April 5, 2013 - According to a new report from Pike Research, a part of Navigant's Energy Practice, by 2015, LEDs will become the second-leading type of lamp for street lights in terms of sales, behind high pressure sodium lamps. By 2020, LED lamps for street lights will generate more than $2 billion in annual revenue, the study concluded. The report analyzed the global market opportunity for lamp upgrades and networked lighting controls across five categories of public outdoor lighting: highways, roads, parking lots, city parks, and sports stadiums.
"Broader investments in smart city infrastructure by municipal governments will boost smart street lighting projects, as the two go hand in hand," said research analyst Jesse Foote. "Smart street lighting systems can provide a backbone for other smart city applications, and conversely, a city investing in networking capabilities for smart city applications should also be looking to include better management of street lighting."
Nearly all smart street lighting projects are still in a pilot phase at the moment, according to the report, which also noted the adoption of LED street lights and networked control systems is seriously hindered by the ownership models and tariff structures in place across the United States and in some European and Asian locations as well.
According to the report, Smart Street Lighting, if utility companies own street lighting systems and charge a fixed tariff per light to municipalities, then towns have little financial incentive to pay for upgrading their lights. However, the potential for significant energy savings, reduced emissions and improved quality of service, combined with falling LED prices, means that more and more cities will find this an attractive proposition over time, it estimated.
