MEAN WELL Smart Home Lighting, NFC Wireless Solution

Product Strategy Center / Rex Lin
Rex.Lin@meanwell.com

Due to the use of various wireless communications in home automation, most manufacturers employ their own ecosystem platforms and hardware devices. This has resulted in product compatibility and interoperability issues, making users less flexible and requiring higher maintenance costs. Therefore, if we expect the future smart home to become simpler and more widespread, we must adopt a standard communication interface that is easy for everyone to integrate. This way, all software control platforms and manufacturers can collaborate in product development, lowering the entry barrier for consumers to embrace and use such technologies.

MEAN WELL has been deeply involved in the LED lighting field for years. Recently, we have also transformed and started to provide lighting solutions, such as KNX or DALI-2 lighting systems through wires, which are well-established standard communication interfaces in the lighting industry. System integrators or users only need to purchase KNX or DALI certified products for easy integration and can use them without compatibility issues. To provide customers with a wireless lighting solution, MEAN WELL has chosen to adopt the technical standards defined by the CSA alliance; Currently, major manufacturers including Apple, Amazon, and Google have developed peripheral products that comply with the new wireless Matter interface. MEAN WELL is integrating the Matter interface into the upcoming products, the XLN/XLC Series, set to be launched in January 2024. This integration allows wireless smart home control through Apple HomePod speakers and Home Kit software, coupled with XLC LED drivers (for lighting fixtures), motorized curtains, cameras, air conditioning switches, and TV switches. This combination creates a wireless Matter smart home ecosystem, allowing users to set various scenes. For more details, please watch the video introduction below.

https://youtu.be/xi7z06RETDU?si=M4qng7N0XLFg25CX

The new generation XLN and XLC series are plastic housing LED drivers of MEAN WELL, they are designed with double insulation and class II/2 for general indoor lighting or commercial luminaires. Some key features include compact size, constant voltage and constant current output, multiple dimming functions, outlet with wiring type or terminal type…etc. The series are designed with the concept of standard LED power supply and multi-purpose for customer selection, satisfying general needs of matching various lighting fixtures or LED strip applications.

The constant current output adopts a constant power mode and provides a wide range of current adjustment functions, the output current can be adjusted through the MEAN WELL APP while combing with NFC, and has 3-in-1 DALI-2 digital dimming or other wire/wireless dimming methods (KNX/ Bluetooth/ Matter); the minimum dimming level can reach <1%.

In addition to the traditional 3 in 1 dimming (0-10V, PWM signal, resistance), the dimming method also provides the latest DALI-2 digital dimming function with the lowest brightness can reach <1%. Also, it can be combined with the DLC-02 DALI digital lighting control system, used in various lighting projects or commercial lighting scenes.

Complying with the latest safety regulations, the output and dimming circuits are isolated and comply with double insulation and safety voltage (SELV) designs to ensure user safety and reduce the risk of electric shock. The entire series has complete international certification and full range voltage input (Class II/2), making it convenient for customers to match all sorts of lighting in the worldwide market.

As the efficiency of LED luminous continues to improve, the lighting requires less LED power and heat sinks. Therefore, the miniaturized power supply facilitates customers to match various lighting mechanism designs while providing better product functionality and reliability.

The full series provides a variety of output applications, including constant voltage output (12/24/48V) that can be used with LED lighting strip applications, and constant current (H type) that can be used with general lighting designs. Both constant voltage and constant current output modes provide dimming functions to facilitate customers in various lighting scenario applications.

● Constant power design with wide range adjustable current (H type)

● Constant output voltage models available (12V/24V/48V)

● Output current adjusted by NFC sensing (XLN series)

● Full voltage input 110~305VAC (with PFC function)

● Plastic case with double insulation and Class II/2 design

● Compliant with IEEE 1789 and ErP flicker-free standards

● Standby power consumption <0.5W

● Minimum dimming brightness <1% (DALI-2 DT6)

● Fully potted design complies with IP67 waterproof and dustproof (XLN series)

● Compliant with emergency lighting (EL) functions

● Dimming function: 3 in 1, DALI-2; KNX, IoT (Optional)

● Output and dimming circuit comply with isolation design

● Optional independent or built-in LED power supply

● 5 years warranty and >50,000 hrs lifetime

In the future, MEAN WELL plans to offer more wired/wireless smart home control solutions by collaborating with various peripheral manufacturers, thereby further perfecting the integration of smart home solutions. This aims to make smart home applications more widespread among consumers, enhance overall energy-saving benefits through practical smart controls, and strengthen the user experience with digital lighting and digital control. Additionally, stay tuned for MEAN WELL’s upcoming LED driver: XLN/XLC Series, encompassing various dimming control methods such as 0-10V / DALI-2 / KNX / Casambi / Matter, and more. If you are interested in MEAN WELL smart home solutions, please contact the MEAN WELL sales team.