Excellent visibility for top performance: LED floodlights shine with PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds
Athletes need well-lit conditions, not only in competitions or at night, but anytime they are skateboarding, climbing, skiing or swimming. In poorly lit conditions, even small bumps can become dangerous obstacles or cause a missed handgrip.
“Sports facilities should be illuminated without hard cast shadow zones, with light that’s neither flickering nor blinding,” says graduate engineer Frank Wieland Roedel, Head of Sports & Area Lighting at Siteco. “As with all large areas, the energy efficiency of the lighting technology plays a major role in sports venues.”
The uniform and energy-efficient illumination of a large area is a complex task with different solutions depending on the situation. Floodlights can be distributed over the area or be arranged around the area to be illuminated. “For instance, floodlights distributed over the area of a soccer field are not a viable option,” says Roedel. Instead, the lighting technology must be arranged around the field. “We then select the most suitable lighting technology to accommodate on-site conditions,” explains the lighting expert. The Floodlight 20 LED system of the Osram subsidiary is frequently chosen for sports facilities.
Floodlight 20 LED system
The Floodlight 20 LED family (micro, mini, midi, maxi) allows for creating highly efficient, homogeneous lighting in sports venues and open areas, while meeting the highest demands for light quality, functionality, design and individual needs. Optics made of PLEXIGLAS® ensure customized light distribution to meet on-site requirements.
Asymmetrical light distribution
The system, which was recognized with the 2015 iF DESIGN AWARD, is exceptionally powerful, and, because it can be fitted with 15 different matching LED/lens systems, it stands out for its high flexibility. “This enables us to always achieve optimum illumination results for defined application geometries, whether in parking lots, large logistical areas, roads or sports venues,” says Roedel. Asymmetrical floodlights are used, for example, on soccer fields. In technological terms, they are small optical masterpieces: “They require very good LEDs, excellent optics design and outstanding optical materials,” Roedel says.
High image accuracy
The special optics, which Siteco develops in-house and produces with PLEXIGLAS® via an injection molding process, ensure optimal light distribution for the various LED/lens systems. The brand-name polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) by Röhm has outstanding light transmitting properties and enables precise image accuracy with the sophisticated lens design. “PLEXIGLAS®, with its superior resistance to weathering, is the material of choice for optics in outdoor applications. Moisture, sunlight and temperature cycles hardly affect the material’s properties; luminaires therefore provide a constant, high quality of light for many years,” says René Kogler, product manager at Röhm. Accordingly, the material is ideally suited for the various climatic conditions encountered in sports facilities–dry in a climbing hall, cold on a ski slope, sunny in a skate park, or moist in a swimming pool complex.
Climbing Hall
Powerful LED lighting solutions by Osram ensure that climbers have optimal visibility for a secure grip in this climbing hall in Telfs, Austria. The excellent light transmittance of PLEXIGLAS® met the project requirements for standards-compliant glare-free illumination with high contrast and minimal shading.
Ski slope
The conventional floodlights arranged along the ski slope in Horn, Switzerland only provided spotty lighting in the past. The new system comprising 21 Floodlight 20 maxi lights now ensures the uniform illumination of the slope, with optimal visibility for skiers. PLEXIGLAS® lenses offer precise light control, minimal glare, and top efficiency.
Swimming Pool
The swimming pool complex in Årnes, Norway, covers approximately 4,000 square meters. To ensure glare-free lighting, the floodlights were fitted with reflectors that not only provide good general lighting, but also create a pleasant atmosphere. The PLEXIGLAS® optics are resistant to moisture.
Efficient area lighting
In addition, the LED technology stands out for its low energy consumption. “That’s a decisive argument for large areas, which is currently prompting many sports venues to update their lighting technology,” says lighting expert Roedel. The Floodlight 20 LED system reduces the so-called light pollution above athletic facilities and enables more efficient and homogeneous illumination than its predecessors. The optical quality and weathering resistance of PLEXIGLAS® results in illumination that enables ideal competitive conditions and peak athletic performance in sports venues, while also protecting the environment.
About Röhm
With 3,500 employees and 13 production sites worldwide, Röhm is one of the leading manufacturers in the methacrylate business. The medium-sized company with branches in Germany, China, the USA, Mexico, and South Africa has 90 years of experience in methacrylate chemistry and a strong technology platform. Our best-known brands include PLEXIGLAS®, ACRYLITE®, MERACRYL®, DEGALAN®, DEGAROUTE® and CYROLITE®.
More information is available at www.roehm.com
First publication:
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