The Grande Galerie de l'Evolution of the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle in Paris has origins dating back more than 375 years. Its previous lighting system had extremely high maintenance and daily use costs, said Pierre de Cazenove, the museum's head of operations and planning for exhibits. The move to SeaChanger LEP is part of the museum's effort to conserve energy and use long-lasting light sources that won't harm delicate museum pieces.
SeaChanger's colour engine, designed to be utilised with ETC Source Four optical components, provides professional lighting for theatres, museums and architectural installations around the world. The LEP can crisply illuminate the museum's artifacts from throw distances of 35 meters, a range not reachable by LED products without significant loss of illumination. The SeaChanger Plasma's light source puts out low ultraviolet and infrared light that does not damage the displays, and its energy-efficient plasma source reduces energy consumption and heat load, a necessity when displaying artifacts dating back to the late 1600s.
"Light Emitting Plasma is a real alternative to conventional light sources: halogen, LED or discharge lamps," said Jean Louis Pernette, managing director of AVAB, a SeaChanger and ETC distributor. "The compromise between light output, power used and lamp life is unique and perfectly meets the museum's specifications."
The museum illuminates some of its biggest attractions with SeaChanger LEP such as its large caravan of African animals; desert, marine and polar spaces; and a whale skeleton. The museum is continuing to convert its lighting to SeaChanger units. When complete, savings will total more than £23,000 per year because of infrequent re-lamping and reduction of electricity consumption.
(Jim Evans)
