The Solid-State Electronic Dimmer

A technology innovation that set the stage for modern-day lighting controls.

2 MIN READ

Courtesy Lutron

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Lighting without lighting controls would be like trying to drive a car without a steering wheel. It’s one of the most important areas of illumination technology, and its development continues to evolve to meet the challenges of today’s solid-state lighting advances. But no matter the control device or suite of sensors and digital readouts, lighting controls would not be what they are today without the contribution of Joel Spira (1927–2015), chairman and founder of Lutron Electronics and his invention of the sold-state electronic dimmer.

Courtesy Lutron

Spira’s idea first came to him while serving in the Navy during World War II. Tasked with designing a trigger for an armament, he tried assembling a switch relay which shattered. A colleague showed him a silicon-controlled rectifier (SCR), an electronic device no bigger than a pea. Seeing how the SCR could harness a lot of power, he wondered if it could be used to control an incandescent lamp.

Spira went on to create the first electronic solid-state dimmer in 1959 and established Lutron Electronics in 1961 to sell his invention. The Capri dimmer (above left)—with its tunable dial—was the first dimmer Lutron brought to market in the early 1960s. Controlling a light via dimming opened up the opportunity for tremendous energy savings.

Courtesy Lutron

But it was the Nova (above), the first linear slide dimmer introduced in 1971, that was perhaps even more revolutionary. The device’s slide interface was novel and Nova could accommodate power inputs of up to 2,000W. The product was so well received that Spira expanded the line so that it could be used for all light sources. Amazingly, looking at a Nova slide dimmer today, the interface seems so contemporary that you’d be hard pressed to know if what you’re looking at is an original or something released this year. In 2010, Lutron donated several items from its 50-plus-year history to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., where it has become part of the museum’s Electricity Collection—a testament to Spira’s contribution to not just lighting but lighting history, invention, and entrepreneurship.

Explore all 30 Moments in Lighting from our 30th Anniversary Issue here.

About the Author

Elizabeth Donoff

Elizabeth Donoff is Editor-at-Large of Architectural Lighting (AL). She served as Editor-in-Chief from 2006 to 2017. She joined the editorial team in 2003 and is a leading voice in the lighting community speaking at industry events such as Lightfair and the International Association of Lighting Designers Annual Enlighten Conference, and has twice served as a judge for the Illuminating Engineering Society New York City Section’s (IESNYC) Lumen Award program. In 2009, she received the Brilliance Award from the IESNYC for dedicated service and contribution to the New York City lighting community. Over the past 11 years, under her editorial direction, Architectural Lighting has received a number of prestigious B2B journalism awards. In 2017, Architectural Lighting was a Top Ten Finalist for Magazine of the Year from the American Society of Business Publication Editors' AZBEE Awards. In 2016, Donoff received the Jesse H. Neal Award for her Editor’s Comments in the category of Best Commentary/Blog, and in 2015, AL received a Jesse H. Neal Award for Best Media Brand (Overall Editorial Excellence).Prior to her entry into design journalism, Donoff worked in New York City architectural offices including FXFowle where she was part of the project teams for the Reuters Building at Three Times Square and the New York Times Headquarters. She is a graduate of Bates College in Lewiston, Me., and she earned her Master of Architecture degree from the School of Architecture at Washington University in St. Louis.

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