I recently had the opportunity to interview Teresa Bair, Product General Manager, Outdoor, Current powered by GE, on the topic of trends in outdoor area lighting.
DiLouie: Aside from energy savings and long service life, in what ways has LED technology changed outdoor area lighting? What % of new luminaire sales are LED-based in today’s outdoor area lighting market?
Bair: LED lighting has improved uniformity in outdoor lighting design, which has given customers an option to reduce minimum footcandle levels. LED lighting has superior light control over traditional lighting sources and allows for better control of light trespass in neighboring residential areas. More than 95% of today’s outdoor area lighting sales are LED, with new construction and remodel luminaire sales almost exclusively LED.
DiLouie: What are the top trends shaping how outdoor lighting is used, and what effect is this having on demand for specific types of lighting equipment? What are the most popular markets and applications today?
Bair: Sensors and control technologies along with instant start LED fixtures is driving controllability, scheduling and more advanced predictive analytics for maintenance and asset management. Area and site remains a major market opportunity and pulls sales for other applications such as flood and façade lighting.
DiLouie: What are the top trends in outdoor area luminaire optics, drivers, and LED sources, and what effect is this having on product capabilities and designs?
Bair: Higher temperature material for optics and drivers including silicon carbide drivers for thermal management and warmer climates with higher ambient conditions. LED sources starting to slow regarding significant year over year efficacy improvements. More standardization regarding LED package size.
DiLouie: What are the top trends in outdoor area luminaire aesthetics?
Bair: When LEDs first became relevant as a light source for general lighting, the performance gain was so significant that the design of the fixture appeared almost secondary and the size of the LED source was influencing available design options. Whereas now that LED technology is reaching maturity, end users want a sleeker, lighter, and smaller form factor. Customers now expect the performance of the LED along with a focus on fixture aesthetic. The technology has advanced enough to allow reduced material mass for thermal management also benefiting ease of installation.
DiLouie: What are the top trends in how outdoor area luminaires are controlled, and what new capabilities is this offering?
Bair: Historically the luminaries were controlled with a Photocell. With new lighting controls several additional functionalities are offered including:
– Remote monitoring and Control (on/off/dimming)
– Individual or Group based control
– Astro Clock or Time based scheduling
– Metering to measure the energy consumption by each fixture
– Fault alerts/email to customers in case of a defective light such as a day burner or dark night with location of fault
– Occupancy sensing to switch off or dim the fixture or a zone based on occupancy
– Asset Management to keep a record of the installed assets by location
DiLouie: What do you see as emerging trends, such as IoT, WiFi and LiFi?
Bair:
• Cities and Utilities wanting to utilize their lighting infrastructure to enable their digital transformation because streetlight poles have power and have the right height to capture data
• Then using that digital infrastructure to capture data which can be made available to solve city challenges
• Key challenges the cities are facing: Making the city safer for citizens and visitors, Improving traffic congestion and parking optimization
DiLouie: Several years ago, the AMA issued guidelines for outdoor area luminaires, notably in regards to dimming and optimal CCT range. How influential have these guidelines been on the market?
Bair: LED technology has advanced, increasing efficacy in lower color temperatures, and customers are now attempting to ‘match’ LED color temperatures closer to HPS sources for blending in spot replacements. These industry trends are complementary of the AMA guidelines for outdoor lighting.
DiLouie: How significant is the retrofit opportunity for existing outdoor area lighting systems, including replacement and redesign involving new luminaires?
Bair: The retrofit opportunity remains significant for outdoor lighting with approximately 75% of all outdoor lighting still utilizing traditional light sources. Spot replacement and maintenance is a growing market with warmer color temperatures being offered at similar efficacy as cooler temperatures. New construction and remodels are converting nearly exclusively to LED, albeit removing poles for retrofits is less common.
DiLouie: What are the main attributes of an outdoor area lighting solution that electrical distributors would be looking for? How do they confidently select a quality product?
Bair: The main attributes of an outdoor lighting solution remain consistent with traditional luminaires. Materials that will withstand the harsh outdoor environment such as aluminum with low copper content, glass for less lumen depreciation over the life of the fixture, surge protection that is system level meeting ANSI standards and products that have reputable certification and testing including UL and in a NVLAP certified laboratory, manufactured in an ISO certified manufacturing facility. Selecting a reputable manufacture that has technical expertise in thermal management, optical engineering, firmware, material science, and power electronics.
DiLouie: What can distributors do to ensure they are most competitive in the outdoor area lighting market?
Bair: Partnering with manufacturers that have significant experience and a reputation for quality prior to investing in inventory. The cost of poor quality is significant with regard to customer trust, labor and installation costs. To remain competitive and relevant for the long-term is going beyond selecting a product just based on efficacy or lowest price.
DiLouie: If you could tell the entire electrical industry just one thing about LED lighting for outdoor area applications, what would it be?
Bair: The technical nature of the product that we manufacture, sell, and install is significant. Lighting fixtures are not commodity products and require engineering for the management of thermal, mechanical, electrical and material expertise. The amount of engineering and testing is significant and customer’s have intricate specifications regarding their performance expectations and longevity of usefulness.
