IoT- enabled solar and LED lighting systems to gain momentum

Talking about the evolution and increasing adoption of smart and energy-efficient lighting in India, Sharmila Kumbhat, Director of K-Lite Industries, explains that the emergence of high-power, long-life battery technology and solar lighting will grow in manifolds by the end of this decade.
Demand for smart lighting in the commercial and residential segment
Globally, lighting as an industry is growing at an alarming pace, with a projected value of around USD 2000 million. This decade is going to witness unprecedented changes in the field of lighting. The last decade’s thrust was energy-saving measures, which enabled LED lighting to replace all other conventional lighting. The application of solid-state devices as a lighting source has given way to new lighting control and automation concepts. Smart lighting is a lighting technology designed for energy efficiency. This may include high-efficiency fixtures and automated controls that adjust based on conditions such as occupancy or daylight availability through a lighting control system with an intelligent network of devices. These devices may include relays, occupancy sensors, photocells, light control switches, touchscreens, and signals from other smart systems. Challenges and opportunities for smart and energy-efficient lighting.
The last decade has proved, in no uncertain terms, that energy-efficient LED lighting has come to stay. Even if we wanted, we could no longer get the FTL or MV lamps on the market. Almost all manufacturers have switched to LED luminaires so that we can choose energy-efficient lighting easily. However, the concept of smart lighting is yet to
penetrate the mass. For the present, we expect the growth of this section to be limited to smart cities and informed higher-end customers.

Moving towards solar lighting for energy efficiency
Other than solar lanterns for use in remote areas and LED bulbs for residential solar installations in rural housing and, to a lesser extent, for rural street lighting, the growth and application of solar lighting are minimal. The major constraint is the capital investment and maintenance of batteries to store solar power. With the emergence of high-power long-life battery technology, solar lighting is expected to grow faster before the decade’s
end.
Factors influencing the adoption of solar lighting over LED Solar lighting includes an integral solar panel along with an LED luminaire. Typical examples are garden spike lights, solar lanterns, and a limited range of low-wattage
LED street lights. We want to compare the cost of LED lighting to solar lighting. In that case, it is only the comparison of energy cost for the respective LED light to be operated through the utility supply, viz., the additional cost for integrating the solar panel to the LED light and not using the utility supply. Since the buyer/consumer opts knowingly for the green lighting concepts, at least for his outdoor application, and as long as the area of application and the investment are minimal, such a cost comparison may only work out a little.