Lutron Sees India as a Big Market for its Energy-efficient Products

Lutron Electronics, the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of lighting controls and architectural lighting control systems for residential, commercial and institutional applications, has recently participated in the Light India tradeshow in New Delhi and displayed its entire range of light control solutions to enhance interior décor, ambience, security and energy saving. The company has given full opportunity to the visitors to touch, feel and control all its products to experience the benefits and convenience of total light control. At the sidelines of the show, Lutron Vice President Mr. Pekka Hakkarainen, Asia Senior Marketing Communications Manager, Mr.Edmond Chan who flew from U.S to attend the show, and Director of Sales Indian Sub-continenet Mr. Manjul Trehan, talked in details with Maria R about Lutron’s innovative and energy-efficient products and applications, their plans for the Indian market, future prospects and many more things. Excerpts:

Initiating the interaction by giving an overview of the company, Mr. Hakkarainen said that Lutron, the inventor of solid-state dimming, is the most recognized brand in the industry which sells its products in more than 80 countries around the world. It offers over 15,000 products from single-room dimmers to comprehensive architectural systems that operate lighting throughout an entire building and can control virtually any lamp source.

Highlighting on Lutron’s energy-efficient products and their competitive edge over competitors, he said that they are committed to helping their customers find ways to save energy and all their lighting control systems enable customers to reduce electricity usage and extend lamp life significantly. In addition, the company’s range of shade and blind controls allow natural light levels to be maximized, offering the ultimate in efficient artificial and natural lighting control. Lutron leads the industry in controlling energy efficient light sources and full-range dimming is now possible for a wide range of fluorescent lamp types. The trend toward LED lighting for accent and general lighting is growing, and Lutron is there to control it all, he claimed.

He further says, “Our focus on product innovations, technology, quality and customer service has made us the undisputed leader worldwide in the area of lighting controls. One of the most outstanding elements that distinguishes us from our competitors, is the stability and reliability of our light control products, which can give customers care-free usage throughout the product lifetime.”

On being asked about Lutron’s Indian presence and its share in the market, Mr. Manjul Trehan stated that the company has its presence in the country for over 15 years, focusing on the commercial, hospitality and high-end residential projects. But now the company has fully entered into the residential apartment space as well, which gives the volume business. Lutron has established its offices in Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore offering field and commissioning services along with complete range of daylight and electric light control products.

Commenting on the Indian market he said that India is a market of great potential. We will continue to grow as we did in the last 15 years. The increasing number of green building projects here also create big opportunity for our energy-efficient light control products.

Expressing great delight on the government recent decision to go ahead with 51% FDI in multi-brand retail sector, he avers that this move will too boost Lutron’s business in the country as it would create demand in commercial spaces and quality real estates for quality lighting control systems. So we look forward to a bright future ahead in India.

Talking about the recessionary impact on company’s growth, he elaborated that as they are offering products for different verticals and classes so they didn’t feel any impact of slowdown in their sales. Lutron has the most comprehensive range of products for every application and project of any scale.

On providing sales services, he said that their U.S well trained experts are imparting training to all their service providers in the country so that their customers in India get best technical services from them. Besides, as our products are easy and quick to install, it is ideal for retrofit projects and can save a lot of labour charges.

Explaining how company’s light control solutions create a sustainable environment, Mr. Hakkarainen said that Lutron® lighting control systems have always been saving energy. Its shading solutions reduce heating and cooling costs. The company has taken green even further with its versatile line of sustainable fabrics for roller shades that reflect one’s taste, lifestyle, and personality.

He informed that lighting can account for up to 20% of a household’s yearly electricity usage, and up to 30% a year commercially. But by using Lutron total light management strategies, one can save up to 60% on lighting energy. We at Lutron have developed an extensive collection of eco-friendly light controls systems and window solutions for projects of any scale and share a single goal of reducing energy usage and enhancing the visual environment.

Demonstrating the company’s product range and their applications at the Light Fair, Mr. Edmond Chan says, “we have installed here 4 rows of compact florescent lamps parallel to the window showing the Commercial setup where all the CL lamps are controlled by Lutron’s cost-effective dimming modules named Energi Savr Node™ (ESN) integrated with Quantum™ Total Light and Energy Management System. For added intelligence and energy saving, we have integrated the lighting control system with our Radio Powr Savr™ occupancy sensor and daylight sensor, enabling automatic adjustment of lighting according to available daylight level and occupancy in the space. As all the sensors are wireless, there is no wiring required which make it a perfect solution for retrofit projects. Both sensors are battery-operated with 10-year battery life. For manual control, visitors were given chance to try out their new Pico® wireless controller, which communicates via radio frequency passing through walls and is available in hand-held, table-top or wall mounted version,1- gang or 2-gang.”


At its stall, Lutron displayed its energy saving and reporting software named Green Glance™ on a LCD TV. Green glance is the software with Lutron’s Total Light and Energy System called Quantum™, which was installed in a lot of green buildings worldwide, including the New York Times Building and the SAP Campus in USA. Besides, Lutron has showed residential setup of living room + dining room by installing a HomeWorks® QS Total Home Control System and demonstrated how to use the Apple® app for HomeWorks QS to control all the lightings and shades with the system using iPad®.

Mr. Chan also briefed about the user-friendly programming of GRAFIK Eye® QS Preset Light and Shade Control System and showed how to control both lightings and shades with buttons on the control unit, or with a see Touch keypad or a Dynamic keypad. The built-in LCD screen on GRAFIK Eye QS can show how much energy one is saving when dimming the lights.

Mr. Hakkarainen has also revealed Lutron’s first-of-its-kind agreement with Cree, Inc. to embed Lutron EcoSystem® technology on a chip in Cree® luminaires to increase energy efficiency for building designers, contractors and owners. He said that this solution eliminates concerns about system compatibility, brings digital intelligence to the control of LEDs, and showcases Lutron’s open networks. Lutron EcoSystem controls have the ability to directly connect to Lutron’s complete line of wired and wireless systems as well as other building protocols, such as BACnet, to allow seamless control and energy saving capability for their customers.