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• Within less than a decade, the LED technology has generated more turmoil in the lighting industry thananything that had happened in the previous century. All professionals agree today that what used to be aconservative, well-controlled market is undergoing a massive change, referred to as “the LED revolution”.
• Therefore, it is high time to take a close look at what is happening, and why. Whilst a lot of informationon the lighting industry at large is already available from various sources, each of its applicationsegments, be it indoor or outdoor, has its own way of adopting LEDs - and this is worth documenting.
• Outdoor lighting is no stranger to the revolution. As a matter of fact, it is today one of the two mostdynamic segments of the general lighting market for LED adoption.
• Within this, architectural lighting has been the early adopter. But the main carrier is now definitely road &street lighting. Historically the largest outdoor segment, it also offers now the highest prospects for LEDdevelopment in professional exterior lighting.
• Road and street lighting is also a very attractive market: EBIT levels are generally between 5 and 15%, andgrowth remains steady despite economic downturns.
• In that context, Yole Développement and Lux Fit represent the best fit, in order to provide professionalswith a tool for decision-making in this segment. The ambition of this report is nothing short of being theirbest ally, in the coming months, for their strategic choices in road and street lighting.
• Your feedback will be instrumental in making it even more powerful in future issues.
• Within public end-users1, different forces are at play:
– A technical competence, proposing decisions on rational criteria(typically the public lighting department of a city).
– A political competence, making decisions under the influence ofmore emotional criteria (pleasing voters being often on thehidden agenda).
• Therefore the complexity of decision-making must be fullygrasped and may vary greatly from one project to the other,even with the same players.
• Additionally, due to the specific functioning of publicadministrations, decision-making may result quite lengthydue to:
– Public budgeting cycles.
– Mandatory council votes for investments.
– Election cycles that may either hasten or delay decisions.
End users are mainly public.
1. The LUCI network groups over 60 cities around urban lighting, with the aim of sharing good practice and developing knowledge in this area
Street lighting inauguration in Muddebhihal, India
Public lighting as a political toolThe political agenda has a clear impact on public lighting.Most manufacturers report a recurring sales peak in theyear prior to a local election, and a subsequent drop inthe ensuing 1-2 years.Lighting is a political tool because:• It is very visible to voters.• It is a relatively easy and quick infrastructure
investment.• Compared to other investments (e.g.: building a
• Safety remains the #1 driver of the road and street lighting market.It is translated into different areas of application:
– Traffic safety: A constant drive to improve visibility in order to preventaccidents.
– Users safety: A need to assure that the installed equipment will notcause injuries (falling luminaires…).
– Operators safety: In particular, electrical safety is a must.
• Security is also a strong driver in this segment. This appliesspecifically to the urban installations.
– Regular studies bring evidence and counter-evidence of lighting as acontributor to urban security at night… Debate continues!
• Quality of life has emerged in the last decade, although it has lostsome attention with the more recent upsurge of energy efficiency.
– Visual comfort is expected: With higher colour rendering, adequatecolour temperatures, glare control.
– Landscape integration is also a clear preoccupation: initially purelyfunctional, road and street lighting is increasingly integrating aestheticscriteria driving the segment’s expectations towards architecturaloutdoor lighting. Significantly, industrial designers are now involved inmost luminaire and pole development projects.
Pictures from GE
A case for white lightEven before the start of the « LEDrevolution », white light has emerged asa strong industry trend. It is valued for:• Its comfort – A colour temperature
closer to that of daylight, as opposedto the orange glow of sodium; andbetter colour rendering.
• Its safety – Improved peripheralvision and quicker response,evidenced by research.
• Its security – Improved facialrecognition, and clear preference byCCTV operators.
• Traditionally, there are 3 level of thermal management for LED-based lighting products… However, insome cases (Chip On Board or Chip On Fixture), there can be only 1 or 2 level(s) of thermal management.
• Heat is an issue in LED-based lighting systems as it can have 3 main consequences:
• Tunnel lighting offers strong opportunities for LEDs. The #1 benefit of LEDs in tunnel is lifetime, a clearadvantage where maintenance generates heavy costs and disturbances (traffic interruption…).
• The LED technology cannot yet fully cover all of tunnel lighting. This is owed to the various zones,requiring different luminance levels. Until now, LED solutions have been feasible for the transit andinterior zones (3 & 4 on the diagram). Higher light output solutions are needed to meet the requirementsof the other zones, especially the access and threshold zones. LEDs can technically address these, but arenot yet economically feasible without a control system.
• Tunnel lighting represents a huge opportunity for LED solutions. For example:
Europe has over XXkm of road tunnels (Italy XXkm, Norway XXkm) / China has XXkm of road tunnels / The USA andCanada have XXkm of road tunnels.
• China and Italy have programmes to convert road tunnels to LED lighting:
– Autostrade per l’Italia has initiated in 2008 the replacement of XX luminaires in its XXkm of tunnels.
LED Luminaire Market For Road And Street LightingMarket Volume (2008 - 2020) - Split By Application
• Residential, amenity and tunnel lighting was the main driver for LED luminaire market in 2012… However,the technology should really trigger highway and road lighting applications starting from 2013.
• LED luminaire market volume should boom until 2017 (XXMunits) and then stabilize until 2020 (XXMunits)due to decrease of replacement market (with the higher lifetime of LED-based system).
In 2012, LED luminaire for road and street lighting represented a market volume of nearly XXMunits.