A Cisco PoE LED lighting partner signs US distributor

In another inroad for Internet-connected and controlled lighting, US computer and communications systems integrator CEC said it is now offering LED-based Power over Ethernet (PoE) lighting.

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The Hiawatha, IA-based company, which has offices across Iowa and Wisconsin, is providing PoE gear from Roland, IA-based Innovative Lighting, in an Internet of Things (IoT) move.

PoE lighting makes uses of Ethernet cables to furnish LED luminaires with electricity as well as with data, which is Ethernet's mainstay use. The cables can handle the low voltages required by LEDs — which are low energy — and thus, say PoE supporters, can eliminate the need for certified electrical work in new buildings.

The same cables route data to the lights and thus enhance their control, allowing different levels of brightness, color temperature, and in some instances, color, via remote Internet control.

They can also help tie lights into data schemes in which luminaires help transmit data about room occupancy, climate, and other things, and thus help optimize building usage and other systems such as heating and cooling. Such schemes could also entail the use of wireless transmissions from luminaire to smartphones or to other controllers to offer complete data loops.

Innovative Lighting CEO Jerry Handsaker says the partnership with CEC will help establish PoE lighting in businesses, schools, hospitals, warehouses, hotels, and government agencies across the Midwest. (Source: Mark Halper.)

CEC integrates communications and computer systems, including fire and security, audiovisual, and voice over IP (VoIP). It is now weaving Innovative's Genisys PoE lighting into the mix.

“As more and more devices connect to networks, CEC can help customers get new lighting systems in place to take advantage of IoT as well as ensure that their networks are set up to support this emerging technology,” said CEC chief executive Matt Dlouhy.

Innovative chief executive Jerry Handsaker said the partnership will help businesses, schools, hospitals, warehouses, hotels, and government agencies across the Midwest saves energy and lower installation and maintenance costs.

Innovative is part of the digital ceiling PoE initiative run by networking giant Cisco, which includes about 23 companies, mostly lighting vendors.

PoE is one of several technologies that building operators can use to tie lights into smart IoT systems. The owners of a 42-story building under construction in Toronto have specified that individual lights should have IP addresses, although they have not specified PoE. Rather, the intelligence will travel to and from the lights through other technologies.