Production Scale-Up of High Efficiency Adjustable Lighting Products

Production Scale-up of High Efficiency Adjustable Lighting Products

Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Building Decarbonization Solid-state lighting

Glint Photonics, Inc.

Recipient

Burlingame, CA

Recipient Location

13th

Senate District

22nd

Assembly District

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$2,098,836

Amount Spent

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Project Status

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Project Update

In 2021, Glint continued improvements to various part designs and processes to improve manufacturability, yield, and cost. Glint completed both product and pilot line certification of their track-mounted Hero product through Intertek. The pilot line has been up and running since November 2021, producing several hundred fixtures for both customer sales and internal marketing and engineering purposes. Learning though low-rate initial production has resulted in substantial improvements to the product design, bringing costs in line with (an even below) initial targets. In 2022, Glint certified other mounting configurations for Hero which are also under development (e.g., monopoint, recessed ceiling mounted) which need to be certified separately as they fall under different regulatory standards. The Glint Hero lighting fixture line is now in production and enjoying widespread sales. The company has built out the product line to encompass multiple forms and mounting configurations to serve a wide variety of applications. The fixture continues to win industry accolades for its unique features, technology, and design. It sets a new standard for beam control, simplicity of installation, and economic utilization of materials and energy.

The Issue

An estimated 41 TWh of electricity is used annually on lighting by California IOU ratepayers, yet the majority of the generated light is wasted. Spaces are typically over-lit in order to achieve required light levels in all areas, all the time. Department of Energy studies indicate that 2x-3x efficiency improvements are possible through improved light utilization. Utilization efficiency improvements will have to come from innovation at the luminaire level, not at the LED source level. However, luminaire level innovations in particular are often overlooked in favor of more fundamental materials-based technologies.

Project Innovation

Glint Photonics has pioneered revolutionary high-efficiency solid-state lighting products that use proprietary optical designs to provide precise control over light distribution, greatly increasing the amount of light that is delivered to the intended target and reducing unpleasant glare. The production scale-up work will focus on Glint's Hero family of luminaires. The objectives are (1) to refine the product design for production, focusing on improvements to manufacturability, quality, and cost; (2) to develop and qualify manufacturing processes, and build Glint's organizational capability to manage pilot production quality and operations; and (3) establish, qualify, and certify a pilot production line in partnership with a California-based contract manufacturer. At the conclusion of the project, the recipient will be ready to begin low-rate pilot production of Hero products and will have a strong foundation in place for scaling to mass production over time.

Project Benefits

This technology can provide up to 10.2 TWh annual energy savings in California IOU territories. This a very significant contributor to the state's Net Zero Energy building goals, as set out in the CPUC's Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan and the Energy Commission's IEPR. The luminaires can also help meet the California Air Resources Board's Climate Change Scoping Plan target of 32 TWh of reduced energy consumption via energy efficiency improvements.

Consumer Appeal

Customers will enjoy a variety of benefits, including: better lighting distribution, less time spent on re-aiming lighting (e.g., product displays, event centers, and galleries), and ability to remotely adjust scene-lighting.