Final answer:
You can connect up to 20 parking lot luminaires to a 20 amp circuit, as each draws 0.954 A and thus collectively they would draw approximately 19.08 A, which is just under the 20 A limit.
Step-by-step explanation:
To determine how many parking lot luminaires can be connected to a 20 amp circuit, we need to take into account the current each luminaire draws and the voltage they operate at. Given that each luminaire draws 0.954 A at 480 V and operates continuously, we can use Ohm's law and the power distribution laws to find out the maximum number of luminaires that can be safely connected.
First, find the total allowable current for the circuit, which is 20 A. To find out how many luminaires we can have:
Total current / Current per luminaire = Number of luminaires
20 A / 0.954 A per luminaire ≈ 20.96
Since we can't have a fraction of a luminaire, we round down to the nearest whole number. Therefore, you can connect 20 luminaires to a 20 amp circuit without exceeding the current limit.