Digital infrastructure has become the backbone of the economy and of daily life itself.

Critical processes ranging from streaming media to running financial transactions are powered by an ever-growing web of data centers. These facilities not only support global connectivity but also generate significant employment and tax revenue through their construction, operation, and maintenance.

Yet data centers are now facing a triple challenge: rapidly expanding capacity driven by AI workloads, the rising cost of energy, and growing sustainability expectations. To address these pressures, the industry is rethinking its electrical foundations. Direct current (DC) architectures, long the domain of specialized systems, are now emerging as a key enabler of efficiency and resilience.

Lighting, often seen as a secondary system, can play a strategic role in this transition. Highly energy-efficient DC-powered LED lighting solutions offer a practical entry point to broader DC adoption, improving overall facility efficiency while advancing sustainability goals.

This article explores how lighting can act as both an energy-saving technology and an intelligent infrastructure layer within next-generation data centers.

Evolving data center architectures

A data center must coordinate a complex interplay of servers, networking, power, cooling, and security systems. Traditionally, these systems have relied on alternating current (AC) for power distribution. But as facilities scale to meet rising processing demands, electrical efficiency and power density are becoming critical design priorities.

Early data centers used 48V DC for backup systems—safe, but limited in capacity. Over time, this evolved to 230/277V AC mains, and later to 380V DC for internal power distribution.

Today, to meet the massive power demands of AI servers, designs are shifting again, to 650V DC and even 800V DC architectures.

The Open Direct Current Alliance (ODCA) identifies 650V DC as the optimal voltage for full-building distribution, offering an effective balance between safety and efficiency. Major technology players such as Nvidia and the Open Compute Project (OCP) are exploring 800V DC at the rack level, though such implementations still lack the system-wide efficiencies that 650V DC can deliver when deployed across an entire facility.

Beyond data centers, industrial facilities are also adopting 650V DC systems to cut energy use and improve resilience. This voltage level enables the capture and reuse of braking energy from motor drives and robotics, energy that would otherwise be wasted as heat. Lighting, a constant baseload in production environments, can effectively absorb and use this recovered power, reducing grid demand and operational costs.

By integrating lighting, motors, and renewable sources on a shared DC grid, sites achieve a more efficient energy flow while minimizing AC/DC conversion losses. Compared with 400V AC networks, DC systems use fewer conductors, reduce copper consumption, and lower transmission losses. When combined with solar PV and battery storage, they also boost self-consumption, ensure backup capability, and support flexible energy management.

Why DC power is gaining ground

The case for DC in data centers is both technical and economic:

Reduced conversion losses

Traditional AC systems require multiple conversion stages (AC→DC→AC→DC), leading to energy losses of up to 18 percent.

Native compatibility

IT loads, such as servers and GPUs, inherently operate on DC power.

Seamless renewable integration

Solar PV arrays and battery storage produce DC natively, simplifying connection and improving overall system efficiency.

Simplified infrastructure

DC eliminates many transformers and rectifiers, cutting installation complexity and improving reliability

AI readiness

With surging AI workloads, data centers switch to DC power systems. DC is not merely a power format—it’s a pathway toward more intelligent, efficient, and resilient infrastructure.

Lighting as a gateway to DC infrastructure

Lighting is often the first system that can transition to DC in a data center. Connected LED lighting presents a low-risk, high-impact opportunity to test and scale DC distribution before extending it to mission-critical IT loads.

Key advantages of deploying DC lighting in data centers include:

Lower capex

Power cables for DC lighting save 40 percent on copper. They include only three conductors (L+, L-, PE) but transmit the same power as 400 V, 3-phase AC power cables with five conductors (L1, L2, L3, N, PE), as used in traditional data centers.

Lower opex

Power cables for DC lighting avoid 33 percent of the losses in power cables. since the power is transmitted with only two conductors (L+ and L-) instead of the three conductors of a three-phase AC system at the same current.

Resilience and redundancy

DC lighting can run directly from on-site solar arrays or battery storage, enhancing microgrid resilience during grid disturbances. Luminaires and components for DC-powered data centers are available in the marketplace today. For example, Signify has developed a 100W Xitanium LED driver designed for 620–750 V DC operation and integrated it into a new generation of Pacific LED Gen5 and Maxos Fusion luminaire families.

The system’s efficiency can exceed 95 percent at the driver level, with future potential to reach 200 lm/W using ultra-high-efficiency LED modules.

Sustainability and ESG impacts

DC-powered lighting delivers measurable sustainability benefits, including:

Carbon reduction

Reduced carbon footprint due to fewer conversion losses and lower material use.

Eligibility for green certifications

DC-based systems can contribute to LEED Zero and BREEAM credits.

Smart optimization

Connected LED lighting can reduce total lighting energy use by up to 75 percent through sensors and controls.

In sustainability reporting and ESG audits, these benefits help hyperscalers (like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure) and colocation providers demonstrate tangible progress toward carbon neutrality and operational efficiency.

Connected lighting as a distributed sensor network

Connected lighting systems have evolved into a powerful digital infrastructure layer that extends far beyond illumination. When LED luminaires are equipped with embedded sensors for parameters such as occupancy, daylight, temperature, humidity, and air quality, they become a dense, facility-wide network for continuous data collection. This distributed sensing capability transforms the lighting grid into a valuable source of real-time insight—covering everywhere in a building where light is needed, without the need for additional sensor deployments.

Through open communication protocols such as DALI, BACnet, and MQTT, DC-powered lighting networks integrate seamlessly with building management and data center infrastructure management (DCIM) systems. This interoperability enables unified control and monitoring across the entire facility, supporting applications that drive efficiency and reliability. Predictive maintenance becomes possible through continuous tracking of both environmental conditions and component health, allowing issues to be addressed before they cause downtime.

Operational intelligence is enhanced by analyzing occupancy and thermal patterns, optimizing cooling and space utilization in dynamic environments like data halls or industrial production floors.

In addition, connected lighting plays an important role in supporting the well-being and performance of personnel. Human-centric or circadian lighting schemes can be tuned to maintain alertness and reduce fatigue during night shifts or extended operations—an important consideration in mission-critical facilities that run 24/7. By combining digital sensing, intelligent control, and human-centered design, connected lighting networks contribute directly to uptime, safety, and productivity—delivering value well beyond the traditional boundaries of illumination.

Deployment models for lighting in data centers

Lighting can be deployed in several configurations, depending on the scale, architecture, and energy strategy of the facility. At the most localized level, data centers with rack-level DC power lighting may be still supplied from an AC mains backbone.

At a broader scale, facility-level DC grids integrate lighting into a shared energy ecosystem that may also include solar generation, battery storage, and DC-powered IT infrastructure. In such systems, lighting not only benefits from renewable sources but also contributes to overall grid stability by acting as a controllable base load.

In addition, centralized emergency lighting integrated into the DC backbone ensures illumination continuity during power disruptions, reinforcing safety in mission-critical environments.

Business case and ROI

From a financial perspective, DC lighting offers a compelling return on investment:

Lower installation costs

Through power cables with 40 percent less copper, simplified wiring, and fewer conversion components.

Reduced opex

Driven by reduced energy consumption and maintenance costs.

Long-term value

From improved resilience, lower PUE, and compliance with ESG mandates DC lighting as a strategic entry point for data centers

Lighting is no longer just an operational afterthought—it’s a strategic entry point for data centers, navigating the next decade of digital growth. DC-powered lighting not only boosts energy efficiency but also supports industrial sustainability goals. It simplifies cabling, aligns seamlessly with renewable DC sources, and transforms lighting from a passive load into an active participant in energy recovery and smart microgrid management.

As data centers transition to DC infrastructure, lighting stands out as a practical and high-impact entry point for realizing the full promise of energy-efficient production.