sparks
ELECTRICAL NEWS
april
2013
24
lighting
The BEKA SOLAR module has been engineered for all
geographical locations in Africa.
Solar lighting solution for Baragwanath upgrade project
BEKA provided solar powered LED luminaires to the surrounding areas of the Baragwanath taxi rank.
EUROLUX recently added a new range of ceramicmetal halide
(CMH) lamps to their existing project portfolio.“These compact,
efficient and powerful metal halide lamps offer amongst the
highest efficacy and longest life of most lamp types,”says Shaun
Bouchier, director at importer and distributor, Eurolux.
While various cities around theworld are nowmaking use of
this technology to light up their streets, Bouchier explains that
it has far broader applications.“Metal halide lamps are increas-
ingly in demand for large, high-bay indoor areas, such as retail
stores, gyms and sports arenas, as well as indoor retail track and
and halide salts.
As the arc heats up it vaporises themetal salts to forma
plasma, which intensifies the light produced by the arc and cuts
down the power consumption.
Metal halide lamps are non-directional and require a ballast,
ignitor and capacitor to start andmaintain their arcs.
Metal halide salts of conventional quartzmetal halide (QMH)
lamps are known to have a corrosive effect on the arc tubes,
therefore a significant benefit of CMH arc tubes is that there is a
reduction in this corrosive effect, explains Bouchier.
“This allows CMH tubes to operate at higher temperatures
thanQMH tubes, boosting performance and quality-of-light
characteristics as lumenmaintenance (10 to 30%higher), lamp
colour-shift and spread stability, Colour Rendering Index (CRI)
and dimming.”
CMH lamps have a CRI of 80 - 96 and light sources with a CRI of
80 and higher are considered to have excellent colour rendering.
However, exact CRI depends on themixture of metal halide salts
in the arc tube and this is displayed on the packaging.
The Eurolux range includes double and single ended lamps,
available in opal or clear glass.
Enquiries: (021) 528 8400
New range of ceramic metal halide lamps launched
BEKA’s solar powered streetlights provide
the lighting for the surrounding areas of the
Baragwanath (Bara) taxi rank, which is the
biggest and busiest bus and taxi rank in
Soweto, Johannesburg.
Lighting was required tomake the area safer
but getting power to the site was a challenge.
To overcome this, BEKA provided solar powered
LED luminaires – the BEKA CITEA LED, which was
chosen not only to provide the required lighting
levels but also because of the aesthetic appear-
ance of the luminaires.
The BEKA CITEA LED is manufactured in South
Africa and takes Africa’s environment and condi-
tions into account.
“This is evident in the luminaire’s design,”
explains BEKA’s GoodmanMthethwa.
“A unique thermal sensor techniquemonitors
the temperature of the LEDs on the printed cir-
cuit boards (PCBs). Once a critical temperature is
reached – which could shorten the lifetime of the
LEDs – the current is reduced to ensure the safe
operating temperature of the LEDs,”he adds.
“This safeguards the LEDs and ensures that the
long lifetime of up to 100 000 hours, as envisaged
by the LEDmanufacturer OSRAM, is achieved.”
He says the BEKA Solar module has been engi-
neered for all geographical locations in Africa.
“It is designed to operate reliably at a high light
output over a 12 to 14 hour period and it has sufficient
autonomy to cater for up to two continuous overcast or
rainy days and still operate reliably at night.”
The solar components, such as solar panels
and special solar batteries, are protected by
theft-resistant mountingmeasures.
“BEKA’s products were chosen by the profes-
sional team for their quality and reliability, as
well as their supporting services,”says Mthethwa, add-
ing that BEKA is proud of its association with this project
and its partnershipwith HighVoltage SystemEngineers
and Khuboni Civil Projects.
Enquiries: (011) 238-0042
display lighting; even headlights in luxury
cars. More andmore outdoor areas, such as
streets, security lights and car parks, are also
being lit withmetal halide lighting.”
Metal halide lamps produce bright, white
light using electricity arcs between tungsten
electrodes housed in a translucent or trans-
parent fused quartz or ceramic arc tube, also
called a burner, enclosedwithin an outer
bulb.The tube contains amixture of various
gases andmetal halide salts. For instance,
CMH tubes heat amixture of mercury, argon
Riaan Bubb, senior sales engineer,
at BEKA in Cape Town.
New lighting
appointments
Justin Brown, new technical sales, at
BEKA in Cape Town.
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