Development of a unique calculation tool for energy optimization of luminaire optics

The most innovative parts of PINBALL are calculations with no systematic errors and the capability to handle very complex models assigned surface properties very close to the properties of real materials used in luminarie constuctions. The accuracy with which PINBALL predicts the performance of a luminaire depends only on the quality of the modelling of the surface properties. There has been made a great effort to supply procedures to establish accurate properties of materials on the basis of measurements. To reduce the concumption of time a library of models of many light sources and materials has been built. The commercial market for luminaires has changed from being a market of mostly standard luminaries to being a market of specialised luminaires. The available time for developing a specialised luminaire is usually limited and the energy aspect is therefore frequently neglected. PINBALL will reduce the time consumption in the process, because the prototype and mesurement parts can be eliminated, and the energy aspects can be studied during the process. The wide scope of PINBALL makes it possible to change the criteria of success from a high luminaire light output ratio to a high flux utilance factor (much light on the place of interest). This change surely will promote more energy efficient luminaries and lighting installations. In this report the participation companies have described some examples of luminaire construction and lighting installations that were develeoped using PINBALL. They report energy savings of up to 30% for some of the lighting installations, made with luminaires developed with PINBALL. Further, some of the luminaires are now included in the companies sales material