An overview of the Smart Lighting Industry

Owing to the Indian government’s initiatives like ‘Smart City Mission’, ‘Digital India’ programs, growing awareness, global exposure and availability of smart devices at pocket-friendly prices are constantly fuelling the Smart Lighting Industry

Primarily to conserve energy, Smart Lights are briskly replacing conventional lights like incandescent bulbs, CFLs, halogens etc with energy-efficient LED lights and sensors. India is one of the highly populated countries in the world and hence one of the largest electricity consumers. In the last few decades, the country has been observing an increasing gap in the demand-supply chain of electricity. As a result, regular power cuts/ shortages and blackouts are often witnessed all over the country. Eyeing the current lighting sector, which is approximately 18% of the entire nation’s electricity consumption, the government has taken purposeful initiatives to introduce more energyefficient products to the lighting industry. This has considerably aided the lighting industry and is expected to fuel it in the near future. Smart lights not only reduce energy consumption but also offer convenience and a feel of opulence.

Industry Outline

Smart bulbs use LED technology and can be remotely controlled via smartphones to switch off/on or change colours as per the user’s mood. Also, they come with motion sensors powered with artificial intelligence(AI) that makes sure your room lights are not unnecessarily on when no one is inside. “The smart lighting concept started from Residential segment but today the hospitality segment has started seeing huge advantage in terms of power-saving & ambience with regards to smart lighting”,

says Arjun Shahani, Founder & COO, Svarochi.

Images: Svarochi

Gurumukh Uttamchandani, Executive Director, Syska

“Smart LED lights help in creating an ideal type of illumination for any event or occasion. The wide diversity of colours and applications of smart LED lights can further convert a home into a party place. It can also build an ambience that enhances productivity while working from home or creates sophisticated lighting for commercial requirements as well as offer beautiful lighting design in hospitality that can create an unforgettable experience for every guest”, says Gurumukh Uttamchandani, Executive Director, Syska.

“Smart & connected lighting has touched almost all aspects of human life. Be it for personal usage in the residential sector or for commercial usage in offices, hospitals, manufacturing plants, warehouses, hospitality sector and smart outdoors; all sectors have been adopting smart lighting technologies for improved quality of life and higher energy savings. Each of these verticals have their specific use cases of smart lighting relevant for their industry. However, there is one aspect of lighting which is common across all segments – the “human centric lighting” or the “Biodynamic lighting” which is directly related to human well-being. There is an enhanced focus on human centric lighting intended to Images: Syska

promote a person’s well-being, mood and health. It can improve concentration, safety and efficiency in workplaces or educational environments. By changing color of light and/ or intensity of light, Wipro’s inSync™ range of lighting products provide bio-dynamic light based on human circadian rhythm for increased employee concentration, cognitive performance, alertness and contribute to general well-being”, says Ramakrishna

Puranam, Workplace IoT Technology Expert, Wipro Lighting.

Images: Wipro

Today, in India, due to the increasing use of smartphones among all age/economic groups and the availability of pocket-friendly internet/broadband connections, even a layman is capable of setting up a smart light at home. “The Smart LED lighting segment has been gaining momentum among consumers and the adoption of smart lighting products is consistently growing in India. Owing to the accessibility of affordable data connectivity packs, there is an increased interest in the purchase of smart lighting products not only from metro cities but also from tier 2 & 3 towns. Consumers are looking for innovative products that are innovative, technology-led that add value and aesthetics to their home décor. Voice command and contactless technology are some of the most revolutionizing discoveries in the domain of AI/IoT which are also pushing the demand for smart products as they can be operated seamlessly from any place with internet access”, adds Gurumukh. Smart lights are available in a wide price range and hence act as a budget-friendly device to start designing a smart home with. “Today home users are looking at Simplicity, Flexibility & Ease of operation. The use cases are growing every day as home users need his house not only to look better with the right kind of lighting but also functionality with respect to lights, says Arjun.

The Inception

Concerns for the well-being of “Mother Earth’’ is one of the main reasons the smart lighting industry came into existence and is still thriving. Today, energy conservation is the motto of the world.

“The volatile scenario caused due to global warming as well as the added fear triggered by the pandemic has caused an alarming need to conserve natural resources and shift to sustainable products and solutions. The Indian LED lighting business is on an accelerated growth path, slowly replacing inefficient incandescent, halogen, fluorescent lights with modernized LED lights that contribute to energy conservation and can be controlled through automated technology. Environmentalfriendly features and energy-saving abilities are some of the fundamental aspects leading to the growth of the smart lighting industry. Today’s digitally-savvy consumers are warming up to the idea of smart home automation, owing to the multiple benefits and the aesthetic value it offers. A couple of years back, home automation systems were considered to be luxury products to be bought only by the affluent class. However, with the passage of time, they have become available to the wider audience base”, says Gurumukh. Besides, the constantlychanging work culture and lifestyles of the new-age urban mass have given birth to certain requirements in daily lives. Among them, convenience and the ability to control home devices have become a necessity. “Technological advancements have given birth to numerous fascinating innovations that define the words “convenience”

Bijoy Alaylo, Vice President, Channel Sales, TP-Link, India.

and “customizability”. From the past few years India has been going into a Digital Revolution. Smart Lights have gained popularity for the past couple of years in India”, says Bijoy Alaylo, Vice President,

Channel Sales, TP-Link, India.

However, at the initial stage, the industry faced a setback due to the lack of standardization. But now several companies are working towards creating a common platform on which smart lighting systems of diverse brands and categories can be controlled. An initiative, IFTTT, is taken to standardize the IoT platform. Though there is a limited number of brands supporting the initiative, its capability of building a common hub for controlling multiple smart devices through a smartphone is likely to flourish the industry by creating opportunities for new entrants in the industry.

Global market scenario

Valued at USD 12.72 billion in 2020, the global smart lighting industry is anticipated to reach USD 37.41 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of approximately 20.26% over the forecast period of 2021-2026. North America is considered to be one of the most conceivable markets in the lighting industry for smart lighting solutions in the world. The outbreak of COVID-19 has turned the global work culture upside down. Today, numerous companies all over the world have adopted the concept of Working-From-Home(WFH), which is beneficial for the companies, as they can cut down costs on logistics and for employees as well, as that helps them save a lot of money by eliminating the daily travelling expense. As a result of that, people are spending more time indoors which is eventually creating a necessity for convenience, energy efficiency and finesse. This is when the demand graph started rising like never before.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has made us realize the importance of safe and germfree workspaces and the environment. This has increased the popularity of germicidal lights or UV lights in a lot of commercial spaces, be it hospitals, modern workspaces, or educational institutions. UV lights are highly effective in disinfecting and sterilizing the workspaces quickly. They can damage the RNA and DNA of viruses, bacteria and other microbes to curb virus transmission. There’s likely to be a lot more play of software, smart apps and mobile first approach with all connected devices, for example, lights, sensors etc., All the devices will be software defined”, says Ramakrishna. Currently, energy-efficient LED technology is witnessing maximum demand globally. “The booming interest for energy-efficient lighting, the increasing amount of smart city initiatives, and overall infrastructure advancement are accelerating the LED lighting business globally. Globally, the use of a Li-fi (Light Fidelity) network is the latest trend in the lighting market. Li-Fi is a wireless optical networking technology that uses light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for data transmission. 5G is yet another technology that will play a role in the growth of the smart lighting segment. The next-generation cellular 5G technology will provide further fillip to the IoT business and amplify the demand for smart lighting solutions. Several technology-led wireless and voice-controlled tools have been introduced such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Alexa, Google, etc which have paved the way for the smart lighting segment in India. These advanced technologies have simulated the surge in the demand for the smart LED sector in India”, says Gurumukh.

Images: Svarochi

Recently, the Asia-Pacific region witnessed substantial growth in the smart lighting industry. Increasing financial support by the government, scaled installation of smart lighting framework in both private and commercial sectors are immensely backing the smart light industry in the particular region. In India, Smart lights are getting accepted slowly and steadily in residential, commercial and also hospitality sectors. “However, commercial will have more demand for smart lights due to the ease of use and continuous requirement of innovation in the workspace”, says Bijoy. According to GSMA, China might possess approximately 4.1 billion IoT connections, which is estimated to be almost one-third of the global IoT connections by 2025. In India, the initiated “Smart City Mission” for 100 cities is predicted to drive the smart light industry to a considerable extent. On the other hand, in July 2020, UK’s lighting industry trade body issued a clarion call for smart lighting to be considered as a part of a EUR 750 billion European Union pandemic recovery proposal that comprises renovating buildings across Europe. “Global markets in Europe & USA have taken the lead with respect to Smart lighting. India is still at a nascent stage but growing rapidly”, says Arjun. “The Indian market is yet to evolve in terms of smart products. Hence, the current demand can be taken as a minuscule one as compared to the actual demand which will come in the years ahead. Currently, the global market is more mature in terms of understandability. But the Indian market has great potential for future endeavours”, agrees Bijoy.

Years Ahead

“The forecasted growth is seen at around 25% YOY, which is a huge leap and within a decade we may see a lot of new advancements and it will be an everyday thing with many pocket-friendly options available. This has to be one of the top growing industries within a decade”, says Bijoy. “A decade later, most lighting will be smart, replacing the conventional lighting. It will be akin to LED lights outdoing CFL lights”, says Arjun. “With respect to beyond lighting solutions, Li-Fi will be the next happening thing in future workplaces. Li-Fi, being a highspeed bidirectional fully networked, wireless communication using visible light rather than radio frequencies, can offer significantly greater security, data speed and densities to support more robust and reliable wireless networks that complement and enhance existing cellular and Wi-Fi networks. Li-fi is likely to open up avenues for the Service Business model viz., LaaS: Lighting as a Service which bundles Lighting & Bandwidth. Wipro Lighting, has partnered with pure Li-Fi - global leaders in Li-Fi technology and commercialization, to harness their LiFi technology to develop applications for the wireless communications and lighting market in Asia”, says Ramakrishnan. “Current market for smart lights is very buoyant, despite the pandemic. With remote Work & Hybrid Work becoming the order of the day, we have exciting times ahead of us. We are likely to witness a spurt not just in the metro cities but also in smaller towns”, he concludes.

Images: Syska