LED leading the way

LED lighting industry is in the evolution stage and is expected to reach its peak in around 10 years time
 Light emitting diodes, commonly called LEDs, are becoming more and more widespread in all formats ranging from small flashlights to laptops, cellular phones, and televisions. LED lighting industry has reached a point where it is replacing the conventional lightings such as incandescent and fluorescent bulbs. LED lights are considered to be energy efficient then the conventional lights in the market.
Current statusLED lighting industry in India is still at an emerging state. A lot of growth and advancements are expected in the LED lighting sector with a number of companies entering the LED segment. As of now consumers are getting attracted towards the LED concept because of its various advantages and low power consumption.
According to Sumit Joshi, Marketing Head, Philips Lighting, ‘’The LED industry in India is still at its preliminary stages, but is growing at a very fast pace. With advancements in technology and lighting going digital, consumers are seeing tremendous potential in the LED lighting segment. The fact that LEDs offer limitless opportunities with their compatibility with controls, and play of colours make them the one stop solution for all lighting requirements.”
LED Lighting products have already been acknowledged as the most ideal, economic and highly efficient sources of light providing maximum lumens of light per watt or per unit of power consumed. Ved Prakash Mahendru, Chairman and Managing Director, Eon Electric Ltd comments, “Some wizards even risk to say that LED Bulbs will soon be so efficient that a 1 watt LED Bulb may give more lumens than a 20 watt CFL and will sell at the same price as the 20 watt CFL, providing the same amount of lumens of light and yet save human beings from the hazards of mercury which is an integral part of CFLs.”
According to Nikhil Malhotra, Country Manager, GlacialTech, “Global LED lighting market is likely to grow at a CAGR of 35.6 per cent over the period 2016. Adoption of LEDs in India could significantly reduce lighting load, excessive demand and overall energy consumption. For a country like India the biggest benefit of LED lighting is energy saving. Currently, the Indian LED market is worth $ 143 million, which is expected to touch $ 1279 million by 2018.’’
Upcoming TrendsThough the LED industry is at its initial stages of growth but when it comes to the upcoming trends in LED lights it is transforming at a fast pace with new trends in technology. Soon LED lights could be adaptable in all sorts of needs. Increased awareness on green is also driving market towards energy efficient lighting solutions. Opportunity in energy efficient lighting is large as we see clear trend on investment in green buildings.
Commenting on the trends Arun Gupta, Global CEO, NTL Lemnis says, “LEDs with higher efficacy are commercially available to be used in different products. New and innovative heat sinks are getting designed by the manufacturer which can dissipate more heat from a compact surface area. Plastic housing in place of metals is increasingly being used by the manufacturers in retrofit lamps.”
He further adds, “Mood Lighting allows you to create multiple moods during set times of the day. Different colour schemes are required at different set of times during the day. LEDs can produce different colours which are very important for the hospitality sector where ambiance plays a critical role. Dimmable LED lights are great for mood lighting. One can alter the mood by increasing or decreasing the intensity of the light. There are options based on colour, mood, beauty, style, and a hundred other unheard-of-before options.”
Through connected LED Lighting, Philips foresee a future where lighting innovations connect seamlessly with smart controls, networks, devices and apps to positively benefit and improve lives and drive new business value. Philips is expanding its range of personal wireless lighting system for homes which is fully controllable from a smart phone or tablet.
“Philips launched the world’s first complete Power over Ethernet connected lighting system for offices that gives workers smart-phone control of their office lighting and building managers new insights into building usage,” Mr Joshi informed.
Factors for growthThe LED lighting industry is on the verge of growth with many electrical companies ranging from small scale to large scale introducing their range of LED lights. In the upcoming years the LED lighting division is set to bloom on a large share. Also the fact that consumers are becoming more aware about the advantages of LED lights a good rate of growth is expected.
Anil Bhasin, Sr. Vice President, Havells India Ltd says, “Continuous dip in prices of LED products and increasing income has made LED products more affordable due to higher volumes.”
Due to the controllability, damnability and a choice of colours, LEDs can be used in a diverse range of applications and are gaining popularity among designers to design products which were not possible earlier due to fixed shape and size of conventional lamps. Higher acceptability by the Govt. and energy efficiency is also among the major factor for the quick adoption of LED lighting. Moreover, LED products offer a very long lifespan of approximately 50,000 hours, 2-3 times more efficient than CFL’s and up to 10 times more efficient than incandescent lights.Mr Mahendru observes that, “LED Lighting is preferred because of safety compared to other fluorescent lights and CFLs. Most other sources of light have always contained some gas like sodium vapour or mercury vapour which are invariably harmful. They are harmful to the workers at the time of manufacturing of these respective lights and harmful to the people who use them as they often break during use at home or at workplace.”
Challenges facedAnything in this world cannot be simply good and great without any challenges whatsoever. The major challenge faced by LED lighting industry is the price difference; LED lights are beyond the budget of an average buyer. The current price of LED lights in India is on the higher side. Also there is no market standardisation of LED products.
Mr Malhotra observes, “The current scenario is not too good for buyers, as there is no unified standard for LED products. Buyers are therefore going for products which are cheaper without being fully aware of the demerits within them. Lack of awareness among Indian consumers is posing a major challenge. In the LED business, manufacturers are coming up with their own light sources within their own range, which mostly incompatible with the other manufacturer’s light sources.  So lighting market is facing the situation in which the light source itself is not standardised.”
Mr Mahendru says, “The first challenge is the high cost of LED lights compared to any other normal light source.  Building up massive production volumes for components of LEDs is reasonably sure way to reduce initial cost of LED lamps. Such voluminous customers do not exist today. It may take 10 years to build up adequate demand so that large volume LED lamps can be produced efficiently and cost effectively.”

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