The global revenue from LED lighting systems is expected to total $216 billion from 2015 to 2024, according to new figures from Navigant Research.
Navigant Research published its new LED Lighting: Global Outlook report this week, analyzing the global LED market and providing forecasts for unit sales and revenue through to 2024.
Specifically, Navigant Research predicts that global revenue from LED lamps and modules is expected to reach $216 billion between 2015 to 2024, thanks to LED prices steadily declining, so much so that LED lighting is now the most economical choice for almost every lighting situation, from general household lighting to street lighting.
“For commercial buildings, the shift to LEDs has been the most dramatic in retrofit projects where older bulbs are being replaced specifically to improve efficiency,” said Jesse Foote, senior research analyst with Navigant Research. “This change is happening at such a fast rate that LEDs are expected to knock inefficient technologies like incandescent and halogen bulbs out of the market by 2024.”
Navigant forecasts unit shipments of LED lamps and modules to experience strong growth through 2024, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 19%.
Furthermore, the authors of the report claim that LED lighting in residential spaces “is set to explode in coming years as prices come down, efficacy improves, and new use cases for lighting develop.”
These figures are often at the heart of decisions made by governments the world over to ban less-efficient types of lightbulbs, and move toward LED-based lighting systems. One need only look to India and its attempt to switch all its street lights to LED within the next two years to see how widespread and important LED lighting is becoming for countries looking to save on electricity usage.
India To Switch All Its Street Lights To LED In 2 Years
Did you take a note that the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2014 went to the inventors of the (blue) LED?
Recently India’s energy minister, Piyush Goyal, announced the country’s intention to replace all its conventional streetlights with LED ones, with the underlying logic being that conserving power is more economical than producing more.
Reportedly, India has 35 million street lights which generate a total demand of 3,400 MW. The National Programme for LED-based Home and Street Lighting was launched by Prime Minister Modi in January this year. At its inception, the plan was to cover 100 cities by March next year, and the remaining ones by March 2019, targeting 770 million bulbs and 35 million street lights. However, it seems street lights will be upgraded to LED ahead of schedule.
The task of operating and maintaining the street lights falls under the jurisdiction of Urban Local Bodies (ULB), or municipalities. As most of the ULBs were not in a position to bear the high initial capital cost by themselves, four central government power utilities joined hands to set up a company Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL).
On a side note, apart from efficient lighting, EESL will also operate as a full-fledged Energy Service Company (ESCO). The company has been making profits consistently since its formation, without any aid from the government.
Under the service model chosen, the ULBs do not have to make any upfront investments for installing the LED street lights, as EESL does it for them. The investment is also recovered from a portion of the savings accrued by the ULBs (on account of lower electricity bills) over a period of seven years, which means the ULBs start saving money right from the get-go.
Lighting demands 18% of the electricity consumed in India. This is against a global average of just 13%. A large-scale LED adoption will bring the figure for India down to the global average, significantly cutting down the need to build more energy plants. If one also accounts for installing LED bulbs in domestic and commercial sectors, the opportunity at hand is to save a mammoth 100 billion kWh per annum ($7 billion a year).
I know a lot of punters are over the BLG story because it doesn't happen fast enough. Yet I feel this is a company in the right sphere of technology at the right time and with a growing number of patents. It may not be a day traders stock, nor even a short term traders stock, but I am of the opinion there is a lot of potential for long term growth and as BLG have stated, they are already seeking commercialisation of some of their LED technology.
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