Wireless Bluetooth sensors are showing up in many applications, and wireless company EnOcean is now bringing the technology into lighting control applications. The company has unveiled a solar-powered occupancy sensor for Bluetooth lighting control systems. Reportedly the first on the market, the sensor integrates the company’s established energy harvesting technology.
According to EnOcean, the sensors can be installed independently of any lighting system and will give users more flexibility in designing lighting control systems. “Where you have lighting grids, there are more demands for occupancy sensors and motion detectors,” says Troy Davis, director of sales for EnOcean. “With fixture-mounted sensors, you have issues with some lights on and some lights off. Our sensors can be mounted anywhere on a wall to control lighting systems.”
Requiring no batteries, EnOcean’s device uses a passive infrared sensor to detect motion and integrates tiny solar cells to harvest ambient light. These solar cells generate the energy for the sensor’s operation by making it self-powered and maintenance-free. An energy storage element stores the harvested energy bridging a time period where no light is available to ensure uninterrupted operation.
Besides occupancy detection, the Bluetooth sensor integrates a light sensor that allows light level control based on the actual light intensity. The sensor also has a Near Field Communications (NFC) interface to be easily integrated and commissioned for lighting control systems via an NFC reader, a smartphone, or a tablet.
The sensor offers advanced security mechanisms for protected data communication. The sensor’s algorithm uses AES 128 authentification, based on the device-unique random security key to generate a 32-bit signature as part of the radio telegram. All transmitted radio telegrams are authenticated via AES 128 to ensure data integrity and authenticity.
EnOcean expects the sensor to expedite the development of Bluetooth lighting systems by giving Bluetooth partners a fast time-to-market solution. The sensor will enable a more complex control logic delivering data on room occupancy and light intensity via Bluetooth, paving the way for demand-based lighting control or room occupancy management making LED lighting systems an integrated part of networked building intelligence.
The company will expand its sensor portfolio to deliver additional building data, such as temperature and humidity, for more intelligent control capabilities.