Energy efficiency – Pollstar Article about Minuit Une Innovation
“French Company Aims At Making Stage Lighting More Cost & Energy Efficient” Pollstar Article.
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Content:
French company Minuit Une says its come up with a new lighting system that’s less bulky and less energy-consuming than the current market standards, whether that’s LED or classic light bulbs.
Minuit Une developed a new set of products that are able to emit light from a single source in multiple direction – replacing the need for a large number mono-directional fixtures to achieve similar effects.
The technology behind this so called IVL Lighting: four light plans from a laser-based light source are split at very high speed by a smart system of mirrors. A plexiglass cover in a specific shape releases a “vibrant light with a smooth RGB colour spectrum and enveloping texture,” according to Minuit Une’s own description.
The company’s patented this technology worldwide, explaining that it’s not just another laser effect. “This is a new category of lighting with unique shapes, unique textures, unique immersive feeling and standard safety. Each light plan can be played independently with various modes: full plan, beam, frost, decor, projection with a 180° angle.”
Pollstar asked company CEO Aruélien Linz to explain the technology in layman’s terms, and he responded: “Usually, before the light is emitted from source, it goes through a lens, followed by filters, for instance. With our technology, right after source, we first split the light into 360°, and then we intercept this 360° ‘output’ with four mirrors, to create four independent directions.”
Minuit Une Nine IVL products. 28 ways of using them.
He also elaborated on the energy efficiency of the system when utilized on a regular mid-sized stage: “Usually, light shows are designed using mainly ‘moving heads’, around 300W per fixture for LEDs, and 600W or more per fixture for lamps. Even on small concert tours, dozens of ‘moving head’ are usually used.”
According to Minuit Une’s calculations, a light show for a 1000-people concert could easily use up to 100kW – as opposed to, say, six of its own lighting products, which would be enough for that kind of capacity and would merely consume 750W, or 125W per unit.
It allows promoters to reduce their lighting budget significantly, which could become particularly important during the months it’ll take this business to recover. “Before the crisis, most of the tours that have been using our fixture were small venue tours: a few units already made a great difference [price wise],” Linz explained.
“Now, we observe that more and more producers are interested in the efficiency of the solution. With a ‘small’ budget you can achieve a result in terms of experience/creativity that is comparable to what is usually achieved with a ‘medium’ budget. We usually say, [our system allows you to] ‘create emotions with lighting in mid-size venues as if it was an arena show’,” Linz continued.
He explained that his company’s IVL Lighting technology has been in continuous development since 2013. “The first years we were working on prototypes, and we launched our first product in France in 2017. 2019 has been the year of globalization. We have our R&D department currently working on the extension of the range for the future,” Linz explained.
The system is designed for mid-sized venues, from 500 to 5000 capacity. Linz said that he’s had most interest from 1000- to 2000-capacity venues so far, “because it is where the lighting options are usually limited by the logistics.”
Less fixtures mean less energy consumption, less logistics, less weight and volume to carry, and it will be cost efficient solutions that will help get the business back on track.
