The existence of extensive records for the impact of night sky brightness on the animals’ behavior in their natural environment shows the need to investigate the level of artificially induced night sky glow (light pollution) in the protected areas.

The results of multi-night sky brightness measurements carried out at the selected sites in Polish mountain areas under various atmospheric conditions are presented. Conducted measurements show a strong impact of the artificial sky glow on the night sky brightness, which is the essence of light pollution. The influence of both distant urban centers, as well as local tourist resorts on the size of studied phenomenon in the mountain areas, which causes both ecological and touristic degradation of these areas was stated. In a few studied areas the level of night sky brightness greatly exceeds the natural one and is comparable to such levels measured inside the cities. It was found that only the southern part of the Polish Carpathians can be considered an area free of light pollution.

The application of solid-state light sources in luminaires creates a new quality in illumination design works. In a confrontation with a commonly used but relatively unattractive flood method, the use of small-size luminaires allows one to present an illuminated architectural object in a more attractive way in the evening and at night. In this case, it is possible to apply the principles of illumination described in the literature, especially the principle of height amplification and the principle of depth amplification. The conceptual work of illumination with the use of a large number of small-size luminaires does not require the use of supporting graphical tools, but the specification of actual lighting equipment using only polygonal samples in this case is not possible. The paper presents selected issues of the key stages of the completed work. Using specialized computer software, a geometric model of the architectural object has been developed, facade materials have been parameterized, models of small-size illuminating equipment have been selected and, finally, calculations of luminance distribution on illuminated surfaces have been carried out. As a result of computer work, luminance distributions and photorealistic visualizations of illuminations from defined main directions of observation were obtained. The Lubomirski Palace in Przemysl is an example of the architectural object indicated for detailed works.

Light sources and luminaires made in the LED technology are nowadays widely used in industry and at home. The use of these devices affects the operation of the power grid and energy efficiency. To estimate this impact, it is important to know the electrical parameters of light sources and luminaires, especially with the possibility of dimming. The article presents the results of measurements of electrical parameters as well as luminous flux of dimmable LED luminaires as a function of dimming and RMS supply voltage. On the basis of the performed measurements, a model of LED luminaire was developed for prediction of electrical parameters at set dimming values and RMS values of the supply voltage. The developed model of LED luminaire has 2 inputs and 26 outputs. This model is made based on 26 single models of electrical parameters, whose input signals are supply and control voltages. The linear regression method was used to develop the models. An example of the application of the developed model for the prediction of electrical parameters simulating the operation of an LED luminaire in an environment most similar to real working conditions is also presented.

The paper presents a simple method of measuring the luminous flux value dedicated to LED light sources. This method uses information about a spatial radiation pattern of the lighting source under test and the results of illuminance measurements at the axis of this source. The method is described and the results of the measurements obtained using this method and the classical method are compared and discussed. Tests have been carried out for LED modules of different geometries. The measurement error of the considered method is analysed.

This article is focused on considerations based on experimental studies concerning changes of selected parameters of identical compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) intended for use in buildings during their operation. The studies constituted a long-term experiment whose goal was an evaluation of selected operating parameters of the CFLs in terms of meeting the requirements set out in the specified regulations as well as the issue of marking the lamps with the energy efficiency class. The measurements were performed with the authors’ experimental setup consisting of original equipment designed and made especially for the purpose of the measurements. The studies covered registration of the luminous flux as well as selected electrical parameters such as active power, current and the power factor during the so-called “start-up time” and operation time equal to 100 h, 500 h, 1000 h, 2000 h, etc. with a 1000 h step. The studies were finished with the moment of natural burnout of the CFLs tested. The results showed that the biggest drawback of CFLs is lack of preservation of the required time to reach 60% of the stabilized luminous flux just after short time of lamp operation. Similarly when assessing the conformity of the parameters declared by the manufacturer that have been verified, it can be stated that they are true only at the initial stage of lamp operation.

This article is focused on considerations based on experimental studies concerning changes of selected parameters of identical compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) intended for use in buildings during their operation. The studies constituted a long-term experiment whose goal was an evaluation of selected operating parameters of the CFLs in terms of meeting the requirements set out in the specified regulations as well as the issue of marking the lamps with the energy efficiency class. The measurements were performed with the authors’ experimental setup consisting of original equipment designed and made especially for the purpose of the measurements. The studies covered registration of the luminous flux as well as selected electrical parameters such as active power, current and the power factor during the so-called “start-up time” and operation time equal to 100 h, 500 h, 1000 h, 2000 h, etc. with a 1000 h step. The studies were finished with the moment of natural burnout of the CFLs tested. The results showed that the biggest drawback of CFLs is lack of preservation of the required time to reach 60% of the stabilized luminous flux just after short time of lamp operation. Similarly when assessing the conformity of the parameters declared by the manufacturer that have been verified, it can be stated that they are true only at the initial stage of lamp operation.

Visible light communication is seen as a crucial technology within optical wireless communication systems. The technology of vehicular visible light communication holds significant importance in the context of connected vehicles. This technology can serve as a supplementary solution to vehicular systems that are based on radio frequency. In this paper, the authors conduct an analysis of the performance of both line-of-sight and non-line-of-sight vehicle-to-vehicle visible light communication systems under the effect of artificial light source and weather conditions, including clear, hazy, and foggy weather. A practical vehicular laser diode, a street lamp, and an avalanche photodiode are used to design the proposed system model. Performance enhancement for the proposed system is achieved using an optical amplifier at the receiving end. An artificial light source of light-emitting diode Corn-type is used to represent an ambient artificial light source. Different metrics such as quality factor and bit error rate are used to assess the system performance of the non-line-of-sight-vehicular communication system. The proposed line-of-sight model achieves a data rate of 25 Gbps, supporting a distance of 80 m under clear sky and hazy atmospheric conditions. For foggy weather, an attainable link distance of 70 m is achieved. The achieved results emphasize the suitability of the suggested models for vehicular applications in real world environment.