PLEXIGLAS® once again delivers impressive optical quality in the new edition of Zumtobel’s proven TECTON luminaire system

• Specialist for lighting solutions uses brand PMMA from Röhm for lenses with a range of beam patterns
• PLEXIGLAS® molding compound’s optical purity offers excellent  luminous efficiency and excellent color rendering
• Long-lasting, recyclable material for circular product design

International lighting specialist Zumtobel has launched the second generation of its popular TECTON luminaire system. For more than 20 years, TECTON continuous-row systems have provided optimum illumination in supermarkets, high-bay warehouses and production halls, data centers, offices and educational facilities. According to the company from Dornbirn, Austria, more than 39,000 kilometers of TECTON have already been installed worldwide.

In creating TECTON II, Zumtobel has updated numerous features and the design while retaining proven elements: The company is once again using PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds to produce the precise optics.

Optical purity for excellent light transmission and color rendering

Maximilian Macha, Global Product Manager Trunking Systems & Protected Luminaires at Zumtobel, explains why the company chose Röhm’s brand polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA): “The high optical purity of PLEXIGLAS® and its surface reproduction accuracy in injection molding are crucial for the homogeneous light distribution and outstanding color rendering that are so important to us in the TECTON II double-split lenses.”

PMMA is one of the most transparent materials in existence. With a light transmittance of up to 92 percent, the crystal-clear PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds offer unmatched transparency and excellent light-guiding properties, making them ideal for demanding optical applications such as Zumtobel’s lighting solutions.

“In the batten luminaires of the TECTON II system, combining a market-leading LED driver and the PLEXIGLAS® lens enables us to achieve a highly efficient system with a luminous efficiency of up to 210 lm/W and a luminous flux of up to 10,000 lumens per meter,” explains Macha.

Surface reproduction accuracy for precise lenses with different beam angles

The TECTON II series offers an extended range of optics to meet the highest standards for comfortable lighting in different applications. For example, wide-beam light distribution is useful for illuminating open areas, shelves and wide aisles, while narrow-beam light distribution is required for vertical shelf fronts such as those in logistics or data centers. Zumtobel’s double-split lens design produces homogeneous light that is nearly glare-free.

The “Wide Beam”, “Very Wide Beam”, “Narrow Beam” and “Narrow Shelf Beam” optics offer different beam characteristics, achieved by the different structures of the lenses. This takes enormous precision. The result is based on Zumtobel’s expertise in tool production and the extremely high surface reproduction accuracy of PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds in the injection molding process. “Because our products offer such good flow properties, lighting manufacturers can use them to produce lenses with the finest of structures in consistent quality. Light can be guided precisely,” explains Heinz Schubkegel, Senior Business Manager in Röhm’s Molding Compounds business unit.

Even large-scale optical components can be produced from PLEXIGLAS® molding compounds with the required precision and dimensional stability, which is another advantage for the 50-centimeter optics in the TECTON II continuous-row lighting system.

Shatterproof and resistant to chemicals

Zumtobel confirms that the TECTON II luminaires have a very long lifespan of 100,000 hours with an almost constant light output (CLO) of 95 percent of the original luminous flux (L 95). As the lens material, PLEXIGLAS® plays a major role in this light output. The brand PMMA from Röhm retains its unparalleled transparency in lighting applications for decades.

As a universal continuous-row system, TECTON II is used in numerous industrial applications, including production halls, where the luminaires are exposed to moisture, cleaning agents, fluctuating temperatures, dust and more. It is useful here that PLEXIGLAS® is significantly more robust than glass and highly resistant to chemicals – further properties that give the optics and the entire continuous-row system their long lifespan.

The ideal material for sustainable design and the circular economy

Zumtobel developed TECTON II in line with its own Circular Design Rules, which are based on the resource-saving cradle-to-cradle principle. This means that materials and components are used for as long as possible in their application and kept in the technical material cycle.

The company is committed to using recyclable materials wherever possible and processing them into high-quality components. The lighting systems should be designed for easy assembly and disassembly, allowing individual components to be recycled and returned to the production cycle when the systems reach the end of their service life.

“Recyclable and long-lasting, our PLEXIGLAS® material is ideal for Zumtobel’s demanding circular economy concept,” says Schubkegel. The company collects the luminaires after their product lifespan in order to recycle the components. Using various recycling processes, both production waste and PLEXIGLAS® components that are no longer needed can be recycled into PMMA and reused.