The global smart lighting market is expanding in tune with the development of Internet of Things (IoT).
According to US-based information technology research and advisory firm Gartner, the installed base of smart lighting could grow from 46 million units this year to 2.54 billion units in 2020.
By Gartner’s definition, smart lighting includes systems that connect to a network and can be monitored and controlled from a centralized system or via the cloud.
The research firm has forecast that this year smart lighting market will double in size from last year’s figure of 300 million to 500 million square feet of commercial space worldwide.
Dean Freeman, research vice president at Gartner, says smart lighting market will grow faster when the key strategic phases of smart lighting — LED lighting, sensors and controls, connectivity, analytics, and intelligence — are adopted fast.
The Implementation of the five phases will ensure highest savings in lighting costs and accelerate the adoption of smart lighting solutions, Gartner reports.
Smart solid-state lighting (SSL) is able to provide energy savings of up to 50 percent. In comparison, fluorescent installations are able to provide savings of only 25 percent, accompanied by considerable savings in lighting maintenance.
Currently most installations, including SSL, are stopping with centralized control of lighting from a dashboard by means of a network. It enables building owners to analyze lighting patterns and further improve lighting costs.
But the implementation of the next phase, that of analytics, will require the user to move to the cloud. It would help building managers to operate multiple lighting operations from a central point, comparing energy use over time and between buildings.
Analytics can help users get recommendations for lighting programs based on occupancy that would then help reduce energy consumption costs.
The next stage involves the analysis of data being generated by the sensors and controls, and identification of anomalies in the energy pattern.
The ultimate stage in smart lighting would be the creation of predictive models that would enable the lighting system to learn and become even more intelligent.
The phase would also create a market for the development of lighting as a service (LaaS) which would enable lighting providers to maintain the system and keep it up to date, while minimizing the cash outlay for the smart lighting system.
Gartner observes that regional growth of smart lighting will be driven by government regulations around energy savings and bulb recycling laws.
In North America and Europe, new lighting installations are driving smart lighting. “While SSL alone might accommodate most of the government regulations, the requirements of daylight harvesting and occupancy sensing drive the need for considerable controls in most lighting systems,” Gartner says.
“Once sensors and controls are involved, then networked systems are the next step and are becoming commonplace for most new installations.”
Ajith Kumar S