Phocos DALI Smart Lighting:
MPPT + D4i Intelligence in One Box.
The Phocos CIS-N-MPPT-DALI combines intelligent solar charging, battery management, programmable LED control and DALI/D4i communication in one rugged controller. Designed for professional solar lighting applications, it provides OEMs and integrators with a standards-based foundation for building connected, smart solar lighting systems.
MPPT Solar Charging
Bluetooth Feature Available
Intelligent Lighting Control
Battery Management
DALI/D4i Connectivity
Certified Reliability:
Third-Party Verified for Seamless Integration.
Why DALI/D4i for Smart Solar Lighting?
Every OEM building a connected luminaire runs into the same question: how do the power system, the lighting, and the network actually talk to each other without a custom integration for every project?
That’s the problem DALI D4i solves.
DALI provides standardized digital communication between lighting components. D4i extends DALI-2 with requirements designed for intelligent luminaires, including standardized device, energy and diagnostic data and auxiliary power for connected devices.
For solar lighting OEMs, this creates a standards-based platform for connecting the lighting and power system to sensors, communication nodes and centralized management platforms.
How the Smart Solar Lighting Ecosystem Connects
A connected streetlight is part of a dynamic ecosystem. Knowing the core functions, component layers, and interoperability facilitates integration and keeps solar lighting projects on track.
Here’s how it fits together.
Phocos
PV + Battery + LEDCIS-N-MPPT-DALI
Phocos serves as the power and data management hub, including lighting control
The CIS-N-MPPT-DALI handles PV charging, battery operation, bus power supply for sensing devices, and LED lighting management, while providing the DALI/D4i interface to the connected-lighting ecosystem. That’s our part of the ecosystem.
Ecosystem Partner
D4i/Zhaga Connectivity Node→Wireless Network / Gateway or Direct Cellular
Zhaga-D4i is a standardized connection and interface node that connects the pole to the smart city communications network
The Zhaga interface provides a standardized platform and connection point for wireless communication modules and additional sensors. This transforms a standalone solar streetlight into a networked asset capable of remote monitoring, adaptive dimming, predictive maintenance, and integration with smart-city platforms. The Phocos CIS-N-MPPT-DALI + Zhaga-D4i enables true plug-and-play connectivity and interoperability.
The network moves the information
Depending on the ecosystem provider and project requirements, communication may use cellular, LoRaWAN, or other wireless architectures. Some solutions use gateways. Others communicate directly to the cloud.
Customer
CMS / SCMS→Remote Monitoring / Control / Diagnostics / Analytics
The CMS or SCMS gives the customer visibility and control
The connected-lighting platform provides remote monitoring, lighting control, system status, alerts, reporting, and other capabilities supported by the selected ecosystem.
The CIS-N-MPPT-DALI is the intelligent edge device at the pole – managing local functions including power and lighting-control while feeding data to the CMS or SCMS. You select the D4i certified connectivity and management ecosystem that fits your application. That separation is deliberate, because the right network for a dense urban retrofit may not be the right network for a rural corridor, and no single vendor should be making that call for you.
Integrated Power and Lighting Control
The CIS-N-MPPT-DALI brings together the core functions required to manage a smart/connected solar lighting system: high-efficiency MPPT charging, battery management, programmable LED control and DALI/D4i communication.
Integrating these functions into a purpose-built controller can simplify system architecture, reduce wiring complexity and give OEMs a flexible platform for developing connected solar lighting solutions.
What that changes in your build:
- Fewer components to source, stock, and reconcile against a BOM.
- Fewer wiring connections, fewer field failures traced back to a bad crimp or a loose terminal.
- A smaller footprint that frees up real design flexibility for tighter pole housings.
- One warranty, one part to requalify if a spec changes, instead of four.
Plug-and-play wiring, not custom harnessing.
The CIS-N-MPPT-DALI connects to Zhaga compliant D4i nodes and sensors through a standardized connector. That’s a real Zhaga interoperability standard, not a proprietary Phocos connector. This speeds up your build and doesn’t lock you into a single sensor vendor.
Know More Before Sending a Crew
Connected lighting can provide operators with system information before a technician reaches the site, helping maintenance teams identify issues, prioritize service and arrive better prepared.
Control & Interoperability
The CIS-N-MPPT-DALI meets the full baseline of D4i requirements for control gear and LED modules. That means it can sit on a network alongside other manufacturers’ DALI devices, instead of locking you into a single-vendor or a proprietary ecosystem.
Asset Tracking & Predictive Maintenance
Built-in diagnostics and reporting give cities a way to know the operational status of each pole and its components and sensors. Catch and diagnose a problem all before sending a truck.
IoT Sensor Power
A dedicated auxiliary power loop lets external, D4i certified sensors and connected devices draw power directly from the controller, instead of requiring their own separate power drop.
Fail-Safe Uptime
If the DALI bus or wireless network signal drops, Adaptive Lighting Control (ALC) fallback logic immediately switches the pole to a default backup schedule so the streetlight never goes dark.
Designed for Different Solar Lighting Applications
Parking lots, highway corridors, pathways, and remote monitoring sites all have different lighting requirements and connected auxiliary sensors.
The CIS-N-MPPT-DALI is built as a common platform across all of them, which means an OEM can develop one power and lighting-control architecture and deploy it into projects with very different load profiles, run times, sensors and connectivity requirements.
Municipal Streets
Roadways & Highways
Parking Lots
Parks & Pathways
Campuses
Remote Infrastructure
Industrial Sites
Smart Poles
Hybrid Solar + Grid Backup
For applications requiring additional resilience, the CIS-N-MPPT-DALI can support an external AC charging architecture through SSR control, allowing supplementary grid charging when solar availability is insufficient.
North American OEMs and municipalities are increasingly moving toward DALI smart city lighting as cities modernize their infrastructure. The CIS-MPPT-DALI gives OEMs a certified, ready-to-integrate path into that shift, without redesigning a pole from scratch.
For municipalities and other buyers in the EMEA region, standards compliance and documentation are critical requirements. The CIS-MPPT-DALI is D4i certified and CE and RoHS compliant, with technical documentation available for engineering review as part of any procurement process.
As India rapidly expands its smart city infrastructure and modernizes municipal lighting, Phocos provides local engineering support and proven off-grid reliability. The CIS-N-MPPT-DALI offers Indian municipalities and OEMs a ruggedized, heat-tolerant solution designed specifically to perform in extreme environments while meeting strict D4i interoperability standards.
Many APAC deployments involve retrofitting existing infrastructure rather than building new from the ground up. The CIS-MPPT-DALI’s hybrid solar and grid-tied capability gives integrators flexibility to work within an existing setup instead of requiring a single fixed configuration.
The DALI Family:
Built for Different Roles on the Grid
| Type | 60w Model | 120w Model | 60w Bluetooth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Parking lots, parks & public spaces | Major roadways & highways | Same 60W applications, with easier firmware and field programming |
| Standout feature | Compact footprint for lower-load fixtures | Higher output for major-thoroughfare lighting loads | Firmware updates and drone/app-based programming, no physical bus connection required |
Need a configuration outside this lineup?
Phocos supports custom variations for high-volume OEM deployments.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is DALI?
DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) is an open standard for digital communication between lighting components. It allows individual luminaires and control devices to be addressed, controlled, and monitored individually rather than simply switched on and off as a group.
What’s the difference between DALI-2 and D4i?
DALI-2 is the current version of the DALI standard. D4i is a certification that extends DALI-2 with requirements specific to intelligent luminaires, meaning a D4i device is also a DALI-2 device. The name comes from intra-luminaire DALI, the bus that runs inside a single luminaire connecting the driver and any control devices. What D4i adds is an integrated bus power supply plus standardized reporting of luminaire, energy, and diagnostic data. It’s widely used in outdoor and street lighting because that luminaire-level data is particularly valuable there.
Is the DALI D4i standard important? If so, why?
DALI is the open, manufacturer-neutral digital standard for lighting control, a common language that lights, sensors, and management software speak regardless of who made them. D4i is the layer built on top of DALI-2 that standardizes luminaire-level data: energy use, operating hours, diagnostics, asset identification, and the internal power supply arrangement. Certification means independent testing against those requirements. Municipal tenders increasingly require it, and DALI-compatible is not the same claim as D4i certified.
Where does the Phocos CIS-N-MPPT-DALI fit within the DALI/D4i ecosystem?
The Phocos CIS-N-MPPT-DALI provides the solar energy management, battery management, bus power supply, and intelligent lighting control layer, along with the DALI/D4i interface that connects it to the wider ecosystem. Connectivity nodes, communication networks, and CMS platforms are supplied by ecosystem partners you select.
What does connected monitoring actually save us?
Three things. First, site visits: faults and battery degradation are diagnosed remotely, so crews roll only when needed, with the right part. Second, energy and asset reporting: standardized D4i data feeds the performance analytics and SLA reporting that municipalities increasingly require. Third, lifetime: adaptive dimming based on battery state protects the battery, typically the most expensive consumable in a solar light, extending replacement cycles.
Does « D4i certified » matter in a tender, versus « DALI-compatible »?
« DALI-compatible » is a self-declared claim; D4i certification means the device passed independent testing by the DALI Alliance and appears in its public product database. Tender evaluators can verify it in minutes, and a certified device is guaranteed to expose the standardized energy, diagnostics, and asset data that smart-city platforms rely on. If a tender scores interoperability or future-readiness, certification is the difference between a claim and evidence.
Does the CIS-N-MPPT-DALI controller lock us into Phocos or any single CMS vendor?
No. Control and data run over the open DALI D4i standard, so the controller works with certified third-party nodes, sensors, and management platforms. If you change CMS provider later, the installed hardware stays. That independence is precisely what open-standard tenders are designed to protect.
Which Phocos products are currently DALI/D4i certified?
- CIS-N-MPPT-DALI 120w
- CIS-N-MPPT-DALI 60w
- CIS-N-MPPT-DALI 60w with Bluetooth
