LEPs light up ports sector

The company’s Resilient brand, which focuses on the port market, comprises a range of light emitting plasma (LEP) lights for ‘tough’ applications. The company says the technology is powered using ‘solid-state electronics’, which means it’s reliable and controlled in operation.

“It lasts two to three times longer than existing technology, which means less maintenance for the user,” Randy Reid, business development manager, Resilient, told GreenPort. “So, we can help save huge amounts of energy, but also maintenance costs.”

In the company’s recent contract with APM Terminals Mumbai, its lights have resulted in around 65% energy savings while giving the same brightness as a traditional high pressure sodium light and, because of the positive performance, the company is set to fit out the entire port.

Through its OEM partners, BLS, Luxim’s LEPs are also in use in the USA’s Port of Oakland, Newark, Baltimore, Seattle, San Juan Puerto Rico, Barbados, Hawaii NAS and Everett NAS.

Mr Reid told GP the white LEP bulb also results in a safer port environment, since the light output from an LEP source is ‘directional’, and can help with ‘light trespass’ complaints, which Mr Reid says ports often suffer from when the high mass lights create glares in unwanted parts of the port.

“We can tell you how much energy and maintenance you’re going to save but it’s very hard to qualify safety,” he explained. “But, our light bulb is the size of a dime – very small. Because of this, we can put a reflector behind it and aim the light where we want it, giving more even distribution. The same amount of light is therefore given throughout the whole area and that’s the benefit of plasma.”

And with more and more ports taking the ‘green’ route, Mr Reid told GP being able to control the light is also proving an issue. “Because our LEPs are dimmable, port users can control the light, so at peak times, the light can be fully utilised, and adjusted at off-peak times when it’s not needed as much.”

The lights can be dimmed to 50%, saving even more energy overall with 75% reduced, and last for around 50,000 hours, or about 12 years, saving the user maintenance costs as well as energy.

Going forward, the company told GP it’s also in talks with other ports as a result of its attendance at Mercator Media Ltd’s GreenPort Congress, which took place in Barcelona last month.

“Initially, we didn’t really target ports, they came to us, but we’ve been targeting the port business for the past eight months now. GreenPort Congress was a great platform for this – we got around 50 leads from the show and of those 50, we’re now in talks with 19, so for us it was a tremendous show,” Mr Reid concluded.

Resilient provides area lighting, high mast lighting, high bay lighting and roadway lighting for tough environments using Light Emitting Plasma, LED, and Induction technologies.