The smart lighting technology enables its users to control the lighting of any space without being surrounded by unnecessary wires. It is a part of the new and upcoming IoT technology, facilitating mobile and sensors to control the luminosity of lights in a particular area or space. The intelligent connected lighting offers an eco-friendly environment and effectively reduces the consumption of energy. The global Smart Lighting market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 17.1% during the forecast period 2016 – 2025 and accounts for US$ 51.05 Bn in the year 2025.
The global smart lighting market is divided on the basis of lighting type into. Light Emitting Diode (LED) Lamp, Fluorescent Lamps, Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL), High-Intensity Discharge Lamps and Others (Neon Lamps and Photographic Flashes). Taking it a step further the segmentation is also based on the application of smart lighting like Industrial lighting, Commercial lighting, Residential lighting, Outdoor lighting, Automotive lighting and Government. According to the geographic regions, the market is segmented into Europe, Middle East & Africa (MEA), Asia Pacific (APAC), North America and South America (SAM). With many developing countries in the region of the Middle East and Africa, it is expected to have the highest CAGR of 24.4% during the forecast period.
There are a few shortcomings of a wireless system which include the occasional disturbance in communications among the devices. When a wireless lighting system is installed in a place, it is always important to make sure that the keypads, processors and dimmers are within a specific range. For example, some old residential buildings may be constructed with metal wire integrated into the walls that might create a disturbance or weaken the signals of a wireless system. Although it has certain drawbacks, it is expected to capture more than half of the lighting market in next few years. Thus, maximum companies are switching their product portfolio to wireless smart lighting solutions. Major players in this segment are Philips, GE, OSRAM and Daintree.
Today, wireless connectivity is taking a leap over the wired connecting networks as wireless is more convenient to use. First, this technology was used in the telephones now called the mobile phones and since then the wireless technology has revolutionized the way things were viewed. Wireless technology has given its consumers freedom from the limited range of the wired devices.
The wireless technology has become an integral part of day to day lifestyle. Wireless technologies like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and RF Ids are experiencing high adoption rate among users. The rising popularity of wireless technology in lighting solution is thus considered to be one of the major reasons driving the smart lighting market. The wireless lighting solutions are easy to control and help its customers to attain maximum energy saving.
The lighting hardware is highly integrated and dependent on the software platform being used. As there is no common standard for wireless smart lighting products, the complete idea of various smart lighting devices networked together and the entire process of networking becomes complicated. For example, Philips employs ZigBee Light Link, GreenWave uses NXP JenNet-IP and Insteon uses its own wireless technology and all these are incompatible with each other. This incompatibility would result in inconvenience for the user as the choice of products and services will get limited by the platform being used, or else the entire operation of smart lighting would get complicated.
