There are several factors that go into what lighting control protocol you choose. Today, let’s focus on the difference between 0-10 V dimming and DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface).

0-10 V

A 0-10 V dimmer is a simple electronic signaling system originally used to dim fluorescent lighting fixtures. It sends the signal one way, controller to driver, in DC voltage varying between zero and ten volts. This voltage directly correlates to the light output. At ten volts, the fixture should produce 100% light, and at zero volts, 0% (theoretically, off). This linear correlation can sometimes mean something different for different ballasts and manufacturers. Because the control system is so easy to understand and implement, it is a popular choice. Something to keep in mind – this system requires one wire per control channel in addition to a return to be hardwired. This can make wiring for a project complicated and cumbersome!

DALI

DALI protocol was introduced in the 1990s as a digital upgrade to communicate with drivers in both directions. This would allow a device to exchange real-time and stored data over a two-wire bus. The return data can be information such as historical power consumption, confirmation and/or successful execution of a command, run time, fixture identification or fixture failure.

EnergyLite’s fixtures that offer you a choice of either control system in specification.  These fixtures include the HawkLite, GridLite, BroadLite and SecureLite 3 families.