Issue link: https://te.mouser.com/i/1475713
12 Connected LED Lighting Solutions LED Street Lighting Interconnect Considerations The choice of LED, structural design of the light fixture, lighting controls design, and streetlight placement is only part of the battle. Another critical area of consideration is the lighting interconnect. With LED lighting, a few different components need to be connected to remain reliable, limit additional size/weight/cost, and interface with present street lighting infrastructure. LED lighting interconnect is also used to connect the different LED circuit boards to the LED light engine if the design isn't fully integrated into a single board. Hence, a variety of interconnect solutions are key in handling the AC and DC power, and the LED control signals. The type and quality of a LED street light interconnect can significantly influence many aspects of the light system design, installation, and future maintenance. The appropriate interconnect choices can lead to much faster and more efficient structures. This can save on initial costs and minimize the need for rework by installers (Figure 4). Examples include using color-coded wire-to- board connectors that can be selected to match a given lighting application's wiring code. Such connectors can reduce installation errors and significantly reduce installation times and training. FIGURE 5: TE Connectivity's Endurance S Zhaga Book 18 connector system can be pivotal in reducing smart LED street lighting architecture. (Image Credit: TE Connectivity) Another example is the use of rotatable dimming receptacles instead of fixed receptacles. Rotatable receptacles, such as ANSI C136.41 compliant receptacles, can allow for nearly 360-degree rotation, which facilitates installation and enables the exact positioning of the photo node to due North in any street or roadway lighting application. Without the ability to rotate, a multi-piece dimming receptacle would need to be precisely assembled and within the lighting fixture as installed to properly align the photo node. Many LED streetlights rely on photo sensors to ensure that the lights turn on at the correct times and appropriately respond to ambient illumination. This is a far more efficient method than simply relying on timing and requires much less infrastructure than connecting all the lights to a central control infrastructure for some applications. This is where Zhaga compliant connector systems can be beneficial in enabling greater efficiency and flexibility in luminaire designs. Using such lighting systems can enable multiple mounting positions, and be scalable, accepting both 40mm and 80mm base assemblies and enabling daisy chaining with pole-in wire insertion for ease of termination (Figure 5). FIGURE 4: ITB connectors offer reliable poke-in technology that facilitates fast and easy termination with no wire crimping required