Lighting Controls Association Offers New Online Course on LED Lighting Control

Photo courtesy of Cree Lighting.

The Lighting Controls Association (LCA) is pleased to announce that EE300: Lighting Control of LEDs has been added to the Association’s popular online Education Express distance education courses.

Residing at the Association’s website, www.aboutlightingcontrols.org, Education Express provides in-depth education about lighting controls and controllable ballast technology, application, system design and commissioning, as well as meta-issues such as energy codes, daylighting and other trends.

Photo courtesy of Philips Color Kinetics.

In recent years, LED technology has transcended its traditional stronghold—saturated colors in indicators, exit signs and so-called architainment applications, representing most LED products sold today—and began offering viable white light options in niche architectural applications such as lighting for outdoor and small, confined indoor spaces. As the technology continues its steady advance, applications have expanded to downlights, undercabinet, shelf, signage, façade, outdoor area, wall washing, cove, task, refrigerated display case, step/wall, electrical candle, sconce, handrail and marker lighting as well as retrofit replacement lamps.

Just as with conventional lighting systems, a critical consideration in applying LEDs in building environments is control. LED controls be used to create a virtually infinite array of color output, or modulate the warmth or coolness of white light LED sources. They can allow dimming of LED light sources to occupant preference. And they can automatically shut off or dim lighting in response to control signals from inputs such as photosensors, scheduling devices, PCs and others.

Photo courtesy of Ruud Lighting.

EE300: Lighting Control of LEDs, broken into four learning modules, describes the fundamentals of how LEDs work and are controlled (part 1), control of color LEDs (part 2), control of white LEDs (part 3), and typical applications for LED control (part 4). The goal of the course is to provide a working understanding of LEDs and methods for integrating them into modern lighting system design.

At the conclusion of the first three learning modules, an optional online comprehension test is available, with automatic grading; a passing grade enables the student to claim education credit. EE300: Lighting Control of LEDs is registered with the National Council on Quality in the Lighting Professions (NCQLP), which recognizes a total of 6.6 LEUs towards maintenance of Lighting Certified (LC) certification.

Since its launch in June 2006, Education Express has served more than 7,000 students, who have benefited from more than 28,000 completions of course modules and some 11,000 comprehension tests taken online, enabling them to earn education credit.