduced from the first level to a non-zero level between the at least one illumination source being turned ON and OFF during the current one of the daily cycles; determines when to cause the level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be increased, the increase to occur between the causing the level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be reduced from the first level and the at least one illumination source being turned OFF, the determining based at least in part on the sensed level of illumination sensed during at least one previous one of the daily cycles which occurred before the current one of the daily cycles; and causes the level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be increased between the causing the level of illumination produced by the at least one illumination source to be reduced and the at least one illumination source being turned OFF during the current one of the daily cycles. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification