5 industrial LED lighting trends to watch in 2019

By Luis Ramirez, COO, Dialight, www.dialight.com

The mainstream market penetration of industrial LED lighting is a result of some of the biggest innovations in lighting technology in the last 100+ years. In fact, compared to conventional fixtures like high-pressure sodium (HPS), the introduction of LED technology has been essentially the ONLY innovation because only LEDs truly have the potential to evolve. The reality is that HID lighting has very little, if any, innovation potential because its core technology has reached maximum capacity.

The future of industrial lighting belongs to LED. With continuous advances in light output, energy efficiency, optics, color options, and hazardous location safety and certification, LED technology is lighting the way toward a more efficient, sustainable, and intelligent future. Here are just a few examples of the kinds of industrial LED lighting innovations that we can expect to see this year alone:

1) Further advances in energy efficiency. The most advanced industrial LED fixtures are already at least 70% more efficient than comparable HPS and other HID systems and offer a much higher light efficacy, up to 160 lumens per watt. But advances in LED design, power supplies, heat management, and other components are driving that efficiency much higher. Models like the Dialight Vigilant High Bay fixture already offer 72,000 lumens, the equivalent to a 1,000-W HID, with just under 500 watts, easily cutting energy consumption by more than half. And that’s just the beginning. Unlike legacy technology that has mostly stagnated, the efficiency and output of LED technology is expected to improve by 3% to 5% every year. That means that industrial LEDs will continue to help lower energy usage and costs for companies for many years to come, while HPS and other HID fixtures become more expensive to maintain with age. This may not sound like the most exciting new development, but when you consider the advances being made every day in electronics, the possibilities are virtually endless for LEDs, and that’s exciting.

2) A more sustainable fixture — and future. As industrial LED fixtures become more efficient, this could have a dramatic impact on reducing carbon emissions and overall pollution. Right now, there are more than 144 million industrial lighting fixtures in place at some 455,000 industrial facilities in the U.S. alone.¹ If all of those were high-efficiency LEDs, it would cut carbon emissions by 28 million metric tons — the equivalent of taking 6 million passenger cars off the road every year. That’s in addition to removing 67,000 tons of dangerous nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide from the atmosphere,² potentially reducing acid rain, smog, and human respiratory ailments. As LED fixtures become more efficient, the amount of those pollutants will continue to decline, contributing to more sustainable operations and a more livable planet for us all.

3) Smart sensors will become mainstream. Because of their instant-on capability, LED fixtures are ideal for incorporating smart sensors that can help reduce energy use by an additional 50%.³ By adding occupancy controls, which turn the lights on only when there’s movement in the area, or daylight harvesting controls, which automatically adjust light output to compensate for natural light, industrial LED fixtures can substantially reduce the typical burn time and the need to keep lights on 24/7, as is common with most traditional fixtures to avoid the lengthy warmup time. Because of this enhanced efficiency and cost savings, we can expect to see more companies install smart controls this year to maximize their ROI on industrial LED technology.

4) IIoT integration will expand. Lighting is often perceived as a “dumb” technology. In most applications, it’s binary — on or off. But with the wireless capabilities now found in most industrial LED lighting systems, smart lighting has the potential to become a powerful link in an IIoT strategy. By integrating Wi-Fi boosters, sensors that can detect airborne pollutants, or RFID tags or volumetric sensors that can measure storage capacity and product volume, LED lighting can become an integral part of an IIoT solution that enhances overall productivity and visibility.

5) More bang for your buck. LED lighting costs have declined 80% in the past five years,⁴ and taking a page from the Moore’s Law handbook, we can expect this pace to accelerate. Fixtures will not only become more efficient and cost less to produce, but with fewer than 10% of the U.S. industrial base converted, we will likely see a sharp increase in demand as more companies recognize the energy and maintenance cost savings and environmental benefits that industrial LED lighting provides. More demand will drive faster time to market for new innovations, greater efficiency in production, and competitive pricing. All of this adds up to making industrial LEDs not only the smarter but also more affordable choice for modern applications.

While it’s unlikely that we’ll ever see industrial LED lighting featured on the floor of CES, the fact is that innovations are happening every day that will move the technology forward and make it increasingly attractive for companies. Designers and buyers must remain vigilant in evaluating new solutions to ensure that, as the pace of innovation accelerates, product quality remains a priority. Industrial LED lighting has built a reputation for long-life performance and dependability over incumbent technologies. But that reputation is only as good as the design. When evaluating solutions, make sure the products that you choose are designed and built to the highest standards for industrial performance and future-ready, with a warranty that ensures peace of mind for your investment.

Notes:
¹ U.S. Dept. of Energy, “Lighting Market Characterization”; ECG analysis
² U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Regulatory Impact Analysis for the Final Mercury and Air Toxics Standards”; U.S. Dept. of Energy, “Lighting Market Characterization”; https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/greenhouse-gas-emissions-typical-passenger-vehicle-0; ECG analysis
³ ECG analysis
⁴ U.S. Dept. of Energy, “Adoption of Light-Emitting Diodes in Common Lighting Applications” (2017) p. 49