Top 5 Trends of Retail Lighting

5 reasons why Retail Lighting is becoming trendy 

Energy efficient LED Retrofits 

Retail was amongst the first industries to embrace LED Lighting, due to the great amount of energy saved compared to energy consuming halogens. Big influential retails are announcing their investment to new LED products almost daily, companies such as : Sainsbury's, Tesco, Next and Walmart are all choosing LED as their pereferd Lighting technology. Although, generally speaking the amount that has switched to LEDs are a minority and are mainly companies who have good resources and economical strength. This however has not deterred the growth of LEDs as its becoming more affordable, it will  only be a matter of time when LEDs are everywhere. 

Bringing Light to your Brand 

With the surge of online shopping, high-street shops are required to create an environment which not only enhances their brand but is also consumer friendly. This has made lighting more important and specific in distinguishing  yourself amongst competitors. This trend is increasingly becoming essential to the overall brand image of a retailer.

Colourful Technology 

Colour has always been important in retail shopping, it express the personality of the shop. Halogens have always set the benchmark for the quality of light. Furthermore some believe LEDs compromise this and the light the given by LEDs are too bright and halogens have always set the benchmark for the quality of light . This can be true if you go with a cheap low quality LED Light getting manufactured somewhere in China but overall with the LED technology available now, those people are currently chocking on their words. LEDs have not only become more  energy efficient they are also out performing halogen in terms of the quality of light. For instances the new Philips GU10 has a CRI rating of 90 which basically means it outputs an extremely crisp HD light.

Quality Driven 

Their has been many examples of cheap LEDs being bought by retail shops and subsequently causing them many problems. instead of thinking about the quality of the lightbulb they consider saving money purchase a second hand cheap LED and end up with their shop looking dim and their clothes looking like something from the dressing room of a horror film. However those days are coming to an end as that small proportion of the LED market is being tamed. 

Lights have new purpose 

How would feel if light has the ability to guide you around the shop and send you offers while your looking at an item of interest?. Well now it has been made possible,  all thanks to the highly adavanced super accurate positioning systems powered by LED Lights. This systems influences light in way which is not visible to the human eye but can be picked up the camera on your phone!. The light carries specific coding which the phone uses to locate its exact position. Lighting company EldoLED have created an award winning positioning system and have already installed it in several US retail shops. Philips are currently investigating their own Positioning system in a Netherlands museum.

All in all their is some way to go until LEDs truly take over the retail lighting industry. However recent development of innovating LED technology might give brick-and-mortar retailers have hope in a digital dominated industry. 

LEDs are ready to light up the world of Sport.

There was a time when one static camera and a floodlight tower in four corners of the stadium represented the modern day broadcasting of sporting events. Times have drastically changed, to the point were high definition slow motion replays have now increased the video speed by an original 70 frames per second to a whopping 300 frames per second, reducing the chances of any flickering in  the video. Having said all of that, the demand for a flicker free lighting is continuing to gain momentum and was actually included in the lighting design specification for the London olympics in 2012. Stadiums are capable of meeting this broadcasting demand by installing the traditional metal halide floodlights with an electronic control gear or alternatively LEDs

In August 2014, a preseason football game between the premiere league champions Chelsea and Spanish side Real Sociedad was completely light by LED's.  This was the first time in which LED lighting was used in English football. The LEDs used in stamford bridge (the home to Chelsea FC) was supplied by LED giant Philips. The momentum however did not stop there as southampton was the next english football team which installed these energy saving LED lights at their St Mary's stadium. This was supplied by Vision Accendo,   a local lighting company

Musco, a 40 year old US based lighting specialist company are single handedly responsible for the LED lighting of 60 sporting facilities last year. This is still suprisingly a small figure in comparison to the 2.000  lighting projects which Musco are aiming to conclude by the end of the year, using LEDs and other lighting technologies. These projects include Twickenham Rugby stadium, the train centre for the Denver Broncos and the NRG Stadium home to Houston Texans (American Football team).

Floodlighting seems to be the piece in the jigsaw that Philips are aiming to fill up with LEDs, according to Mike Simpson the technical and design director of Philips " Floodlights are one the last places LEDs are taking over". Proir to the world cup in brazil dutch technology company ArenaVision installed metal halide system aiming to optimise HDTV, Super Slow Motion and 3Ds. However it now looks as though this technology is wearing off the vice president of lighting giant Musco highlihted  " Metal halide has reached its zenith, while the energy efficiency and quality of LED lighting is still rising".

This was further brought to attention by this year's Super Bowl being taken place under LED lights. This event is American Football's answer to the World cup final and is one the most watched sporting events in the world.  

Overall its hard to disagree, LEDs are not just a force to be reckoned with anymore they are the go to technology in lighting and who knows maybe the next time you go watch your favourite sporting team you will be light up by LEDs

This blog post was adapted from:
ISSUU-Lux special- Hospitality by Revo media 

LED solutions, a smart investment

Studies have suggested that energy management strategies are vital to the overall financial condition of an organisations. Deloitte combined with market research and strategy firm harrison to create the detailed fifth annual nationwide recourses study. This study discussed the connection between efficient energy management and profit generation in more detail   

Some companies have been shrewd in installing energy management strategies which aim to decrease the amount of energy accumulated. Evidence suggests that this strategic approach to energy reduction contributes to many financial advantages both for owners and investors. There has been a number of financial and energy analysts, companies and private investors who believe in this theory and have accepted the fact that good sufficient energy management has a direct influence to the profit in which an organisations generates.

Statistically speaking in the US 79% of companies in 2015 have suggested that the reduction of electricity cost is essential in reducing expenses and staying financially competitive. Interestingly, recent research from three economist, tow from hazard and one in the London school of economics attempted to find out the truth behind this relationship of profit and sustainable energy management. The researchers asked 90 companies all operating in the same sector and of the same size and capital power. 50% of the companies instilled a sustainable energy strategy with a look at long term investment and 50% didn't. The results showed that those who did would see their $1 (£0.63) invested turn into $22.60 (£14.33) in a 16 year span in comparison to $15.40 (£9.76) for companies who failed to do so.

Specifically speaking the the telegraph posted an article written by Richard Evans (11 Apr 2014) suggesting that LED light bulbs can save a costumer £240 a year. It also has the capability of paying for itself after just 5 months. 

LED bulbs are 10 times more efficient than your standard filament bulb and has the ability to change light into electricity more efficiently. This is showcased by the difference in the amount of wattage needed to operate the lightbulb. For an example a master LED spot MV value bulb only uses 4.3W and is equivalent to 50W.

LED lighting solutions and energy management control systems are new technologies that can be easily installed and can dramatically reduce your expenses. This will have an influence in your financial capability and ultimately increase your profit. 

Making LEDs a smart investment 

This blog post was adapted from:
Deloitte reSources 2015 study; Energy management passes the point of no return
the telegraph 11 Apr 2014; Richard Evans.

Scientists have found a way to make LEDs even more energy efficient!

We all know that LEDs can do wonders for our energy bills and help us reduce our carbon footprint but some people are reluctant to pay out the initial cost for the long term investment that LEDs are. Hopefully this is all about to change. 

Scientists at Rutgers University in New Jersey, USA are leading research to find a more sustainable and cheaper white LED. Although LEDs are everywhere now, more widespread use of the technology is limited due to the cost of the raw materials used to manufacture them and issues with light output. 
Researchers at Rutgers University have hoping to overcome these obstacles. Currently, the soft white colour that can be achieved in an LED is a blue coloured LED chip with a phosphor coating, this is how warmer colours of LEDs are created. This coating is made from materials which are composed of rare-earth elements, these elements are in short supply and are expensive. 

The research team at Rutgers University, led by Jing Li, is developing a hybrid phosphor based technology that will be much more sustainable, efficient and of a lower cost. This hybrid will use common and earth-abundant metals with organic luminescent molecules which will make it much easier to control the light that is created from the LED. 

This new research will hopefully bring down the already drastically falling price of LEDs so that more people will make the change to LED. Zhichao Hu, a member of Li's team has commented that,  'if more people in the US used LEDs in their homes and businesses, the country's electricity consumption could be cut in half.' He added that studies have shown that if every American house hold swapped one incandescent lamp for an LED it could save the country a staggering $700 million in annual energy costs. 

This shows the significant impact LEDs can have not just on our own energy bills but those of the world, perhaps if this new research brings out a change in the cost of LEDs, the world will be a much more energy efficient place, sooner than we had hoped. 




This blog post was adapted from http://phys.org/news/2015-08-technology-energy-greenhouse-gas-emissions.html . August 19th, 2015

Demand Side Energy Benefits Are (almost) Invisible to UK Government.

(image courtesy of ADE website)

A report carried out by the ADE (Association for Decentralised Energy) has shown that the UK is saving billions of pounds per year due to the invisible benefits of reduced energy demand. Over the last thirty years we are doing a lot more but with a lot less. 

The ADE represents the heat and power industry and claims that producing energy locally and using it more efficiently saves consumers over £37 billion per year compared with 1980. 

The report looked at local energy generation and energy saving schemes such as LED lighting switchovers, such actions have helped the UK to avoid building 14 new power stations, which equals the same as the country's current power generating capacity. 

The ADE stated in its report that 'invisible' benefits are often discounted as policymakers are focusing on energy supply rather than demand.It continues to say that it is easier for politicians to make big changes and evaluate on a bigger scale rather than looking into the finer detail of demand changes taking place across the country. 

 Lighting industry figures have come to similar conclusions of the government's approach to energy, promoting that more time and attention needs to be put into reducing demand, rather than boosting capacity and moving to renewable energy sources.

Last year Lux Magazine developed its own ideas of how capacity could be reduced if low-energy lighting was more widely used.

The ADE wants energy demand to be put in the spotlight as the focal point of future policy making. Director, Tim Rotheray said, ' Actions on the demand side have helped keep Britain's lights on, making the UK a better place to do business by keeping energy supplies consistent and reliable… Despite these considerable achievements, new energy policy often repeats the same patterns, taking a centralised approach to solving the energy challenge and overlooking the substantial contribution that users and individual actions can make.

‘With a clear, simple policy approach that values these smaller contributions, demand-side services can help consumers do even more to cut waste, improve competitiveness and reduce emissions. By 2020, we could save consumers a further £5.6 billion and make the UK a more attractive place to do business.

‘Adopting the right policy could mean that by 2020 we could save enough power to run the London Underground for 30 years, equivalent to 45 TWh (45 billion units). Further reduction in energy demand will make the UK more secure and enable greater energy independence.’

For more information on the ADE's report, click here.

Led lighting switchovers are an excellent way to reduce the demand for energy, please go to our website The LED Specialist and start making your home more energy efficient, 

Help reduce energy demand!