UC physics graduate launches LED retrofitting for industry

Canterbury physics graduate launches LED retrofitting for industry needs

January 18, 2015

A University of Canterbury physics graduate has set up a successful company, National Lighting, which is specialising in retrofitting LED lights for industrial buildings.

Frank Ansell says he always wanted to run his own business and is now living the dream. His first company, Ironclad GPS, developed GPS tracking software for managing fleets of vehicles.

“It’s really awesome to create a company from scratch and then watch it grow, and to get feedback from customers about how much they love using a product you created.

“The broad technical knowledge I gained while getting my degree at Canterbury gave me the skills to set up in business. A big part of university is networking. Friends I made at Canterbury with computer science degrees wrote the code for my first company, Ironclad GPS.

“I was really interested in studying astrophysics. Science and technology, and space in particular, have been lifelong passions for me. Canterbury is a really fantastic place to study and learn exciting things.”

A former Whangarei Boys’ High School student, Ansell says he grew as a person during his time at Canterbury. After his degree, he chose to stay in Christchurch, where he worked for a few years as a mechanical engineer focused on building services design and then post-earthquake remedial work.

“My new company National Lighting is all about removing older, inefficient lights from buildings and replacing them with modern, energy-efficient LED lights.

“Many factories and warehouses are fitted with metal-halide lights which require significant amounts of electricity. Typically these are designed to last up to five years but they’re often not replaced for much longer than that, so the actual light output fades substantially. A typical industrial metal-halide lamp might consume around $500 per year in electricity costs alone.

“Modern LED lights consume around five times less electricity to produce the same amount of light. They also last around 15 years under normal usage and don’t fade much in that time. LED lights have fallen in cost in recent years so the return on investment for many businesses is attractive.

“The cost of LED lights has been prohibitive in the past but in recent years it’s come down so that the energy saving on these lights will pay for the cost of the upgrade in a few years and they’ll typically last 15 years so it’s worthwhile if a company plans to occupy the same building for a while,” Ansell says.

“Cutting costs in a business is often an easier way to improve profitability than bringing in more sales and many companies are looking for ways to improve energy efficiency. Switching to LED lighting is usually the best return on investment of any energy-saving technology available.

“I’ve always been interested in how buildings and cities consume energy. A 2007 study commissioned by the then Electricity Commission found that cost-effective energy efficient investments could reduce New Zealand’s electricity consumption by around 15 percent by 2016.

“The cost of LED lights has been prohibitive in the past but in recent years it’s come down so that the energy saving on these lights will pay for the cost of the upgrade in a few years and they’ll typically last 15 years so it’s worthwhile if a company plans to occupy the same building for a while,” Ansell says.

The University of Canterbury’s director of Research and Innovation Dr Nigel Johnson says it is great to see graduates combining their scientific skills with the entrepreneurial flair to create new businesses.

“We have established UC Innovators on our campus to encourage and support many more of our students to become business creators, like Frank Ansell,” Dr Johnson says.

ENDS

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