GB2531592A

GB2531592A - Light Assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2531592A
Application number: GB1418890.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Baynham Lawrence; Baynham Tom
Original assignee: INDO LIGHTING Ltd
Current assignee: INDO LIGHTING Ltd
Priority date: 2014-10-23
Filing date: 2014-10-23
Publication date: 2016-04-27
Anticipated expiration: 2034-10-23
Also published as: GB201418890D0; GB2531592B

Abstract

A light assembly is provided which includes a substrate defining an array of separate mounting locations 10 for light emitting elements, wherein each mounting location is adapted to receive a respective light emitting element; and a focussing component 4 which defines an array of separate light focussing units 8, wherein each light focussing unit in the array corresponds to a respective mounting location. Also provided is a method of controlling the output of a light assembly, the method including providing a light assembly including a substrate defining an array of separate mounting locations for light emitting elements wherein each light emitting element has associated with it a unique address, wherein each mounting location is adapted to receive a respective light emitting element; and a controller which is adapted to control the electrical energy supplied to each light emitting element in response to a remote control signal or a pre-determined lighting algorithm.

Description

Light assembly The present invention relates to a light assembly, suitably a street light or similar, in which the light output can be varied.

Conventional lighting assemblies employ one or more optical systems which produce a desired beam or output pattern from the luminaire. In this context, an optical system comprises one or more light emitting elements and a reflector and/or lens arrangement adapted to produce a desired light output from the optical system in terms of illuminance, luminance and uniformity.

However, the optical system tends to be specific to the luminaire and the only way to change or alter the beam or light output pattern from the luminaire is to change the optical system or the luminaire as a whole.

It will be appreciated that for street lighting or public area lighting, there are a variety of road widths, pavement (sidewalk) widths, lighting column heights, lighting column spacings, luminaire mounting angles, etc. which, for a given light source, will demand a range of differently designed optical systems to meet the requirements and standards.

It is known for local authorities to select a particular optical system for a number of applications for which the requirements are similar. In doing this, they identify the most stringent/difficult to meet scenario within the number of applications and then select the optical system which meets this criteria. It is then assumed that the optical system will be suitable for all of the applications. Inevitably, this leads to waste in terms of the total power consumed by the lighting applications, as light will be generated and directed to areas where it is not needed by a majority of the applications.

An alternative approach is to use simulation software to calculate the lighting requirements for each light application required and then to match the optical systems required to produce the calculated light output. This typically results in a number of different optical systems being required.

Lens and reflector tooling is expensive. Therefore, it is expensive for companies to have a number of different lens and/or reflectors to meet different lighting requirements. Furthermore, by holding different lens and/or reflectors in stock adds complexity to stock management. Finally, as the selection and placement of the lens/reflector is a manual process, having multiple lenses/reflectors to choose from can lead to errors.

For new or replacement lighting systems, it is occasionally required to adapt the light output by the optical system. For example, a local resident may complain that light is being directed into a window. In such circumstances, a technician must identify the correct lighting system and fit a shield (i.e. a physical light-blocking component) to it such that the light output from the lighting system is no longer causing a nuisance.

Modern lighting systems sometimes allow for the light output from a group of lights to be reduced by reducing the power to the light emitting elements of the optical systems. This has the effect of maintaining the optical spread while reducing the illumination levels.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a light assembly including a substrate defining an array of separate mounting locations for light emitting elements, wherein each mounting location is adapted to receive a respective light emitting element; and a light focussing component which defines an array of separate light focussing units, wherein each focussing unit in the array corresponds to a respective mounting location. Thus, the number of mounting locations is equal to the number of focussing units and each focussing unit is adapted to produce a specific output pattern from a light emitting element associated with the mounting location.

In the context of the present invention, a "light focussing unit" is a lens, a reflector or a combination of a lens with a reflector. Similarly, a "light focussing component" comprises an array of individual light focussing units, where each unit in the array may be the same or the array may contain units having different optical performances. It will be appreciated that the term "light focussing" is used in the context of the present invention to refer to a component or part of a component which is able to vary or control the light emitted by a light emitting element, such as a bulb, to provide a desired light output pattern or spread. Suitably, the light focussing unit is a lens and the light focussing component is a lens component.

In this way, each light assembly can be adapted to provide a specific light output by varying the mounting locations which in use receive a light emitting element; by varying the mounting locations or groups of mounting locations that are energised by a power source; and/or by varying the energy supplied to individual mounting locations or to groups of mounting locations. These options to vary the light output from a single light assembly mean that a single light assembly may be used for multiple lighting applications, which in turn reduces the number of components that need to be manufactured and stocked.

The light focussing component is suitably a one-piece (i.e. monolithic) component that defines within its unitary body a plurality of individual light focussing units.

The skilled person will appreciate that the term "a group of mounting locations" refers to a plurality of mounting locations that form a sub-set of the array and which may be treated together as a single unit.

In an embodiment of the invention, at least two of the light focussing units on the array have different focussing properties. Thus the at least two different units are adapted to produce different light output patterns. Suitably each unit within the array provides a light output pattern selected from two or more pre-determined patterns. For example, the light output pattern for each unit may be selected from two, three, four, five or six pre-determined patterns. In an embodiment of the invention, the array may include units having a narrow beam pattern, a wide beam pattern and an intermediate beam pattern. The use of different combinations of such units would produce different overall light output patterns (e.g. photometric spread) from the light assembly.

Each mounting location suitably includes an electrical connection adapted to electrically connect a light emitting element to the location. Each mounting location may further be electrically connected to a power supply.

The substrate may be a printed circuit board (PCB) which defines the mounting locations. Suitably, the PCB includes electrical tracks and each location is electrically connected to one or more tracks.

The light assembly may include a controller, wherein the controller is adapted to control the electrical energy supplied to each mounting location. The controller may include a remote signal receiver whereby the controller can receive control signals from a remote location. Alternatively, the controller may be electrically connected to a separate remote signal receiver. Each mounting location may have a unique address and the controller may store the unique address of each mounting location. Alternatively, each group of mounting locations may have a unique address and the controller may store the unique address of each group of mounting locations.

In an embodiment of the invention, the light assembly includes a plurality of light emitting elements, wherein each light emitting element is received by a respective mounting location. The assembly may include a number of light emitting elements which is equal to the number of mounting locations whereby each light emitting element is received by a respective mounting location. Alternatively, the number of light emitting elements may be less than the number of mounting locations, wherein a number of mounting locations do not receive a light emitting element.

In embodiments in which the number of light emitting elements is equal to the number of mounting locations, the light pattern emitted by the light assembly as a whole may be controlled or varied by varying the electrical energy supplied to the individual light emitting elements via their respective mounting locations. The controller may be adapted or programmed to energise mounting locations or groups of mounting locations which have pre-determined unique addresses. Thus, a number of light emitting elements may be energised while the remainder of light emitting elements are not energised. Additionally or alternatively, the light emitting elements which are energised may receive different levels or amounts of electrical energy such that the light emitting elements emit different levels of light. Thus, the controller may control the electrical energy supplied to each unique address associated with individual mounting locations or groups of mounting locations.

In embodiments in which the number of light emitting elements is less than the number of mounting locations, all of the light emitting elements may be energised. However, the controller may selectively not energise specific elements. Additionally or alternatively, the light emitting elements which are energised may receive different levels or amounts of electrical energy such that the light emitting elements emit different levels of light. Thus, in this embodiment, the controller may control the electrical energy supplied to each unique address associated with individual mounting locations or groups of mounting locations to which is secured a respective light emitting element.

The light emitting elements may be LEDs. Each LED may be secured and electrically connected to its respective mounting location.

The assembly suitably includes an alternating current electrical input. Such AC inputs are common in street lighting and other lighting applications and this allows the assembly to be compatible with existing electrical inputs. In such embodiments, the assembly may include a rectifier to provide an electrical energy source which is compatible with respective light emitting elements, such as LEDs.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of controlling the output of a light assembly, the method including providing a light assembly including a substrate defining an array of separate mounting locations for light emitting elements, wherein each mounting location is adapted to receive a respective light emitting element; and a light focussing component which defines an array of separate light focussing units, wherein each unit in the array corresponds to a respective mounting location; electrically connecting a plurality of light emitting elements to respective mounting locations; and selectively energising selected light emitting elements to produce the desired light output.

The components of the light assembly may be as defined or described above in connection with the first aspect of the invention.

According to the method, the number of light emitting elements may be less than the number of mounting locations, wherein the light emitting elements are arranged in a desired pattern within the array of mounting locations. In this embodiment, all of the light emitting elements may be energised or only selected ones of the light emitting elements may be energised. Furthermore, at least two of the energised light emitting elements may receive different levels of electrical energy.

According to an alternative embodiment, the number of light emitting elements may be equal to the number of mounting locations, wherein each mounting location receives a respective light emitting element. In this embodiment, the light output of the assembly may be controlled by electrically energising only selected ones of the light emitting elements. Additionally or alternatively, at least two of the energised light emitting elements may receive different levels of electrical energy.

In a further embodiment of the invention, at least two of the light focussing units in the array have different focusing properties and the method of controlling the light output from the light assembly includes selecting the light focussing units that will provide the desired light output and locating a light emitting element at each of the mounting locations which correspond to the selected units.

Each mounting location or group of mounting locations may have associated with it a unique address which is stored by a controller and the controller may control the electrical energy supplied to each unique address.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of controlling the light output from a light assembly, wherein the method includes (i) providing a light assembly including a plurality of light emitting elements and a controller adapted to control the electrical energy supplied to the light emitting elements; (ii) allocating each light emitting element or each group of light emitting elements a unique address, wherein the addresses are stored by the controller; and (iii) controlling the electrical energy supplied to each light emitting element or each group of light emitting elements in response to a remote signal received by the controller or a pre-determined lighting algorithm.

In this embodiment, the pre-determined lighting algorithm may provide a first light output for a first period of time and a second light output for a second period of time. It will be appreciated that the respective light outputs are defined by the LEDs that are energised and/or the amount of electrical energy supplied to each LED or group of LEDs. The light output is typically a combination of photometric spread and intensity such that different light outputs differ in their photometric spread and/or the intensity of the emitted light. Thus, the first light output may define a first photometric spread and the second light output may define a second photometric spread. For example, the first period of time may extend from dusk to a specific time at night and the second period of time may extend from the specific time at night to a specific second time at night and the second light output may be less than the first light output. In this way, the light assembly may emit a relatively high light output between dusk and, say, midnight. Then, between midnight and, say, 4.00am, it may emit a lower light output by reducing the number of LEDs that are energised and/or supplying less electrical energy to pre-determined LEDs to save energy when the streets are relatively quiet. It may then revert to the first light output between, say, 4.00am and dawn.

The algorithm may be stored by the controller. Thus, in order to save energy, the controller may reduce the number of LEDs that are energised and/or reduce the electrical energy supplied to pre-determined LEDs during periods where there is reduced pedestrian and/or vehicular traffic.

Additionally or alternatively, the light assembly may include a signal receiver connected to the controller such that the light output from the light assembly may be controlled via a remote control signal. In an embodiment of the invention, the signal receiver may form part of the controller.

The light output may be controlled by varying the illumination levels output by the light emitting elements (i.e. increasing or decreasing the intensity of the output light), by varying the photometric spread of the output light by switching on or switching off selected light emitting elements, or a combination thereof. For example, the controller may vary the electrical energy supplied to one or more selected unique addresses.

The light emitting elements of this aspect of the invention may include light emitting diodes (LEDs).

The light assembly may form part of a street light.

The light assembly may be as described and defined above in respect of the first aspect of the invention.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, there is provided a light assembly including a plurality of light emitting elements and a controller adapted to control the electrical energy supplied to the light emitting elements, wherein each light emitting element has associated with it a unique address; the unique addresses are stored by the controller; and the controller is adapted to control the electrical energy supplied to each light emitting element in response to a remote control signal or a pre-determined lighting algorithm.

The light assembly may include a signal receiver connected to the controller. In this embodiment, the signal receiver may form part of the controller or it may be a separate component.

The pre-determined lighting algorithm may be stored by the controller.

The light output from the light assembly may be controlled by varying the illumination levels output by the light emitting elements (i.e. increasing or decreasing the intensity of the output light, for example by increasing or decreasing the electrical energy supplied to the respective light emitting elements), by varying the photometric spread of the output light by switching on or switching off selected light emitting elements, or a combination thereof. For example, the controller may be adapted to vary the electrical energy supplied to one or more selected unique addresses, including switching on or switching off electrical energy to respective addresses.

The light assembly may form part of a street light.

The light assembly may include a light focussing component as defined and described above in connection with the first aspect of the invention. Similarly, each light emitting element may be located at a mounting location as defined and described hereinabove.

The skilled person will appreciate that the features described and defined in connection with the aspect of the invention and the embodiments thereof may be combined in any combination, regardless of whether the specific combination is expressly mentioned herein. Thus, all such combinations are considered to be made available to the skilled person.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a focussing component and a substrate defining a plurality of mounting locations according to a first embodiment; Figure 2 is a schematic view of a light assembly including a plurality of mounting locations and corresponding focussing units according to a second embodiment; Figure 3 is a schematic view of the light assembly shown in Figure 2 further including a light emitting diodes associated with certain mounting locations to form a first LED pattern; Figure 4 is a schematic view of the light assembly shown in Figure 2 further including a light emitting diodes associated with certain mounting locations to form a second LED pattern; Figure 5 is a schematic view of the light assembly shown in Figure 2 further including a light emitting diodes associated with certain mounting locations to form a third LED pattern; Figure 6 is a schematic view of the light assembly shown in Figure 2 further including a light emitting diodes associated with certain mounting locations to form a fourth LED pattern; Figure 7 is a schematic view of the light assembly shown in Figure 2 further including a light emitting diodes associated with certain mounting locations to form a fifth LED pattern; and Figure 8 is a schematic representation showing a remote control system for controlling the light output from a light assembly according to a third embodiment of the invention.

For the avoidance of doubt, the skilled person will appreciate that in this specification, the terms "up", "down", "front", "rear", "upper", "lower", "width", etc. refer to the orientation of the components as found in the example when installed for normal use as shown in the Figures.

Figure 1 shows the main components of a light assembly 2 comprising a light focussing component 4 and a substrate 6 adapted to receive a plurality of light emitting elements in the form of LEDs. The light focussing component 4 is a lens module which defines a plurality of individual lens units 8. In the embodiment shown in Figure 1, the lens module 4 defines thirty separate, spaced apart lens units 8. The lens units 8 in this embodiment have the same light focussing properties.

The substrate 6 is a PCB which defines thirty mounting locations 10 for LEDs in the form of solder pads. Each mounting location 10 corresponds to a respective lens unit 8. The light output from the light assembly 2 can be varied by varying the number and spatial orientation of the LEDs that are electrically connected to respective mounting locations 10. On the reverse of the PCB substrate 6 (where the PCB substrate is a single layer PCB) or within the PCB substrate 6 (where the PCB is a multilayer PCB) are electrical tracks which electrically connect each mounting location to a controller (not shown in Figure 1). Each mounting location 10 has a unique address which is stored by the controller such that the controller can access each location 10 and control the electrical energy supplied to it.

Figure 2 shows a second embodiment of the invention. It will be appreciated that Figure 2 shows a transparent lens module located on a PCB substrate. The letters "W", "M" and "N" refer to an individual lens unit which generates a wide beam pattern ("W"), a narrow beam pattern ("N") or an intermediate beam pattern ("M"). In this embodiment, the light assembly includes fewer lens units 8 and mounting locations, but the lens units 8 have different focussing properties. As shown in Figure 2, the top and bottom rows of the array of lenses 8 include lenses 8a that produce a wide beam pattern from the LEDs carried by the corresponding mounting locations on the PCB substrate. The second-from-top and second-from-bottom rows include lenses 8b that produce a medium width beam pattern and the middle two rows include lenses 8c that produce a narrow beam pattern. It will be appreciated that a "medium" beam width pattern is a beam width pattern that falls between the narrow beam width lens units 8c and the wide beam width lens units 8a. The light assembly shown schematically in Figure 2 also includes a controller, rectifier and other electronic and electrical components typically used in LED light assemblies that have and AC mains electrical input. These components are generally indicated as additional circuitry 11.

Figure 3 shows an LED arrangement within the light assembly shown in Figure 2 that produces a photometric spread suitable for use with a narrow road. In this Figure, the mounting locations to which a corresponding LED has been electrically connected are shown by a shaded oval and are indicated by the reference numeral 12. It will be noted that the six LEDs 12 are located or energised only at the mounting locations defined by the middle two rows. Thus, either the light assembly only includes six LEDs mounted on the middle two rows of mounting elements as shown, or the light assembly includes more than six LEDs, but the controller only permits electrical energy to be supplied to the mounting locations of the middle two rows. As the lens units 8c of the middle two rows produce a narrow beam width, the photometric spread of this embodiment is relatively narrow.

Figure 4 shows an LED arrangement within the light assembly shown in Figure 2 that produces a photometric spread suitable for use with a medium width road. In this embodiment, it will be noted that two of the narrow beam pattern lens units 8c are not used and instead two medium beam pattern lens units 8b are used. Again, either only six LEDs may be installed in the light assembly in the configuration shown in Figure 4, or more than six LEDs may be installed, but the controller only permits electrical energy to be supplied to the six LEDs 12 shown in the Figure. As will be appreciate, the use of four narrow beam width lens units, together with two medium beam width lens units provides a broader photometric spread than the arrangement shown in Figure 3.

Figure 5 shows an LED arrangement within the light assembly shown in Figure 2 that produces a photometric spread suitable for use with a medium width road that includes two lanes. In the arrangement shown in Figure 5 two LEDs are associated with (or energised) respective narrow beam pattern lens units 8c in combination with four LEDs that are associated with (or energised) respective medium width beam pattern lens units 8b. The use of four medium width lens units and two narrow width lens units produces a wider photometric spread than that achieved with the arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4.

Figure 6 shows an LED arrangement within the light assembly shown in Figure 2 that produces a photometric spread suitable for use with a wide road. In the arrangement shown in Figure 6 LEDs associated with the central column of the array are energised. This provides two LEDs that are associated with wide beam pattern lens units 8a, two LEDs that are associated with medium beam width pattern lens units 8b and two narrow beam lens units 8c. As will be appreciated, the use of LEDs associated with the wide beam width lens units produces a wider photometric spread than the arrangements shown in Figures 3 to 5.

For an even wider photometric spread, a user may choose the arrangement shown in Figure 7. In this arrangement, six LEDs are again energised, but this time four of the LEDs are associated with wide beam pattern lens units 8a and two LEDs are associated with narrow beam pattern lens units 8c.

It should be appreciated that the arrangements shown in Figures 3 to 7 are merely to show the different light output patterns that can be achieved from a fairly simple array including eighteen mounting locations and associated lens units each having one of just three different focussing properties. In each arrangement, only six LEDs were installed or energised. More or fewer than six LEDs can be installed/energised. Similarly, the focussing properties of each lens unit may be selected from more than three different options.

It should also be appreciated that the lens units may be used in conjunction with reflectors that have the same or different reflective patterns. Such combinations provide still further pre-determined focussing properties for each respective mounting location 10.

Figure 8 shows a schematic representation of a remote control method according to the third aspect of the invention which may be used to control remotely a light assembly according to the fourth aspect of the invention. The light assembly includes a substrate 106, which may be a PCB on which a number of mounting locations 110 are formed, for example via solder pads to which light emitting elements in the form of LEDs are electrically connected. Each mounting location or group of mounting locations is allocated a unique address and the addresses are stored in a controller 120. The controller 120 is configured to control the electrical energy supplied from an electrical energy source (not shown) to each of the mounting locations 110. The controller 120 is accessible by a remote control centre 130 via a signal receiver 140. In this way, a user at the remote control centre 130 is able to determine which mounting locations 110 are to be energised and/or the amount of electrical energy to be supplied to each mounting location 110 or group of mounting locations. This information is transmitted via a signal, which may be wireless or transmitted via electrical wires, sent from the remote control centre 130 to the controller 120 via the signal receiver 140. The controller 120 then controls the electrical energy supplied to each mounting location 110 or each group of mounting locations in accordance with the received signal from the remote control centre 130 and the unique addresses stored in the controller 120.

In this way, if light nuisance is reported, a user can alter the photometric spread of the light assembly or alter the light intensity of specific light emitting elements remotely, without having to visit the physical location of the light assembly and access the luminaire to install a shield or similar device to remove the nuisance effect.

Alternatively, the user in the remote control centre may send to the controller information about a desired photometric spread and the controller calculates which mounting locations to energise and how much electrical energy to send to each location in order to achieve the desired photometric spread.

In a yet further embodiment, the controller may contain a number of pre-programmed lighting algorithms which each result in a different photometric spread. In this embodiment, the user in the remote control centre can vary remotely which lighting algorithm is in use at any given time.

Claims

Claims 1. A light assembly including a substrate defining an array of separate mounting locations for light emitting elements, wherein each mounting location is adapted to receive a respective light emitting element; and a focussing component which defines an array of separate light focussing units, wherein each light focussing unit in the array corresponds to a respective mounting location.
2. A light assembly according to Claim 1, wherein at least two of the light focussing units in the array have different focusing properties.
3. A light assembly according to Claim 2, wherein each light focussing unit has a light focussing property which is selected from two or more pre-determined patterns.
4. A light assembly according to Claim 3, wherein the pre-determined patterns include a narrowly focussed pattern, a widely focussed pattern and an intermediate focussed pattern.
5. A light assembly according to any of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the light focussing units are lenses.
6. A light assembly according to any of Claims 1 to 5, wherein each mounting location is electrically connected to a power supply and is adapted to electrically connect a light emitting element to the location.
7. A light assembly according to any of Claims 1 to 6, wherein the substrate is a printed circuit board (PCB).
8. A light assembly according to any of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the assembly includes a controller, wherein the controller is adapted to control electrical connections between an energy supply and each mounting location.
9. A light assembly according to Claim 8, wherein each mounting location or group of mounting locations has a unique address allocated to it and the controller stores the unique address of each mounting location or group of mounting locations.
10. A light assembly according to Claim 8 or Claim 9, wherein the controller includes a remote signal receiver and the controller is adapted to receive control signals from a remote location.
11. A light assembly according to any of Claims 1 to 10, wherein the light assembly includes a plurality of light emitting elements and each light emitting element is received by a respective mounting location.
12. A light assembly according to Claim 11, wherein the number of light emitting elements is equal to the number of mounting locations and each mounting location receives a respective light emitting element.
13. A light assembly according to Claim 11, wherein the number of light emitting elements is less than the number of mounting locations and one or more mounting locations do not receive a light emitting element.
14. A light assembly according to any of Claims 11 to 13, wherein the light emitting elements are LEDs.
15. A method of controlling the output of a light assembly, the method including providing a light assembly including a substrate defining an array of separate mounting locations for light emitting elements, wherein each mounting location is adapted to receive a respective light emitting element; and a focussing component which defines an array of separate light focussing units, wherein each light focussing unit in the array corresponds to a respective mounting location; electrically connecting a plurality of light emitting elements to respective mounting locations; and energising selected light emitting elements to produce the desired light output.
16. A method according to Claim 15, wherein the number of light emitting elements is less than the number of mounting locations and the light emitting elements are arranged in a desired pattern within the array of mounting locations.
17. A method according to Claim 15 or Claim 16, wherein at least two of the light focussing units in the array have different focusing properties and the method of controlling the light output from the light assembly includes selecting the light focussing units that will provide the desired light output from the light assembly and locating a light emitting element at each of the mounting locations which correspond to the selected focussing units.
18. A method according to Claim 16 or Claim 17, wherein all of the light emitting elements are energised.
19. A method according to Claim 15, wherein the number of light emitting elements is equal to the number of mounting locations and each mounting location receives a respective light emitting element.
20. A method of controlling the light output from a light assembly, wherein the method includes (i) providing a light assembly including a plurality of light emitting elements and a controller adapted to control the electrical energy supplied to the light emitting elements; (ii) allocating each light emitting element or each group of light emitting elements a unique address, wherein the addresses are stored by the controller; and (iii) controlling the electrical energy supplied to each light emitting element or each group of light emitting elements in response to a remote signal received by the controller or a predetermined lighting algorithm.
21. A method according to Claim 20, wherein the pre-determined lighting algorithm provides a first light output for a first period of time and a second light output for a second period of time.
22. A method according to Claim 20, wherein the light assembly includes a signal receiver connected to the controller and the light output is controlled by transmitting a remote control signal to the controller via the signal receiver.
23. A method according to any of Claims 20 to 22, wherein the light output is controlled by varying the illumination levels output by the light emitting elements, by varying the photometric spread of the output light by switching on or switching off selected light emitting elements, or a combination thereof.
24. A method according to any of Claims 20 to 23, wherein the light emitting elements are light emitting diodes (LEDs).
25. A light assembly including a plurality of light emitting elements and a controller adapted to control the electrical energy supplied to the light emitting elements, wherein each light emitting element has associated with it a unique address; the unique addresses are stored by the controller; and the controller is adapted to control the electrical energy supplied to each light emitting element in response to a remote control signal or a predetermined lighting algorithm.
26. A light assembly according to Claim 25, wherein the light assembly includes a signal receiver connected to the controller, wherein the signal receiver is adapted to receive a remote control signal and transmit the remote control signal to the controller.
27. A light assembly according to Claim 25 or Claim 26, wherein the pre-determined algorithm is stored by the controller.
28. A light assembly according to any of Claims 25 to 27, wherein the light output from the light assembly is controlled by varying the illumination levels output by the light emitting elements, by varying the photometric spread of the output light by switching on or switching off selected light emitting elements, or a combination thereof.
29. A light assembly according to any of Claims 25 to 28, wherein the light emitting elements are LEDs.COAmendment to Claims have been filed as follows Claims 1. A light assembly including a power supply; a substrate defining an array of separate mounting locations for light emitting elements, wherein each mounting location is adapted to receive a respective light emitting element and electrically connect the light emitting element to the location; a focussing component which defines an array of separate light focussing units, wherein each light focussing unit in the array corresponds to a respective mounting location; and a controller, wherein the controller is adapted to control the electrical energy supplied to each mounting location.2. A light assembly according to Claim 1, wherein at least two of the light focussing units in the array have different focusing properties.3. A light assembly according to Claim 2, wherein each light focussing unit has a light focussing property which is selected from two or more pre-determined patterns.4. A light assembly according to Claim 3, wherein the pre-determined patterns include a narrowly focussed pattern, a widely focussed pattern and an intermediate focussed pattern.5. A light assembly according to any of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the light focussing units are lenses.6. A light assembly according to any of Claims 1 to 5, wherein the substrate is a printed circuit board (PCB).7. A light assembly according to any of Claims 1 to 6, wherein each mounting location has a unique address allocated to it or the mounting locations are allocated to respective groups of mounting locations and each group has a unique address allocated to it, and the controller stores the unique address of each mounting location or group of mounting locations.8. A light assembly according to any of Claims 1 to 7, wherein the controller includes a remote signal receiver and the controller is adapted to receive control signals from a remote location.9. A light assembly according to any of Claims 1 to 8, wherein the light assembly includes a plurality of light emitting elements and each light emitting element is received by a respective mounting location.10. A light assembly according to Claim 9, wherein the number of light emitting elements is equal to the number of mounting locations and each mounting location receives a respective light emitting element.11. A light assembly according to Claim 9, wherein the number of light emitting elements is less than the number of mounting locations and one or more mounting locations do not receive cr) a light emitting element.CD 12. A light assembly according to any of Claims 9 to 11, wherein the light emitting elements are CO LEDs.13. A method of controlling the output of a light assembly, the method including: (i) providing a light assembly including a power source; a substrate defining an array of separate mounting locations for light emitting elements, wherein each mounting location is adapted to receive a respective light emitting element; a focussing component which defines an array of separate light focussing units, wherein each light focussing unit in the array corresponds to a respective mounting location; and a controller; (ii) electrically connecting a plurality of light emitting elements to respective mounting locations; and (iii) controlling via the controller the electrical energy supplied to each mounting location and respective light emitting element to produce the desired light output.14. A method according to Claim 13, wherein the number of light emitting elements is less than the number of mounting locations and the light emitting elements are arranged in a desired pattern within the array of mounting locations.15. A method according to Claim 13 or Claim 14, wherein at least two of the light focussing units in the array have different focusing properties and the method of controlling the light output from the light assembly includes selecting the light focussing units that will provide the desired light output from the light assembly and locating a light emitting element at each of the mounting locations which correspond to the selected focussing units.16. A method according to Claim 14 or Claim 15, wherein all of the light emitting elements are energised.17. A method according to Claim 13, wherein the number of light emitting elements is equal to the number of mounting locations and each mounting location receives a respective light emitting element. (r)18. The method according to Claim 17, wherein the desired light output is obtained by providing each mounting location with a desired electrical energy input.OCO 19. A method of controlling the light output from a light assembly, wherein the method includes (i) providing a light assembly including a plurality of light emitting elements and a controller adapted to control the electrical energy supplied to each of the light emitting elements; (ii) allocating each light emitting element or each group of light emitting elements a unique address, wherein the addresses are stored by the controller; and (iii) controlling the electrical energy supplied to each light emitting element or each group of light emitting elements in response to a remote signal received by the controller or a pre-determined lighting algorithm.20. A method according to Claim 19, wherein the pre-determined lighting algorithm provides a first light output for a first period of time and a second light output for a second period of time.21. A method according to Claim 19, wherein the light assembly includes a signal receiver connected to the controller and the light output is controlled by transmitting a remote control signal to the controller via the signal receiver.22. A method according to any of Claims 19 to 21, wherein the light output is controlled by varying the illumination levels output by the light emitting elements, by varying the photometric spread of the output light by switching on or switching off selected light emitting elements, or a combination thereof.23. A method according to any of Claims 19 to 22, wherein the light emitting elements are light emitting diodes (LEDs).24. A light assembly including a plurality of light emitting elements and a controller adapted to control the electrical energy supplied to the light emitting elements, wherein each light (r) emitting element has associated with it a unique address; the unique addresses are stored by the controller; and the controller is adapted to control the electrical energy supplied to each light emitting element in response to a remote control signal or a pre-determined lighting algorithm.CO25. A light assembly according to Claim 24, wherein the light assembly includes a signal receiver connected to the controller, wherein the signal receiver is adapted to receive a remote control signal and transmit the remote control signal to the controller.26. A light assembly according to Claim 24 or Claim 25, wherein the pre-determined algorithm is stored by the controller.27. A light assembly according to any of Claims 24 to 26, wherein the light output from the light assembly is controlled by varying the illumination levels output by the light emitting elements, by varying the photometric spread of the output light by switching on or switching off selected light emitting elements, or a combination thereof.28. A light assembly according to any of Claims 24 to 27, wherein the light emitting elements are LEDs.