What Is Off-Grid Lighting?

What Does Off-Grid Lighting Mean?

Wireless Environment has observed and classified three major reasons for taking lighting off-grid. Our vision is to become the leader in shifting lighting off-grid for maximum efficiency, utility and value.

The three reasons to go off the grid with you lighting are:
1. No Access to Electricity
2. Power Outage / Rolling Blackout
3. Economic Gain

Here is how we define the three categories of off-grid lighting:

1. No Access to Electricity
The majority of locations in the world are off-grid. In remote locations there are often no electrical wires. But even in your own home, there is are many areas where you want light and have no wires. Think about your driveway, your backyard, the corner of your house and many of your closets. For all of these areas that need light, battery-powered or solar-powered lighting is the best option. Battery-powered lights can provide brighter light without wires.

Products like the Mr. Beams Spotlight can attach to a tree anywhere. When it detects movement through its motion sensor, a powerful LED lights up a driveway, walkway, backyard, porch. There is also a remote control Spotlight that can be activated by the remote control or turn on with its motion sensor. For detached sheds and detached garages, the Mr. Beams Ceiling Light can provide bright light. It is weatherproof, like all Mr. Beams wireless lights, and has a sensitive motion detector. Once someone enters the garage, shed, gazebo or closet, the Mr. Beams Ceiling Light emits a bright white light until the auto shut-off turns it off. Other Mr. Beams lights include the Stick Anywhere Night Light and the Stair Light. Both lights have daylight sensors to keep the lights off during the day and conserve battery life. They also are weatherproof and have motion sensors. They provide lighting where there is no electricity, and can significantly help reduce the number of falls.

2. Power Outage / Rolling Blackout
I recently blogged about the increase in the number of blackouts in the U.S. As the grid becomes more strained, we will experience more power outages. For this reason Mr. Beams is developing a line of batteries that can be installed inside light fixtures. These batteries will detect a power outage and then provide enough back-up power to allow for safe exit. Technology will also help extend the battery life and thus the useful light for exit or other operation.

3. Economic Gain
In the future world of increased demand on the electrical grid, there will be a strong incentive to reduce electricity use during certain times. Currently the peak demand times are between 2pm and 5pm during the business week – especially during hot days. Electric companies are paying facilities to go off the grid at these times. With the Wireless Environment battery technology, a facility can transfer its lighting to battery power during these peak times. The facility can collect a fee for going off the electrical grid, and take advantage of lower electricity costs by re-charging the back-up batteries for the lighting during an off-peak time. In some areas of the country, the spread in the cost between peak-demand electricity and off-peak electricity can be significant. With LED light fixtures and the Wireless Environment battery technology, lights can shift off-grid and still operate at the same lumen level.

In our future, we will all face the need to go off-grid more often. Products are being developed to help manage lighting off of the grid. We will continue to update the progress of developing off-grid lighting products and components.