International Boat Industry - December 2015

62 DECEMBER 2015 | International Boat Industry http://www.ibi-plus.com

TECHNICAL

SECTOR SPOTLIGHT | BOAT LIGHTING

central frontal part of it. However,
the back burn, and to guarantee best
performance for the longest duration, it
must touch an aluminium heat-sink. And
then it must be connected with the precise
voltage supply to avoid power swings,” he
says.
That aside, the most important
elements to be taken into consideration
are lumen/watt and CRI index. “The
higher that is (90 being the benchmark),
the closer it gets to natural light,”
he says. This, he adds, relies on
expertise with digital electronic
domotics to best manage
capability of LEDs to change
from red through to green, blue
and white - and also the colour
temperatures of the latter,
through warm to cold white.

PRODUCT
INNOVATION
“Technological
evolution is always
alluring and
challenging,” Palagi
observes. “We are very
well equipped, but
if I need to identify
a problem, this
might be that every
four or five months
a new LED with
greater brightness is
launched, and this
means we need to
change data sheets
and catalogues more
often!”
Not all LEDs are
of the same high
standard, he states.
Indeed, “the market is
now full of products
of low quality,” he
cautions. To guarantee
quality, Palagi Marine
Lighting, he says,
always uses the “top brands such as
Citizen and Lumiled (Philips).
Unlike long-established Palagi Marine
Lighting, compatriot marine equipment
manufacturing company Quick Srl is

relative newcomer to the marine lighting

sector, having added this speciality to its

portfolio of boat equipment including

windlasses, bow thrusters, battery

chargers and water heaters in 2007.

Even so, Quick Marine Lighting’s

business has grown rapidly and Lorenzo

Cesari, area sales

manager, claims its lights

are sold to all major

boatbuilders worldwide.

Quick offers a

full range of LED

boat interior and

exterior lighting

products as well

as underwater

luminaries. It

still offers halogen products but,

Cesari notes that 100% of new

projects are LED.

HALOGEN VS LED

Cesari believes that

such is the rate of

growth in the marine

lighting sector that

there’s room for

competition. “The

new challenge for LED

lighting manufacturers

is to improve the

efficiency Watt/

lumens and the colour

rendering index,” he

says adding that boat

owners just see benefits

when they switch the

lighting system from

halogen to LED. “All

shipyards have already

understood this benefit

a long time ago and,

in fact, all new boat

projects are designed

with LED lighting,” he

says.

Looking ahead,

Cesari expects the

next major step in LED light technology

will be “O-LED applications”, where the

metallic coatings that produce the colour

variations of today’s LEDs will be replaced

by organic carbon compounds.

The case for the wholesale adoption

of LED technology, for marine lighting

appears overwhelming, but there are

still those in the industry who believe

that there are still questions about its

seemingly universal benefits that need to

be asked.

Peter Urquhart,

managing director

and lighting designer

of UK company

Underwater Lights

Ltd, is one who makes

a case for halogen

while acknowledging

that LED technology

has been progressing

rapidly.

With halogen, he says, “you can

reliably change them and not see any

difference, but LED lamp manufactures

change output and colour rendering

specification so quickly, so when a lamp

change is made it may not match the

existing one”.

He adds that for interior lighting of

cabin and lounge areas, where interior

designers have spent considerable time to

create something special, LED lights can

ruin the look. “Considering the cost to

design and build these areas, the halogen

is the safest option,” he says, adding

“Halogen for atmosphere and LED for

cleaning.”

At present, Urquhart sees some

mismatches between LEDs and their

drivers and control equipment. “Some do

and some do not,” says. “There’s too much

changing.” However, he points out, “the

companies in the LED market are getting

together to form a statutory standard

that should make life easier for the

designer and installers to make a correct

installation or project.” That, he says,

leaves the question how much technology

is required to dim and switch off and on

a light and how much will it cost? “The

companies that get this correct will be the

ones that remain

in business,” he says.”

LightGrafix, also based in the UK,

has been producing lighting fittings for

the yachting industry since mid 1980s

and has long experience of working

SLorenzo Cesari

Quick Marine

SQuick Marine Secret Light

Companies in

the LED market

are getting together

to form a statutory

standard that

should make

life easier