Sessions
LED Failure Modes and Why
2:35 PM - 3:05 PM Wed
"Mr. Rod Simpkins holds an AAS degree in Electronics Engineering Technology and began his career in the utility lighting industry in early 2000 at Carolina Power & Light (CP&L). As the only photometric designer for more than 10 years, Rod supported the four service regions in North and South Carolina by creating between 200-375 lighting layouts per year for outdoor lighting projects. Rod continued this role with Progress Energy after the late 2000 merger with Florida Power and joined the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) to gain more knowledge about the lighting industry. In 2008, Rod expanded his job role to provide light fixture troubleshooting training for the field technicians, help to evaluate new products, and provide support for everything technical regarding outdoor lighting.
As Product Line Specialist, Rod’s duties were enhanced to include LED product field support and training, new product evaluation and on-boarding, photometry oversight, rate making and guidance, specifications manuals, etc. His Engineering Standards role supports the DEP territory but also includes the entire Duke Energy enterprise. Rod joined the Electric Utility Outdoor Lighting Council (EUOLC) in 2013 to share knowledge with other Investor-Owned Utility (IOU) lighting groups. In 2016, Rod joined the ANSI C136 Standards for Roadway and Area Lighting Equipment committee and is a voting member supporting Duke Energy’s interests in the utility lighting industry.
More recently, Rod has supported Duke Energy’s attachments programs by helping to design special “multi-use” lighting poles for small cell deployment as well as receptacle festoons for cameras, Wi-Fi, and other attachments to street light poles. Rod has also met with city and town officials in his region to educate them about Duke Energy’s capabilities and product offerings surrounding the ever-increasing deployment of Small Cell technology."