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Four LED specialty lighting applications are forecast to reach $4.36 billion in 2016 and increase to $16.4 billion in 2020, according to new research from LEDinside, a division of TrendForce. These applications include horticultural lighting, surgical lighting, marine/harbor lighting and smart lighting.
The 2016 Global Lighting Market Report finds the global LED smart lighting market to have the greatest potential for growth, reaching $2.35 billion by the end of 2016. The market is expected to grow to $13.43 billion in 2020.
“Generally, LED luminaires are now in a period of depressed prices,” said Joanne Wu, assistant research manager of LEDinside, in a statement. “Smart lighting, while is at infancy in terms of development and does not have the scale to exert significant influence, offers a lot of opportunities. The costs of related hardware and software projects are still high. However, the maturation of technologies and product designs, as well as marketing efforts from vendors, will encourage widespread consumer adoption. This application market therefore is expected to see surging growth in the future.”
The LED horticultural lighting market also is expected to grow significantly, reaching $576 million in 2016 and growing to $1.42 billion in 2020.
“Changes in global climate encourages agricultural and livestock businesses to adopt technological innovations,” stated Wu. “Hence, LED horticultural lighting has a booming future due to the rising demand generated by advances in the cultivation of high-quality agricultural produce, livestock farming and fresh food storage. In the U.S., LED horticultural lighting particularly benefits from the expanding legal trades of medicinal and recreational marijuana in some states.”
Leading LED manufacturers are already ramping up new designs. One example is Cree’s newly expanded LED portfolio for horticulture lighting with the launch of the XLamp XQ-E Photo Red LED. The new LED is “capable of providing very high levels of growth-promoting light wavelengths from a footprint that is less than one-third the size of its closest competitor with similar output,” according to Cree.
Benefits include a reduction in the size of luminaires and lower system cost. In addition, the new line leverages the XLamp XQ-E family’s proven optical symmetry and consistency across all colors to improve color uniformity and simplify the production process for lighting manufacturers, according to Cree.
“Cree’s color LEDs, including royal blue, green, red, photo red and far red LEDs, deliver high PPF in the wavelengths best-suited for the different stages of plant growth,” said the company.
LEDs also are finding more homes in surgical lighting applications as performance continues to improve in the areas of luminous efficacy and color rendering. The global LED surgical lighting market is forecast to grow from $612 million in 2016 to $787 million in 2020. The biggest regional markets cited for LED surgical lighting include Japan, Europe and North America.
The global LED marine/harbor lighting market will reach $820 million in 2016, according to LEDinside. Due to stricter regulatory standards, the average sale price for marine/harbor lighting is typically higher than general lighting products.
Together, these four specialty lighting markets are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30 percent over the forecast period of 2016 to 2020.
Thanks for sharing this. I would like to add few to your list.
1. Ecologically Friendly – LED Lighting Is Much More Eco-Friendly
LED lights are free of toxic chemicals. Most conventional fluorescent lighting bulbs contain a multitude of materials like e.g mercury that are dangerous for the environment.
LED lights contain no toxic materials and are 100% recyclable, and will help you to reduce your carbon footprint by up to a third. The long operational life time span mentioned above means also that one LED light bulb can save material and production of 25 incandescent light bulbs. A big step towards a greener future!
2. Durable Quality – LED Illumination Can Withstand Rough Conditions
LEDs are extremely durable and built with sturdy components that are highly rugged and can withstand even the roughest conditions.
Because LED lights are resistant to shock, vibrations and external impacts, they make great outdoor lighting systems for rough conditions and exposure to weather, wind, rain or even external vandalism, traffic related public exposure and construction or manufacturing sites.
3. Zero UV Emissions – LED Lighting Features Close to No UV Emissions
LED illumination produces little infrared light and close to no UV emissions.
Because of this, LED lighting is highly suitable not only for goods and materials that are sensitive to heat due to the benefit of little radiated heat emission, but also for illumination of UV sensitive objects or materials such a in museums, art galleries, archeological sites etc.
4. Operational in Extremely Cold or Hot Temperatures
LED are ideal for operation under cold and low outdoor temperature settings. For fluorescent lamps, low temperatures may affect operation and present a challenge, but LED illumination operates well also in cold settings, such as for outdoor winter settings, freezer rooms etc.
5. Low-Voltage – LED Lighting Can Run on Low-Voltage Power Supply
A low-voltage power supply is sufficient for LED illumination. This makes it easy to use LED lighting also in outdoor settings, by connecting an external solar-energy source and is a big advantage when it comes to using LED technology in remote or rural areas.