Our Publications

The California Lighting Technology Center is excited to kick off research into today's Residential Energy & Automation (REA) Systems in collaboration with California's statewide electric emerging technologies program, CalNEXT.

REA systems combine home-energy monitoring features with automated appliance management and control of distributed energy resources (DER) such as electric vehicle (EV) chargers, rooftop solar panels, and stationary battery energy storage (BES).

Looking to get to know CLTC's new Associate Director Jae Yong Suk?

LD+A recently published their Q+A column where Professor Suk offers his insights in response to LD+A's questions.

CLTC recently partnered with the California Energy Commission, Sonoma Clean Power Authority, and Frontier Energy Inc. to evaluate opportunities in emerging daylighting technologies. One such technology is a solar-tracking lighting system, which delivers daylight via optical fibers to core building areas that otherwise do not have access to daylight.

Advanced Lighting Control Systems (ALCS) Bench Testing – Plug Load Controls aims to revisit and refine the technology validation program developed in Phase I. ALCS Bench Testing - Plug Load Controls focuses on the plug load specific additions that are available with select ALCS and evaluates whether these advanced plug loads controllers (APLC) can accurately report the energy use of the connected plug loads consistent with utility requirements/needs.

Networked lighting control (NLC) systems have proven they can successfully reduce demand and save energy in real-world applications through a combination of basic and advanced control strategies. However, the potential of NLCs’ integral metering and reporting capabilities to provide cost effective energy-use data for incentive programs and outcome-based code opportunities has not been fully realized. This is, in part, due to the variety of metering and reporting approaches used by today’s NLCs.

Advanced Lighting Control System (ALCS) Bench Testing Phase II aims to revisit and refine the technology validation program developed in Phase I. The goal of this study is to assess whether current commercially-available ALCS can accurately report connected load energy use consistent with current utility requirements, such as revenue-grade labeling.

Today, adaptive lighting, which is lighting controlled by occupancy sensors or schedules that adjust light levels based on actual site conditions, is considered best practice for numerous outdoor applications. Adaptive lighting has been adopted as part of some commercial energy standards and the strategy is now included in many outdoor lighting specifications and design guides. Outdoor areas with heightened security requirements, however, are often excluded from adaptive lighting control requirements and these areas remain lit with high, uniform levels of static illumination.

In the fall of 2017, the Mexican Ministry of Energy awarded funding to the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara in collaboration with the University of California Davis to establish a lighting technology and design research center known as the Centro de Tecnología en Iluminación (CTI). This is a multi-year, public-private investment focused on addressing growing climate change concerns through translational research committed to clean energy and sustainability in Mexico.