Polycarbonate & Acrylic Plastic for Light Fixtures

Advanced lighting applications utilize rugged and lightweight acrylic and polycarbonate plastic materials to deliver state-of-the-art optical advantages. Crescent Plastics provides the products you need, whether you need an acrylic light fixture lens or polycarbonate and acrylic extruded profile for LED light diffusion with proven results and outstanding optical properties.

Crescent Plastics is a leader in LED diffuser manufacturing. We help you choose the right level of diffusion which is critical for LED Lens profiles.  Crescent provides design support to find the right material blend, diffusion, efficacy, aesthetics, fit, cost, and quick turn around on tooling. 

We extrude Polycarbonate and Acrylic with different levels of frost and diffusion to provide the proper light transmission and hiding power for your LED’s. Our in-house tooling facility allows us to build all extrusion and punch dies for quality control and timing. Crescent is ISO certified and our extrusions are made to standards which exceed the competition.  Contact us to learn more about the differences between polycarbonate vs. acrylic lenses, or give us a call at 812-428-9305.

Acrylic vs. Polycarbonate Light Diffuser Extrusions

Acrylic light diffusers control the brightness of harsh lighting to create a soft lighting effect. They can also protect lighting fixtures from dust and help conserve energy by providing more even lighting that reduces the need for additional fixtures. Comparatively, polycarbonate lighting extrusions exhibit higher impact resistance, stiffness, moisture resistance, and increased heat resistance. Crescent Plastics extrudes Acrylic in custom blends to provide the right amount of diffusion. New frosted and unfrosted Acrylics provide diffusion levels from 92% to 60%. 

Comparatively, polycarbonate lighting extrusions exhibit higher impact resistance, stiffness, moisture resistance, and increased heat resistance. Ignition resistant grades are also available.

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Polycarbonate & Acrylic LED Light Fixture Lens Advantages

The use of acrylic or polycarbonate material for your lighting extrusion applications will depend on the features you would like to incorporate into the application’s overall functionality. Both acrylic and polycarbonate materials provide excellent strength-to-weight ratios while offering tremendous flexibility and excellent light transmission and diffusion. Some of the advantages of both materials are highlighted below.

Acrylic Light Fixture Lens Material Beneficial Qualities

Acrylic lighting diffusers offer distinct benefits that separate this material from polycarbonate. Acrylic has a high gloss finish and is more translucent than transparent, making it ideal for light diffusers. Other benefits include:

  • Increased durability against scratches
  • Improved flexibility
  • UV resistance (no yellowing or discoloration from the sun)
  • Less expensive than polycarbonate 

Polycarbonate Light Fixture Lens Material Beneficial Qualities

When comparing polycarbonate to acrylic material, polycarbonate is much more resilient than acrylic, making it ideal for highly demanding applications where impact strength and flame retardance are required. Some of the benefits of polycarbonate plastic diffusers for fluorescent lighting fixtures include:

  • Increased strength over acrylic
  • Improved versatility
  • High impact resistance
  • Increased stiffness & moisture resistance
  • Ignition resistant (FR grades are available) can be exposed to high temperatures
  • It can be drilled without cracking

Acrylic for Lighting Applications

Compared with polycarbonate, acrylic provides superior optical properties, enhanced light transmission, diffusion of LED hot spots, and ease of fabrication. Acrylic applications include:

  • High and Low Bay Industrial lighting fixtures.
  • Commercial lighting fixtures
  • Troffer fixtures
  • Linear Fixtures
  • Downlighting and Up lighting fixtures
  • Indoor Architectural fixtures
  • Shop lights

Polycarbonate for Lighting Applications

Tougher and more durable than acrylic, polycarbonate products also operate at a higher temperature and provide increased flammability protection over acrylic. Frosted polycarbonate provides the right light transmission, excellent diffusion of LED hot spots, and offer impact resistance along with good heat resistance. Polycarbonate applications include:

  • Industrial Lighting fixtures
  • Hazardous location luminaires
  • Marine luminaires

Learn More About Acrylic & Polycarbonate Plastic for Fluorescent Lighting Fixtures Today

Contact us for more information regarding acrylic and polycarbonate plastic lighting fixture lenses today.