Acuity Lighting is launching a new DC power platform for architectural luminaires called DC2DC with a DCHUB component. Check out this in-depth article from LEDsMagazine on the specifics of the system.

I’ve been a vocal proponent of the adoption of DC power in architectural LED lighting for years. Eliminating the waste of pulling high-voltage AC power to every DC-LED fixture, plus the added waste of slathering DC-power, digital control systems ON TOP of the AC system is a foundational innovation required for any further meaningful innovation in architectural lighting, such as the transition to biomaterial-based fixtures or the growing use of lighting embedded natively in architectural building systems.

And I believe this system is moving in the right direction – focused on stripping needless complexity and costs out of lighting systems, instead of adding in unwanted and needlessly expensive IoT “features” that burden PoE-based DC systems. PoE is great when high-data bandwidth is needed – for sophisticated sensors, as example – but needlessly costly and complex for simply turning on basic light fixtures.