Prices have dropped considerably over the past couple of years and are expected to come down even further. Besides, the reduced chip size and the increase in lumens per watt have immensely enhanced the efficiency of LED lights.
By Kartiki Negi
Thursday, March 06, 2014: The LED lighting market in India is expected to touch a turnover of US$ 1.3 billion by 2018, which would amount to a CAGR of 47.3 per cent between 2011 and 2018. While experiencing this robust growth, the LED market has been continuously evolving. Let’s look at some of the current trends in this market.
Energy efficiency
The latest LED lighting products in the market have increased energy efficiency. Reduced chip sizes and an increase in lumens per watt are two important factors contributing to the greater efficiency of LED lights.
“Illumination grade and high-power LEDs are already available in the market. They are designed to deliver high efficacy 159 lm/W at 350mA along with high flux density for directional and high-lumen applications. These emitters ensure system colour point accuracy and provide lamp and luminaire designers with the flexibility to optimise for the highest possible efficacy at low system cost,” says Amrith Prabhu, country manager, Philips Lumileds.
Another factor contributing to energy efficiency is the design of the product. “We can design the product as per our requirements such that 100 per cent of the light is emitted, unlike conventional lights where only 45 to 50 per cent is emitted. Besides, with LEDs, we can use extra lenses and optics for the requirements of the target light area, which is not the case with traditional lights,” says Shyam S Jindal, managing director, Olive Exports Pvt Ltd.
Operational voltage is another key factor to be considered. Keeping in mind the poor power supply across the country, these lights will continue to function even in low voltage conditions and are resistant to voltage fluctuations. The colour rendering index (CRI) offers consumers the option to select the colour temperature that best suits their needs, within a range of 2800 to 6500 Kelvin, adds Shyam Jindal.
Cost reductions
Lower costs are also playing a significant role in fuelling the demand for LED lights in India. Prices have dropped considerably over the past couple of years and are expected to come down even more in the coming years. “The cost of LED products has come down drastically over the last couple of years. For example, replacing a 60 W LED lamp that earlier cost Rs 700, can be now done within Rs 400. The same cost reduction can be seen in other LED products also,” says Arun Gupta, CEO, NTL Lemnis.
Adds Giri Prasad G V, country manager, Everlight, “The prices of LED lights have been slashed by 50 per cent. Two years ago, the LEDs for tubelights were sold at Rs 15.50 (25 cent), but today we are selling three LEDs for the same price.”
Citing similar views, Nikhil Razdan, chief operating officer, Delta Electronics, said, “While lumens per LED package have doubled in the past two years, the cost has gone down. So we are getting more than twice the lumens per dollar. Hence, in the next five years we will get 10 times more light output at a cost which will be 10 times less.”
Most of the companies are trying to improve the lumen-per-dollar ratio to make their products commercially viable, and for that they are going for low- and mid-power LEDs. Thus the high-power LEDs are being used only for industrial lighting products. This trend of shifting from high-power LEDs, which have unique features like higher junction temperature and increased luminous outputs, to low- and mid-power LEDs is because high-power LEDs require advanced know how of materials like aluminium, and costs increase in proportion to the size of the heat-sink used. With mid- and low-power LEDs, there are no such issues. Most of the Chinese manufacturers also do not use good technology to make high-power LEDs to meet the increasing pressure of reducing the price of the end product.
Comparing LED lamp market with LED luminaire market
The current trend clearly indicates that the LED luminaire market is dominating the industry. According to a Market Pulse report, LED lamp sales in India have crossed Rs 1000 million, while LED luminaire sales amounted to approximately Rs 4000 million by September 2013. LED luminaire sales have grown at a CAGR of 45 per cent in the last three years.
Says Amrith Prabhu, “The Indian LED luminaire market is doing well because LED luminaires including streetlights, downlights and troffer lights have been widely adopted by municipal corporations, government organisations and institutions. LED lamps and retrofits have a huge potential to grow in the near future.”
“About 97 per cent of the market is still luminaire-based. The lamp market is still picking up pace and is unlikely to overtake the luminaire market in the near future,” says Giri Prasad.
Citing similar views, Arun Gupta says, “At present, LED luminaires market is doing much better since these are used in commercial and institutional sectors, where electricity consumption is high. Whereas lamps, which are used by individual consumers for household purposes are still highly priced as compared to CFL, therefore we can see a slow movement.”
Adds Nikhil Razdan, “The luminaire market is moving at a faster pace. It does not need to fit in to traditional fixtures or holders and comes in several designs. That’s why it is preferred by buyers.”
Product mix
Products such as LED bulbs, downlights, spotlights and tubes are dominating the market. “Currently the shift is driven by the amount of usage (12-24 hour applications are most preferred), due to the immediate returns on investment (RoI). The ROIs now have become quite attractive in almost all applications like commercial spaces, retail, hospitality, healthcare, industries and street lighting,” says Arun Gupta.
“LED bulbs, downlights and tubes are very popular among the common people for indoor applications. This is purely because of the advantages like lower power consumption, long life, sustainability and negligible maintenance. These are popularly sold in the range of 5 to 15 W,” says S Narayanan, head, commercial and international operations, Fiem Automotive Components.
Nikhil Razdan says, “Downlights, tubes and 2/2 panel lights with the range of 6 W to 18 W, 9 W to 18 W and 20 W to 45 W, respectively, are some of the products in demand.” Adds Shyam Jindal, “Streetlights with a range of 8W to 150W are dominating the market. Government-aided projects are playing a crucial part in fuelling this demand as LEDs are low maintenance and environment-friendly.”
Brand preferences
Renowned brands are still ruling the LED lighting market in India. The lack of a manufacturing ecosystem in the country, less reliability and inferior quality products are the prime reasons for consumers opting for popular brands. “Brands such as Nichia, Osram, Everlight, Samsung and Philips Lumiled are still preferred by customers simply because they are the oldest brands in the industry with better technology, and most importantly, they release products specific to the needs of the Indian market,” says Giri Prasad. “However, very few brands wish to experiment. Established brands do not want to waste time on R&D; they would rather focus on expansion,” he adds
“Philips products have been dominating the market due to the company’s strong product portfolio. Other brands like Bajaj, Crompton Greaves, GE, Havells, Schrader, Surya, etc are also doing well,” says Amrith Prabhu.
Though people are preferring branded products, local products are doing equally well. Local manufacturers offer customised products as per customers’ needs, which big brands fail to do. “Apart from LED components, regarding the complete lighting product, even big brands offer very limited options. We are getting a very good response by offering customised products. Olive Exports provides complete solutions to its customers based on their demands, along with a five-year warranty,” says Shyam Jindal.
Technology in demand
Manufacturers are now working towards increasing the number of LED chips on board (COB) and increasing the lumens per watt. “There has not been much change in the technology. The COB is now playing a prominent role in the market, which makes a product more efficient and productive,” says Giri Prasad.
Adds Amrith Prabhu, “Developments in LED lighting technology are taking place at a dramatic pace and are heavily influencing the LED supply chain as well as final products. We are continuously pursuing the goal of raising the luminous efficacy of LEDs, delivering the best quality of light and adopting new packaging processes such as arrays like CoB and mid-power LEDs.”
“The main challenge every manufacturer is trying to counter is to increase the lumens per watt, which will make the product more energy and cost efficient. Another trend is to ensure less heat generation from the light,” says Shyam Jindal. One of the main trends in the LED segment is the miniaturisation of fixtures with increase in efficacy. AC LEDs are also getting prominence in certain products and applications.
In addition, innovative cooling systems are being introduced to keep junction temperature in control, and efforts are also on to increase the efficacy of organic LEDs so that they can be used for general lighting purposes.
LED lights now come with increased heat resistance since the LED light fixtures that were earlier made of aluminium are today made of plastic.
“New and innovative heat sinks are being designed by the manufacturers, which can dissipate more heat from a compact surface area. Also, plastic housing in place of metals is increasingly being used by the manufacturers in retrofit lamps,” says Arun Gupta. Besides, earlier one had to buy an LED tubelight with its fixture but now manufacturers are offering tubelights that can be fitted in the customer’s old fixture itself, making it cost efficient. These measures will contribute to bringing down the manufacturing cost to a great extent.
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