John Bowler is never anyone to miss a great opportunity and as both poultry producer and energy systems provider his company was ideally suited to test Agrilamp’s latest incredible innovation.

'ALIS' (Agrilamp Induction Lighting System) is an induction-powered LED lighting system for poultry and pigs.

Up until now, it simply has not been possible to get enough energy using induction to light enough LED light bulbs using induction. It would have been like lighting your chickens with your toothbrush charger. But not any more!

A special twisted pair of cables that does not need installing in conduit, provides the power at 230 volts but it cannot give you a lethal or dangerous electric shock. It is fully dimmable and flicker-free throughout the dimming range, all the bulbs dim perfectly together, and since its development and testing last year, not a single failed lamp.

The patented technology is very special - so special the very big lighting companies of the world are also sitting up and paying serious attention.

ALIS is not connected to the power directly, so there are no electrical connections, except at the mains. Zero to 10 volts is standard and it comes with a dimmer knob like any other system. Once the 230-volt power cable is installed each lamp takes just five seconds to connect and that includes the time to climb the ladder.

In the simplest terms, the results are amazing, according to Agrilamp.

Andrew Watson of Bowlers who has the first fully installed poultry sheds in the UK (two standard two-foot fluorescent and two ALIS barns of Burford Browns and Cotswold Legbars) says: "We’ve proved what Agrilamp say about the energy reduction and its using 39 per cent less than that of fluorescent lighting.

“In fact, it would be a slightly greater saving on a like-for-like basis but there are other benefits to keeping Agrilamp just a bit brighter; we carefully measured 60 points of light at feeder level and on the scratch areas in each of the four buildings. We then compared the results, Agrilamp has a maximum lux variation of just two lux across the whole shed while the fluorescent are anything from 2.9 lux to 20.4 lux - a variation of 17.5 lux.

“The entire barn can be installed in a day and commissioned the next morning. For any really dark areas like corners, you simply clip on another ALIS to prevent floor eggs.

“What was more impressive were the first production numbers. Clearly, the birds are performing comparatively in egg production numbers, however, ALIS uses 100 litres a day less water per shed of 4,500 birds. This reflects directly in the litter quality, which in turn is also reflecting in the feed intake, which is considerably reduced for the same bird performance.

“We are still working out the savings. They are enormous. There are no negatives and a lot of advantages. We are carefully monitoring all of the results and we will know all we need to know by the time of the Pig and Poultry Show, so we can tell our producers a lot more by then. We are already going ahead with installations in other sites. In short it works, it’s an amazing breakthrough for the poultry industry and agriculture in general.”

John Matcham, Agrilamp Sales Director, said: “It's British technology at its best - a British concept at a price that beats fluorescent lighting all the way to the bank. The savings on installation time alone make the return on investment a matter of months not years. But it’s the reality of real savings with bird performance that is getting producers excited.”

Agrilamp has incorporated all of the usual Agrilamp knowledge and quality into ALIS. It is quick, simple and safe to install. It is available in the UK now and Bowlers Energy - which has worked with Agrilamp in the trials - will be marketing it as part of their portfolio, or interested parties can contact Agrilamp directly via email.”

www.agrilamp.com - [email protected].