Daylight Harvesting and DR

Daylight Harvesting

In a facility with skylights, windows, sidelights, you have available daylight, which varies according to the day's time. As daylight levels increase, light levels can automatically decrease to save energy. By enabling Daylight Harvesting, you can take full advantage of ambient sensitivity to manage light levels. The Target Ambient Light Level, also called Ambient Threshold, determines the light target levels. The following description explains the fields that control and configure Daylight Harvesting. 

Things to know:

• Daylight groups, which provide a uniform dim level across a group of fixtures for improved aesthetics, tend to adjust fixture light levels more slowly over minutes.
• Daylight Harvesting fixtures adjust light levels quite fast in seconds in comparison to Daylight groups. See the recommendation about how to control the pace of a Daylight Harvesting fixture changing its light level in response to Daylight.

Target Ambient Light Level

The Target Ambient Reading that the sensor attempts to achieve by adjusting its light level.

The Target Ambient Light Level is determined and set up during the initial set up of the system. This command should only be used under the direction of Enlighted field support engineers. The procedure for obtaining the best value is to perform this command when there is no ambient light (such as at night) with all the lights set to full-on. You can also set the Target Ambient Light Level for selected sensors. The value can be set manually, or the sensor’s current ambient value can be set to be the target ambient value. Contact Enlighted Customer Support to determine or set this value or refer to the Determine and Set Target Ambient Light Level article.

Ambient Reading

The ambient light level measured by the sensor.

Ambient Sensitivity

Determines a sensor’s sensitivity to light, and it ranges between 0-10.  For Daylight Harvesting to have maximum effect, it is recommended to set the ambient sensitivity to a higher value in the corresponding lighting profile. Ambient sensitivity value, which determines a sensor’s sensitivity to light, ranges between 0-10. The value 0 means that the light will not be dimmed, and value 10 means that the light is most sensitive to ambient light. Daylight Harvesting will be most effective when the value is 10.

Daylight Harvesting

Lighting Profiles can be different over different periods of the day. The Enlighted system allows for four profile periods:

• Morning,
• Day,
• Evening, and
• Night.

Each profile period has individual Min Light Level and Max. Light Level settings and Ambient Sensitivity settings (among other settings).

The values in the lighting profile specify the Min. light level when on (0-100%) that is applied to a fixture. Normally, the light is never lowered below the profile minimum. For example, if the minimum light level is set to 15% in the profile, the lights will never turn off but will be dimmed to 15% of lighting. However, when there is sufficient daylight, the lights can be turned off and not merely dimmed to the minimum value.

For daylight harvesting to be active, the option

• Enable Daylight Harvesting Override mode in the Profiles Advanced menu must be checked. By default, this will be unchecked. See Configuring Daylight Harvesting v4.6 for a step-by-step procedure.

To Turn Lights Off During Daylight Harvesting,

Selecting the Allow Daylight Harvesting to dim lights below the minimum light level overrides the Daylight harvesting mode, turning the lights off rather than merely dimming them to 15% of the min. light level specified in the lighting profile. 

Override Settings for Min. Light (Profile Minimum Override)

As the system transitions between profiles, the profile setting for minimum light is not automatically applied to maximize energy savings. The lighting profile setting, and occupancy state determine whether the light is turned on or dimmed.

For example, if the lights are off because there is no occupancy detected, then the lights will continue to be off as the system moves from the day to evening profile. This is not desirable for outdoor lights or in company lobbies because the lights should turn on irrespective of occupancy, for safety or business reasons at certain times. For example, in a parking garage or company lobby, the lights should turn on to profile minimum value even if no one is there -- for safety reasons.

In the above example, the light needs to be turned on to profile minimum value at the beginning of the profile period. For this option to be effective, enable the option At a time period change when there is no motion, allow a change in minimum light level to raise light levels as shown below.

You must also enable this option (At a time period...light levels) when the evening period is set based on the astronomical clock. See Setting Advanced Attributes when Astronomical Clock is Set.

Override Settings for Max Light (Profile Maximum Override)

By default, when daylight harvesting is active, the light level ramps to the Max light level, and decreases to the Ambient Light Level within the ramp-up time set in the profile when motion is detected.

If you would like lights to go to the Ambient Light Level instead of the Max light level when motion is detected, check the option as shown below in the Advanced Settings.

When this option is selected, the light level goes to the Target Ambient Light Level over three seconds when motion is detected. The ramp-up time in the profile is overridden and set to three seconds. If there is sufficient daylight, the lights may not turn on when motion is detected, thus increasing energy savings.

Lights Dimming Process

The dimming process can take up to 30s or a minute at an individual fixture. The Daylight fixtures adjust light levels quite fast in seconds compared to the Daylight groups, that change light levels more slowly over minutes. Generally, the lights will brighten faster than they will dim. In some cases, with motion and complete darkness, lights may brighten immediately.

Setting individual daylight harvesting (not daylight groups) requires adjusting two settings in the advanced profile setting to get a real-time reaction of dimming lights for a fixture. Select a fixture from the floor plan and double-click to view the Fixture Details window. Select the Profile tab and scroll down to view the Advanced menu. 

The two settings shown above work together and changing them too drastically can lead to discomfort for occupants. Enlighted recommends maintaining a time period of 10 seconds and 10 minutes for a consistent light level before making a change. While customers may desire a faster response, Enlighted prioritizes consistent and gradual light adjustments over rapid changes to ensure a smoother experience for users.

Recommended Articles:

To enable Daylight Harvesting for your organization, refer to the article Enabling Daylight Harvesting.

 

Enable Daylight Harvesting

By enabling Daylight Harvesting, you can take full advantage of ambient sensitivity to manage light levels. To enable Daylight Harvesting Override mode, click Facilities, select a profile in the Profile Templates navigation tree, and then click the Settings tab. Select the required profile instance and click the Edit button.

In the resulting Edit Profile screen,

Step 1: For each weekday or weekend setting, set the Min. light level when on (0-100%) to a value greater than zero.
Step 2: Set Ambient Sensitivity to 10. The higher value ‘10’ means that the light is most sensitive to ambient light.

Step 3: Scroll all the way down until the >>Advanced option is seen and click the >>Advanced option to expand the screen.
Step 4: Check both options: Enable Daylight Harvesting in Override Mode and Allow daylight harvesting to dim lights below the minimum light level (See Daylight Harvesting for a description of these options).

Step 5: Scroll to the top and click Update.

The Daylight Harvesting override mode is thus enabled, turning the lights off rather than merely dimming them to 15% of the min. light level specified in the lighting profile.

Also, note that if the options are checked as shown below in the Advanced settings, it will override the profile min. light level and max. light level settings. (See Daylight Harvesting for a description of these options).

Configure Demand Response and Holiday Behavior

• Overview
• Points to remember
• Configuring DR and Holiday Behavior
• FAQs

Overview

Demand Response (DR) and Holiday override contribute to energy load reduction and savings during peak demand time and public holidays. This section helps you configure a Demand Response (DR) and Holiday override event to meet energy load reduction during peak hours. 

End-users who are set up by the utility as a DR participating company will receive a notification from the utility of the DR event and their Manage Administrator will schedule the event in Manage.  If that company is participating in Open Automated Demand Response, then Manage will need to be registered on the utilities Open ADR Server.  Once done, the Open ADR server will initiate the DR event directly with Manage and there is no need for the manual process above.  An internet connection between Manage and the Open ADR server will be necessary to support this feature. 

Caution:

For the Override to take effect, please note the values entered in the Override: 'Max. Light level when on (0-100%)' column must be lower (<) than the Period: 'Max. Light level when on (0-100%) value. Otherwise, the Override will not take effect.

Points to remember

When DR is in effect, the Maximum light levels are adjusted to the DR override specified maximum.

• If a light is on and is above the DR override max. level, it will immediately transition to the new DR Override max. level.
• If a light is on and is below the DR max. level, it will not change its level.
• If a light is off, it will remain off and turn on to the level specified in its profile, or to the DR max. level, whichever is less, for the duration of the DR Override.
  • • Auto On lights will turn on based on the light profile.
    • Manual On lights will turn on when the ERC button is pressed.

•  

Configuring DR and Holiday Behavior

To configure DR and holiday behavior,

Step 1: Select a profile name in the Profile Template tree from the left panel and click Edit. 

Step 2: In the Edit Profile screen displayed, browse to the Override Profiles section.

• DR —  Override 1, Override 2, Override 3, and Override 4 represent DR overrides.
• Holiday Behavior — Override 5, Override 6, Override 7, and Override 8 represent Holiday behavior override events.

Step 3: In the Override Profiles section, enter light level values for each DR override.

Caution: The values in the columns Override: 'Max. Light level when on (0-100%)' must be lower (<) than the Period: 'Max. Light level when on (0-100%) value for the override to take effect.

Step 4: Scroll to the Advanced section.

• In the Demand Response Behavior box, for each DR Level, select an override profile from the drop-down box.

• Select an override from the Holiday Override Profile drop-down box in the General Behavior window to schedule Holiday Overrides.

Step 5: Scroll to the top right corner of the page, click Update to save the override profiles for DR and Holiday behavior. These configurations will take around 10 to 15 minutes to be pushed to the sensors.

The screen below details all the above steps.

Refer to the article Push Profile Update to a Sensor to verify that the profile has been pushed to a sensor.

To schedule a DR, refer to Scheduling Demand Response and Holiday Overrides.

FAQs

1. Can Demand Response be configured with EMC Install?

   Yes. Demand Response can be configured with EMC. Demand Response is a predefined override profile within Manage, accessible across all Manage deployments.
   
   

2. Can I adjust a Demand Response (DR) Override lighting profile during a Demand Response event and have the changes take effect within 5 minutes.

   Yes. When a scheduled DR event is active, you can adjust fixture profile parameters in the override profile, with changes taking up to five minutes to take effect. To modify values during an active DR event, go to Profile Templates, select the fixture profile, and update the lighting values.
   See: Scheduling a DR Event, Modifying Values of a Profile.
   
   

3. How exactly does a utility send DR command to Manage?

   End-users set up by the utility as a DR participating company will receive a notification from the utility of the DR event, and their Manage Administrator will schedule the event in Manage.  If that company participates in Open Automated Demand Response, then Manage must be registered on the utilities Open ADR Server.  Once done, the Open ADR server will initiate the DR event directly with Manage, and there is no need for the manual process above.  An internet connection between Manage and the Open ADR server will be necessary to support this feature.
   

   Configuring Demand Response is available both in Manage Classic UI and New UI.
   • New UI, please see Configure Demand Response and Holiday Behavior v4.6.
   • Classic UI, see Configure Demand Response and Holiday Behavior,
   • For scheduling a DR, see Schedule Demand Response and Holiday Overrides.

Schedule Demand Response and Holiday Overrides

Scheduling a DR is the second step performed after Configuring the DR and Holiday behavior for the fixture profile. The Schedule Demand Response and Holiday Overrides allow you to schedule the time within which the DR and holiday override should be pushed to the sensors, overriding the existing time of the day profile for the selected facility. After the scheduled DR time, the sensors revert to the existing time of the day profile. 

To schedule a DR and Holiday override,

1. Navigate to Administration > Override Schedules.
2. Click Add Override; a New Override pop-up is displayed.
3. Select Event Type from the drop-down box.
4. Click Assign Facility. In the facility tree that pops-up, select the required floors or areas in the tree, and click Save.
5. Enter the remaining information and click Save.

The added Override events are displayed in the top part of the window, as shown in the following figure. You can change the facility for a scheduled DR/Holiday override event by clicking Assign Facility. For completed DR/Holiday override events, the View Facility shows which facility the event was assigned.

Note: A newly added/modified override schedule may take up to five minutes to be pushed to the sensors. Therefore, the sensors may take up to five minutes to act on the override event.

At the scheduled time, Manage sends out the events to the sensors with the selected DR and holiday overrides for the required duration at the assigned facility. The sensors then run the appropriate override profile instead of the time of the day profile.

To verify if the DR is active, click the Facilities label. The facilities left navigation panel shows all DR active sites. Select a DR active floor or area in the facility tree and click the Active DR tab. The DR progress details for the site are displayed, as shown in the example below.

Note: Active DR tab is visible only for DR active sites.