Smart DC ceiling
A test facility where DC devices mount straight into ceiling tiles and draw power from ceiling rails. No conventional wiring, no fixed switches, and a direct path for solar DC power.
- Switches
- Bluetooth Low Energy, wireless
- Location sensing
- Trilateration and machine learning
- Goal
- Efficiency and easier renewable integration
Most of the devices in a modern building, such as LED lights, sensors, fans and electronics, run on DC internally, while solar panels and batteries produce DC. Yet buildings are wired for AC, so power is converted back and forth, losing energy each time.
How it works
Devices are mounted on ceiling tiles and powered by rails in the ceiling grid. Because there is no fixed wiring, a light or device can be moved to wherever it is needed. Bluetooth Low Energy switches control the equipment, and we estimate each switch's location accurately using trilateration and machine learning, so a switch can control whatever is nearest to it.
The research aims to improve energy efficiency and make it simpler to run buildings directly on renewable power.
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