Lighting, Energy, Environmental Impacts, and Associated Regulations: Potential and Challenges

Over the past 20 years, the development and adoption of solid-state lighting (SSL) has led to substantial improvements in the quality and efficiency of lighting. This disruptive technology enabled a decoupling of lighting and energy consumption, such that global lighting services have increased while associated energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions have decreased.

Substantial energy savings are still available in the lighting sector through 1) further improvements in LED efficacy, 2) widespread adoption of smart lighting systems and controls, and 3) luminaires designed for circularity. To help ensure that these additional energy savings are captured, a joint effort to develop an international lighting technology road map is being launched by the IEEE Smart Lighting program, the IEA 4E SSLC Platform, and the International Solid-State Lighting Alliance. This article discusses the context for this work, describes the scope of this road map, and highlights some of the major challenges that will be faced by the lighting industry as it develops the full potential for SSL in the coming decades. This article also provides an overview of the new work planned by the IEA 4E SSLC Platform, which will, in part, help to address some of those major challenges.