Smart Lighting: Opportunities & Challenges

Lighting plays an important role in our well-being and use of smart lighting system adds elegance, ambiance, convenience and energy efficiency to any place…

Lighting is a vital part of life at home. It makes our homes safer, cozier and more welcoming. Lighting plays an important role in our well-being and use of smart lighting system adds elegance, ambience, convenience and energy efficiency to any place. Warm, dimmed light creates a calming atmosphere which encourages socializing and relaxation. At present, incorporating smart lighting in homes is easier than to think. The kits are ready right out-of-the-box, with light sources and steering devices pre-paired. All we need to do is install the smart bulbs. Smart lighting is getting smarter. Create a range of pre-set moods for all activities, from weeknight cooking to weekend movie marathons, we can create a pre-set lighting mood for each activity. By setting a ‘rise and shine’ timer, we can wake up gently to softly brightening light. Smart lighting dimming kit white spectrum changes the room and atmosphere from reading light to dancing light and back again with a simple click on the remote control. Smart lighting, for instance, gives flexibility because we can control it with timers, plusbcan set schedules and monitor bulb status remotely, etc. There are four reasons why you should use smart lighting. First and foremost it can save money on a utilities bill. That’s because a smart lighting network is very energy efficient; it allows us to calibrate when exactly a light should be on. Smart lights can also simplify our life. When preparing to travel, we won’t have to physically alter the settings of each smart light or check to see if it is off before we leave., we can do all this remotely, from a far.

Segments of Smart Lighting System

Smart lighting incorporates many technologies so that either indoor or outdoor lights will work automatically under certain conditions. Different smart lighting networks do different things, but some of the more popular solutions feature smart lights that are capable of instantly switching on when someone enters a room or changing colour when something occurs. Different types of smart lighting systems are available with all know how of their working, and the many products we can buy in market today.

Home Automation: enables to have automatic, electronic, and even remote control of the home as well as the devices, fixtures, accessories, and appliances inside. Several manufacturers have already developed smart products for homes and various control systems that enable their automation. Smart lighting networks fit into the home automation trend and will change the way of lighting our home, forever.

Networks & Controls: Often allow lights to interact with each other, so that they can be calibrated en masse, or even individually through a remote control setup. Smart lighting networks vary drastically, but generally, their lights can either work independently or together when connected. There are two main types of smart lighting networks: sensor-integrated and non-sensor integrated. Sensor-integrated lights feature sensors that enable them to recognise people and daylight, among other things. These lights automatically send data to the smart lighting network, which sets specific parameters for each light. Although non-sensor integrated lights don’t have sensors, they’re still considered smart, because we can program them. There are two main ways of controlling smart lights: control hubs and smart devices. We can use tablets, smartphones, laptops, and even desktop computers (as long as both the device and the smart lights are connected to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth) to remotely configure and manage smart lighting. In some situations, typically, in larger buildings, there is a dedicated control hub that maintains the smart lighting network.

Moving Heads: A moving head has the ability to change colours and patterns. It has a wide range of mobility options, such as circular, pan and tilt. The newer moving heads can rotate between 360- 180 degrees. They are visually more interesting to guests and offer a larger range of movement and lighting output than scanners.

Scanners: Scanners also have the ability to change colours and patterns but unlike moving heads, they have limited mobility of its head. Instead, it features a moving mirror that gives the fixture the ability to project patterns and colours throughout the room. There are many debates whether scanners are better than moving heads or vice versa. Scanners are
faster than moving head fixtures. However, moving heads will capture the interest of your guests with its moving function. In today’s market, intelligent lighting is manufactured with LED technology.

Role of LEDs: Energy savings, exciting new designs, better light quality, lower environmental impact and a 20-year lifespan; new LED lighting is so much better than old incandescent lighting. So, we’ve switched our entire lighting range to LEDs. This really does mean everything, from bright and accurate kitchen lighting through to warm and cozy bedroom lighting with LED bulbs for all existing light fittings. To reduce your energy consumption without making sacrifices. To make living a sustainable life at home easier, beautiful and more affordable, LEDs are an easy way to make a big difference. Energy efficiency, viability, and sustainability were the questions the LED lighting industry addressed over the last decade. With Solid-State Lighting successfully established for indoor, outdoor and roadway lighting, the industry is poised to take LED to new dimensions. Within the smart lighting market, light emitting diodes (LEDs) are expected to remain the largest market and are expected to witness the highest growth over the forecast period. Declining cost of LEDs, low maintenance, and high energy efficiency are expected to spur the growth of this segment.

Smart Cities with Smart Lighting: Sensor technology is developing at a phenomenal rate, battery powered sensors can now last upto 10 years and be deployed in challenging locations to help deploy smart city solutions almost anywhere. Solutions such as smart lighting, where traditional legacy lights are replaced with LED lamps can generate significant savings on energy bills and maintenance costs, and deliver a potential return on investment in less than eight years. The upgraded street lighting assets can then be further used to support other Smart City initiatives such as a WiFi mesh network; smart parking and air quality monitoring. Devices that can power themselves, by tapping into sunlight, vibrations or heat, are also under development. Moving beyond the functionality of products to meaningful applications providing value for citizens and society requires a change in paradigm that affects all participants. Cities strive to improve quality of life for their citizens and see opportunities in new information and communication technology-based technologies. Public lighting and public lighting infrastructure can play a significant role as a stepping stone to achieve the ambitions of cities to become ‘smart cities’. New technologies, like LED lighting and data science, do not only contribute to energy saving, but at the same time provide opportunities for value adding services.

Opportunities

There are several case studies where light has for example prevented crime, increased number of people going out, leading to more customers for local businesses and so on. Now it is a good time for new startups who wants to improve their city by using old technology and inventing new,bin order tobfind smart ways of using light. Trends and opportunities in the smart lighting systems arise by products (smart bulbs, fixtures, control systems), by light source (light emitting diode, fluorescent lamps, highintensity discharge lamps, and others), by application (indoor lights and outdoor lights), by communication technology (wired and wireless) and by region. Opportunities of smart lighting are quality of lighting that addresses human health benefits, digital signage and agricultural lighting and can be summarized as:

  • Get started with the magic of smart lighting in just one room, or brighten up the entire house.
  • Make your house appear occupied while you are away. Choose a light for early mornings, another for late evenings and a third for cooking or working.
  • Raise or dim any light in the room or the entire house with a single touch, using just our voice or using remote control or App.
  • Having lighting responding automatically to how we live. It is not just smart, it is brilliant.
  • With smart lighting, we can change the atmosphere in our home with the touch of a button. Turn on/off, dim, adjust colour temperature and more from anywhere in the home – without rewiring.
  • Wireless lighting provides sophisticated style in sleek color configurations, guaranteed to complement the beauty of your home.
  • Customizable buttons allow you to control more than just lighting—including music, movies and more—with a simple press.
  • Motion sensors provide hands-free illumination and automatically turn off lights when no one is in the room. Button customization enables one-touch control of lighting of course, but also entertainment, security, climate and more.
  • Smart lighting knows no boundaries—from under roof to under the stars. Activate a lighting scene that lights up the deck and emphasizes water features in the backyard. Exterior lighting can turn on-and-off in unison with the sunrise and sunset. Set perimeter lights to flash if the alarm system is triggered, drawing attention to unusual activity.
  • Smart lighting solution, with its comprehensive capabilities, can detect dusk and dawn, conserve energy and provide huge value to the customers in terms of cost-cutting and operating efficiency.
  • Sophisticated solution continuously monitors the operation of luminaries (Indoor & outdoor) by a centralized monitoring system, which helps in reducing the energy consumption, maintenance and manpower cost and increasing efficiency.

Challenges

There are always challenges in creating and implementing smart solutions that are truly serving the needs of people and making the place attractive to live. Emerging challenges include connectivity, interoperability, data security, non-visual effects of lighting and spectral and light dosage for plant and poultry growth. Questions have arisen with respect to potential health implications of blue-rich, solid-state or compact fluorescent lighting. Short-wavelength visible light at very high intensities can be phototoxic to the retina, and the newly discovered retinal cells that influence circadian rhythm are strongly blue-sensitive. Night shift workers have a higher cancer risk, and some scientists have suggested a possible link to lighting at work that could indirectly impact cancer risk by disruption of human circadian (day-night) regulation. Changing fixture and control technologies — coupled with integration expectations and energy management demands — leaves many lighting designers hesitant to fully embrace lighting controls. Relying on manufacturers and engineers for all things “controls” related, the lighting designer can ignore a vital tool in the design and weaken their position with their clients when problems occur. Most of us take for granted that our city lights will illuminate the streets – but good-quality city lighting can also create a feeling of safety, allowing citizens to enjoy life and make the most of everything a city has to offer. Cities need to remain attractive and safe places for residents and visitors, to develop as centers of economic growth. But this must be balanced by the harsh reality of budget constraints and the requirement to lower our carbon footprint by using fewer resources.

Future

The future of the smart lighting market looks promising with opportunities in the residential and commercial sectors. The global smart lighting market is expected to reach an estimated USD 17.7 billion by 2022 and is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 23.9% from 2017 to 2022. The major drivers of growth for this market are development of smart cities, increasing usage of wireless technology, and increasing awareness of energy saving. Emerging trends, which have a direct impact on the dynamics of the smart lighting industry, include growing demand for Internet of Things (IoT) technology and emergence of light fidelity (Li-Fi) technology in the field of smart lighting market.


If you want to share thoughts or feedback then please leave a comment below.

Leave a Reply