Status and Applications of New Lighting Technologies

This paper discusses fluorescent lamps, ballasts, compact fluorescent lamps and lighting controls. The introduction of these new energy efficient products has provided new choices to obtain optimum results in meeting the illumination requirements of spaces. However, the lack of understanding their fundamental characteristics and mutual interactions have led to serious design errors. We provide some of the essential information one must know about these new lighting systems, in order to evaluate proposed lighting designs and equipment selection.