Road and street lighting is a key driver for LED technology in general lighting. In less than a decade, LED technology has created more turmoil in the lighting industry than anything occurring over the previous century. Every professional agrees that what used to be a conservative, well-controlled market is undergoing a massive change, referred to as “the LED revolution.” Therefore, it’s high time to take a close look at what’s happening and why, since each General Lighting application, be it indoor or outdoor, has its own way of adopting LEDs. Outdoor lighting is no stranger to revolution. In fact, today it’s one of the two most dynamic General Lighting market segments for LED adoption. Within the segment, architectural lighting was the early adopter, but the main driver these days is definitely road and street lighting. Historically the largest outdoor segment, it now offers the best prospects for LED development in professional exterior lighting. Road and street lighting is a very attractive market, with EBIT levels generally between five and 15 percent and steady growth despite the economic downturn.
“We estimate that LED luminaire revenue will reach $435M in 2013 and peak at $516M by 2016, fuelled by the increased need for energy efficiency. Growth will be driven firstly by tunnel lighting, and then relayed into highway, road, residential and amenity lighting applications starting in 2014”, explains Pars Mukish, Market and technology analyst, LED at Yole Développement. “By 2017, market size should decline because of a decreasing replacement market (due to LED-based systems’ higher lifetime) and also because of LED luminaire’s ASP,” he adds.
Yole’s report presents all road and street lighting applications and associated market metrics within the period 2008-2020 for each application and region, detailing drivers & challenges, key players, associated volume/market size (luminaires installed base, LED luminaire and packaged LED sales), and LED penetration rate.
A new approach to luminaire design requiring new manufacturer competencies
Designing with LED implies major changes for conventional luminaire manufacturers – mostly at the optical, electrical and physical levels. With the move to LED technology, traditional luminaire manufacturers face dramatic organizational changes, such as integrating electronic competencies, upgrading optical competencies, taking ownership of the light source (SSL), and revamping production organization. Consequently, internal revolution is required within luminaire companies in order to take full advantage of the LED boom.
This report analyses the LED value proposition in road and street lighting, detailing: major changes between conventional luminaire and LED luminaire, how LED technology can be applied to road and street lighting (drivers, key decision-making criteria, impacts of LED adoption on the overall industry), associated lighting design requirements, etc.
The path to an outdoor lighting market involves several players which have already embraced major changes
“Compared to other lighting applications (residential, commercial, etc.), the outdoor lighting supply chain involves more associated/parallel industries, such as the pole and bracket industry, the control industry and the cable industry,” explains Christophe Richon, CEO of Lux Fit. As is the case for other lighting applications, these industries must also redesign their products in order to make their business sustainable: smaller-size pole and bracket equivalents due to LED miniaturization, new power supply and control capacities due to LEDs’ higher start current, etc.
At the business chain level, outdoor lighting is also quite unique in terms of involving different player types: end-users and specifiers such as municipalities, lighting designers, installers, etc. With LEDs offering longer lifetime, better energy savings and increased aesthetic potential, each player must adapt its activity to make best use of the technology.
This report presents an overview of the road and street lighting industry’s supply chain and business chain (conventional and LED), detailing: each player’s role, main industrial trends, impact of LED integration, etc. Also, company profiles are provided for eight key LED luminaire manufacturers.
Developing new business models to increase LED’s penetration rate
Around the world, LED adoption in road and street lighting has benefitted from financial incentives to hasten the change. While recession in many economies has led some governments to revise their subsidizing policies, others have maintained them, and other support forms are emerging. However, in many countries, public end-users are now faced with a dilemma: invest in public lighting (mainly because of increasing urbanization and the need to implement energy efficient systems) or reduce spending (less public money available, political pressure, etc.). As a result, public end-users are turning more and more to new business models that provide energy efficient lighting at reduced initial costs, such as Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and performance contracts (ESCOs). This report presents an overview of LED technology drivers, detailing: technology drivers, application drivers and economic drivers.
