Svetloba – a company on the way towards the global peak thanks to its innovativeness

October 2011

For the third time, the newspaper Finance announced the winner of the competition Best Business Idea and Best Business Eco-idea 2011. Among five finalists is also the company Svetloba. The jury was convinced by its high-tech system of Reflecta industrial lighting and its innovative marketing approach. The Reflecta system enables more than 50 percent savings in electricity consumption by using sensor-guided smart electronics which follows the daylight and adequately adapts the luminance of the already highly energy-efficient fluorescent luminaries while the companies are also given the possibility to finance the replacement of their lighting through bank credits in the amount of achieved savings which means they have no additional costs. By consulting, Svetloba also assists customers in acquiring available grants. This year the company is planning to enter new European markets. Last year it achieved 48 % growth in revenues while this year the revenues are planned to be a bit lower since it intends to attract investors that would enable it to accelerate development and enter the international market.

Industrial lighting - a large black hole

Photo: archive Svetloba

According to director Hine Alex Vrtačnik, industrial lighting is a large black hole that has not been given special attention by anyone. "We found out that most lighting was in critical condition in large factories and also in other industrial facilities; 15 percent of entire industrial energy consumption is attributed to lighting and we can reduce industrial energy consumption by 10 %."

The essence of Reflecta intelligent systems is constant adaptation of the amount of light at workplaces in accordance with users’ needs and the additional effect of daylight. In this way, efficiency of the system supported by information from sensors is optimal. Everything takes place in real time and does not disturb the working process which is especially important in industrial environments. An important component of the system are special luminaries with as much as 93.8 % luminous efficiency and high durability in all industrial environments – in dust, moisture, heat and aggressive atmosphere. Despite considerable loads in industrial environments, the guaranteed performance of the systems is between three and eight years.

Big savings

By installing Reflecta lighting, one of Toyota Peugeot Citroën Automobile factories will save at least Euro 200,000 annually. In Sip-Šempeter they use 82 % less electricity after replacing old luminaries with the new ones, while in Henkel they improved luminance by as much as 50 % while they still consume 10 % less of electricity. The luminaries are currently being tested in Vokswagen and Dorma factories in Germany, Hyunday and Ontex in the Czech Republic and in the company Borckenstein in Austria. In Slovenia, they were installed in Geberit, Alples, Fructal, Litostroj and Duropack-Tespack; on the average, 50 % of electricity for lighting was saved while luminance was considerably improved at the same time. In 2009, buyers of luminaries saved 5.7 GWh of electricity and reduced CO2 emissions by 2,446 tons. This is equal to removing 500 cars from the roads or planting a forest the size of 22 soccer fields.

Svetloba also provides its customers with services according to the principle “all in one place.” An investment is returned in two years and the system can also be used in high-rack warehouses where all goods are illuminated vertically as well as in logistic centers, sports halls, gymnasiums and filling stations. Bulbs have a three-year warrantee and during this time the quality of light remains unchanged. The duration of luminaries is 25 years, after which time they are 100 % recycled. 

Svetloba provides assistance in acquiring funds for investments, also according to the principle “pay with savings.”

Apart from patented innovative lighting, a specialty of Svetloba in the area of energy-efficient industrial lighting is also the innovative project Zero. The project enables companies the repayment of their investments in lighting renovation without a start-up investment, exclusively through savings in electricity consumption. In the company for which – among others – there is interest in the KPCB fund, the co-owner of Google, Amazon and Sun Microsystems, the way of management is also distinctive. The founder of the company has based the network of key competences on “outsourcing.”

Litostroj’s Cathedral is more luminous at lesser costs

Litostroj. Photo: archive Svetloba

Working in the Litostroj’s Cathedral, as this production hall in Litostroj is called due to its height (over 20 meters), is really not easy. Despite air exhausting, manufacturing of industrial machines and elements for hydroelectric power plants takes place in dust and oil vapor so dense that they can actually be seen. Light here is a real treasure.

Therefore, they replaced 127 old luminaries with 162 new REFLECTA luminaries. Measurements of luminance at workplaces showed that luminance increased from the previous average of 70–130 lx to 350–510 lx which is a 370-percent increase. However, this is not the only advantage of the REFLECTA system. Although the Cathedral is illuminated by 35 more lights, their nominal power is only 37.5 kW while they previously consumed 118.75 kW. In this way, electricity consumption is three times lower – from 666,872 kWh they reduced it to only 210,162 kWh annually.

More positive examples – Sinfo, September 2011 

Text by: Vesna Žarkovič