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Top 5 illuminating insights this week

Feb. 23, 2018

We’ve had our eye on a lot of SSL industry activity the past week and lots of interesting viewpoints are developing as a result.

Carrie Meadows

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We’ve had our eye on a lot of solid-state lighting (SSL) business, technology, and application activity the past week and lots of interesting viewpoints are developing as a result. Here are the top 5 interesting insights I gathered from recent content in the LED & Lighting Network – collected from Strategies Unlimited market research, LEDs Magazine, and Lux.

1. The horticultural lighting market is a bright spot.

In a blog combining their views on information presented at Strategies in Light with the data they’ve collected for horticultural market research, Strategies Unlimited research director Philip Smallwood and junior analyst Jared Saunders bat around their ideas about what is coming in horticultural lighting — and when. From interlighting to vertical farming and the outlook for cannabis growing to impact the market, the analysts show there is plenty to ponder and that there is every reason to conclude this niche will continue to move in a positive direction.

2. The SSL industry continues to shake up its business and leadership strategies.

The year 2018 has dawned with a considerable amount of executive activity in the SSL industry. In the February issue, chief editor Maury Wright commented that factors likely include the pursuit of new global business strategies that recognize the need for the lighting industry to evolve into a technology industry. Contributing editor Mark Halper has been quite busily running down story after story on new executive moves, like the latest CEO search from lighting company Fagerhult, as well as fast-paced changes in business focus coming out of GE’s corporate feeds. It’s not likely that the story ends here.

3. Public outdoor lighting must involve the community.

In a recent webcast, Smart Outdoor Lighting Alliance director Bob Parks made a compelling case for the need to see beyond the utilitarian delivery of light to the placement and purpose of such lighting — improving public safety for both drivers and pedestrians, while preserving neighborhood character and ambience, and minimizing visual discomfort and sky glow that impacts the environment. In a nutshell, how to ensure these objectives are met? Enlist professional lighting design assistance, and test and survey the options with the help of the community. After all, they are the ones who have to live with the lighting after you leave the project. Parks has much more eloquence on the subject, so check out the on-demand webcast here.

4. SSL as a service will eliminate the replacement-purchase model.

Lux technical editor Alan Tulla is encouraging the lighting industry to go bold and grab a slice of the whole connected lighting sales and service pie. No more watching profits go down over the decreasing cost of electronic components and enabling technologies, and the leaner manufacturing methods that factor into luminaires. Add value by offering lighting as a service, including leased lighting and data collection and management offerings. Read Alan’s full comments here. Check out his other writings for more SSL smarts.

5. The LED and lighting community strives for innovation beyond lumens.

While our upcoming March issue will have an in-depth feature for you on the recently announced Sapphire Awards winners, our latest video, I think, captures the spirit of excitement surrounding the possibilities of SSL that the recognized products and teams represent. Beyond the capability to illuminate a space, the winners in all categories illustrate the potential of enabling LED technologies, SSL products, and advanced controls to support the idea that lighting will become a delivery system for additional functionalities and services in the future. We will keep you posted on the call for entries going into the 2019 Sapphire Awards program.

About the Author

Carrie Meadows | Editor-in-Chief, LEDs Magazine

Carrie Meadows has more than 20 years of experience in the publishing and media industry. She worked with the PennWell Technology Group for more than 17 years, having been part of the editorial staff at Solid State Technology, Microlithography World, Lightwave, Portable Design, CleanRooms, Laser Focus World, and Vision Systems Design before the group was acquired by current parent company Endeavor Business Media.

Meadows has received finalist recognition for LEDs Magazine in the FOLIO Eddie Awards, and has volunteered as a judge on several B2B editorial awards committees. She received a BA in English literature from Saint Anselm College, and earned thesis honors in the college's Geisel Library. Without the patience to sit down and write a book of her own, she has gladly undertaken the role of editor for the writings of friends and family.

Meadows enjoys living in the beautiful but sometimes unpredictable four seasons of the New England region, volunteering with an animal shelter, reading (of course), and walking with friends and extended "dog family" in her spare time.