New technology produces big cut in blue light content of outdoor LED lighting
The NightScape technology from Lumileds is implemented in high-brightness LEDs that have standard footprints, for easy implementation in designs for streetlights and other outdoor luminaires.
Lumileds has responded to worldwide demand for reductions in light pollution from outdoor luminaires by introducing NightScape technology, which lowers the blue content of white LED light to less than 2%.
The NightScape technology is first available in the Lumileds LUXEON 3030 HE Plus and LUXEON 5050 Square LED emitters. These LED emitters are workhorses of the outdoor lighting industry, and are in common use by many lighting equipment manufacturers. Over time, the technology can be applied to virtually any of Lumileds’ white LED lines to meet lighting community needs.
Blue light content is a critical factor in assessing the harm from night-time illumination. Blue light scatters more than other wavelengths, which increases light pollution and glare, and it has marked impacts on the circadian rhythms and behaviors of humans, plants, and wildlife. This is why municipalities, states, and governments are introducing lighting ordinances that prescribe both the design of light fixtures and the nature of the light that they emit. Maui in Hawaii, for example, enacted an ordinance in 2023 that limits blue content in outdoor lighting to less than 2%.
The LUXEON 3030 HE Plus and 5050 Square LEDs have a CCT of 1,900 K, and blue light content of just 1.8% in the 400 nm to 500 nm range of the visible light spectrum.
The physical dimensions and optical radiation patterns of the NightScape LUXEON 3030 HE Plus and LUXEON 5050 Square LEDs are identical to the existing parts in each portfolio. Any luminaire using either of these products, or LEDs from other manufacturers that have the same footprint, can quickly and easily adopt Ni