Research, Innovation & Experience

CLTC is engaged in a variety of projects and activities. All encourage innovation and advance the development and commercialization of lighting and control technologies. From market assessment to lab testing and prototyping, CLTC helps next-generation solutions become market-ready and commercially available more quickly. Education and outreach efforts at the center include UC Davis courses in lighting design and daylighting, as well as a variety of workshops and resources for professionals and the general public. CLTC also partners with policy makers, utilities and regulators to help improve standards and broaden the use of best practices.

Our Projects

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Virtual Home Energy Management Systems

Load flexibility—also known as demand flexibility—has the potential to be a significant, clean, and cost-effective resource for maintaining a reliable power grid, particularly as renewable energy becomes more prominent in California's energy mix. The California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC) at UC Davis is conducting research to enhance load flexibility solutions for buildings, which are major contributors to the state's energy use and emissions.

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The Color Lab

At UC Davis, the California Lighting Technology Center is establishing “The Color Lab” in collaboration with the Center for Mind and Brain to explore the impact of discrete color spectra on stress, mood, and alertness.

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CalNEXT

CalNEXT is a statewide initiative to identify, test, and grow electric technologies and delivery methods to support California’s decarbonized future. CLTC is excited to be part of the CalNEXT team to support the evaluation of electric emerging technologies.

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Heavy-Duty Vehicle Electrification and its Potential as a Clean Energy Alternative for Critical Operations

The California Lighting Technology Center is expanding its research capacity to lead a new effort demonstrating vehicle-to-building (V2B) mobile battery energy storage (MBES) as emergency power backup at a Caltrans’ facility in Oakland, California.

This $5.3M project is funded with $3M from the California Energy Commission’s Electric Program Investment Charge Program (EPIC) Program and $2.3M in match funds from project partners.

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California Load Flexibility Research & Development Hub

The California Load Flexibility Research and Development Hub (CalFlexHub) brings together a multidisciplinary team of experts from numerous sectors—including industry, utilities, academia, manufacturers, and non-profits—to identify, evaluate, develop, fund, and demonstrate promising pre-commercial energy efficiency and distributed energy resource technologies that are flexible, interoperable, and grid-integrated.

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Energy Code Lighting Language Cleanup Initiative

The California Lighting Technology Center, in collaboration with Southern California Edison, RMS Energy Consulting LLC, and the California Energy Alliance, are establishing a working group of industry stakeholders to help develop recommendations that will simplify and clarify the nonresidential lighting and lighting controls language contained in the 2022 Title 24, Part 6 Building Energy Efficiency Standards.

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Renewable Energy & Advanced Lighting Systems for Grid-Connected Exterior Applications

In many communities, exterior lighting operates from early evening through early morning—times when renewable energy generation is minimal. Consequently, most exterior lighting relies on carbon-dense fossil fuels, contributing significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, poor air quality, water pollution, and land degradation. Additionally, outdated and low-quality exterior lighting, characterized by poor color, inappropriate light distribution, and inadequate light levels, has been linked to increased crime rates and reduced physical activity.