Smart lighting consists of lighting systems that can remotely monitored to keep a tab on their energy consumption. This has emerged as a key area to help reduce global energy consumption, which has reached unsustainable levels. Since lighting systems don’t constitute a major portion of total energy consumption of any individual complex, this may seem like an unnecessary step. However, lighting systems are present in an overwhelming majority of households around the world, the potential cumulative impact of smart lighting systems rather more conspicuous.
The share of the residential sector in the global smart lighting market is expected to reach 10.7% by 2020, while outdoor lighting is expected to account for 17.4% of the smart lighting market by 2020. According to Transparency Market Research, the global smart lighting market is expected to more than double in value from 2013 to 2020 owing to the steady demand for energy-efficient lighting, rising from a market valuation of US$21 billion to US$56.62 billion at a CAGR of 15.9% from 2014 to 2020.
Despite the dominance of the commercial and industrial sectors in the global smart lighting market, the demand for smart lighting from the residential sector is expected to exhibit robust growth in the coming years. The overall reduction in the cost of lighting due to the use of smart lighting is responsible for this. Outdoor lighting is another high-potential application area for smart lighting due to the growing use of smart grids in the developed world.
The efficiency of LED smart lighting systems helps cut down on overall energy consumption. This also makes them scalable in operability; while the heat generated by incandescent lighting makes them unsuitable for large-scale operations, LED lighting is perfectly viable to be used for public as well as residential or industrial lighting purposes. Due to wide-ranging government support to smart lighting systems in the form of tax concessions and other financial incentives, LED systems have become highly profitable for major players in the smart lighting market, particularly in comparison to conventional lighting systems.
The prime drivers for the global smart lighting market are the high energy efficiency of LEDs, which have led to LEDs replacing incandescent lights in most application areas, and the wireless connectivity offered by the steady technological advancement in the field of the Internet of Things. These two factors have been crucial in driving the demand for smart lighting in street lighting, which is a rapidly growing application segment of the global smart lighting market.
