Smart Cities & homes will have connected lightings to reduce the energy that is required to run homes & cities. A recent report by Markets & Markets estimates the Smart lighting market to be worth $8.4BN by 2020. Markets & Markets further commented:
The smart lighting market is expected to grow to USD 8.14 Billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 22.07% between 2015 and 2020. Smart lighting is a system of luminaries and electronic control systems designed to accelerate energy savings and maintain an intelligent lighting ecosystem. Smart lighting is an advance technology that makes the use of intelligent lighting control systems to control light based on various parameters, namely, occupancy, movement, color temperature, and amount of natural light. The smart lighting broadly comprises two components, namely, luminaries and control & communication components. The system uses luminaries such as fluorescent bulbs, LED lamps, HID lamps, and others for illumination.
We looked at case studies from GE & Cisco on how some of these pioneering technologies are being implemented.
GE’s Smart Lighting Project in San Diego, California & Jacksonville, Florida
GE’s solutions for smart cities & homes include the following offerings include water, smart energy, greener spaces & heath. An example of their breadth of offerings across the city & home is in the lighting area. An excerpt from their Smart Lighting initiative:
San Diego, Calif. and Jacksonville, Fla., will both be trialing a new GE LED solution, which uses LED street lighting installations to connect, collect and analyze data being generated, harnessing the power of the Industrial Internet to help their city run better while providing new services and conveniences for residents and visitors. From high street lighting costs to traffic congestion, parking allotments and emergency response, cities across the world juggle a variety of challenges. GE is developing solutions that will help cities solve these problems through their existing infrastructure. By repurposing street lights with LEDs containing sensors, controls, wireless transmitters and microprocessors, a city will be able to create new opportunities for reducing cost, optimizing their operations and creating value-added services for residents, making their cities even more livable and workable.
Cisco’s Smart LED solutions in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Cisco is recognized as one of the leaders in connected homes & cities. The following case study in Amsterdam shows the potential for energy savings based on smarter lighting utilization.
Cisco’s engagement focused on the development of networked lighting and media content is in the Westergasfabriek zone of Amsterdam, in partnership with Philips, a real estate owner, and the city. This has resulted in a pilot that aims to provide an enhanced citizen experience by applying “design thinking” to enhance citizen experiences, and by developing the potential for on-demand, usage-based service provision; revenue-generation opportunities; and public-private partnership business models for networked civic services.
Philips estimates that a complete switch to LED technology alone can generate savings of approximately €130 billion (U.S. $170.5 billion) — an enormous sum equivalent to the elimination of 640 medium-sized power stations globally. Furthermore, an independent, global trial of LED technology in 12 of the world’s largest cities found that LEDs can generate energy savings of 50 to 70 percent — with savings reaching 80 percent when LED lighting is coupled with smart controls. The program also indicated that citizens of pilot cities prefer LED lighting, citing the social and environmental benefits, such as a greater sense of safety and improved visibility.
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