Page 33 - Council Journal Winter 2019

FEATURE LED Light Tech Lighttech Lead Way As LED
Market Continues To Grow
The established advantages provided by LED lights over fluorescent and incandescent lamps is the major factor
advancements in LED technology as it is a rapidly changing product and market. We work very closely with manufactures to keep fully informed of the new advancements and in turn we can advise and inform our Customers.
billion by 2024. With the lighting industry transformation towards LED sources and solid-state lighting, Europe represents one of the most innovative lighting markets across the globe. A key factor driving the demand of LED products in Europe has been the European Union's (EU) policy measures banning the sale of inefficient lighting technologies. In 2009, Europe phased out incandescent lamps in the region. In 2016, directional halogen lamps were also phased out.
boosting the growth of the LED lighting market. Higher brightness, energy efficiency, and longer life span of LED lights are just some of the major factors that offer tremendous opportunities for the LED lighting market in years to come.
Residential applications for LED lighting comprise lighting for bathrooms, dining rooms, kitchens, and hallways. Elevating employment of LED lighting for outdoor application such as parking lots, traffic lights, garages, roadways, and tunnels is likely to offer significant development opportunities to LED lightening market in years to come. The architectural application comprises both decorative as well as functional lighting. Decorative LEDs are employed to light up fountains, pools, statues, and gardens and thereby boosting the LED lighting market. The functional application comprises building and landscaping facades.
The European LED lighting market reached a value of of over €15 billion in 2018. Looking forward, the market is forecast to reach a value of €30
Similarly, in September 2018, the EU also banned the sale of non- directional halogen lamps. These policy measures have facilitated consumers to gradually replace their traditional lighting products with LED technology-based products. Moreover, to generate cost-savings for consumers, switching to energy efficient LED lights have provided significant environmental benefits. The high energy costs in the region are forcing households, public investors and governments to consider energy saving lighting solutions.
The main early challenges in this business have been to reaffirm to the Customer the benefits to both the environment and the financial savings to be made after the initial investment by the purchaser.
Usage of LED
To overcome these challenges we, at Lighttech Ltd, set out to educate our Customers regarding LED. We carry out surveys for businesses and compare the cost of running their conventional fittings to running LED instead. Whilst there is obviously an initial cost in converting over the pay back for this is usually achieved within 24 months and the savings continue with the low LED wattages used as opposed to the convential. LED can last between 30,000 to 50,000 hours and new developments see some high end fittings lasting up to 100,000 hours.
The governments across the region are also providing subsidies and incentives to increase the adoption of LED products among consumers and phasing out older and less efficient technologies to enhance the overall efficiency of the lighting industry in Europe.
It is important to keep informed and up to date with the latest
Council Journal 33
The EU LED Market
Other key factors driving the demand of LED products in Europe include infrastructure growth, upcoming smart building projects and decline in the average prices of LEDs.
Mr Crowley is the Managing Director of L.E.D. Lightechltd and Fountains & Decor Ltd.