To Light Up Your Monday

You’ve probably heard, ad nauseum, that the lighting arena, also portrayed as energy efficiency, is one of the few bright spots in the electrical industry.  And yes, it is and is expected to be one of the strongest, if not the strongest, product category for probably the next 5 years.

Two movements are driving this.  LEDs and rebates.

Just talk to any lamp manufacturer and they’ll tell you that this is the future and that they are allocating significant R&D dollars to stay ahead of the curve.  Key challenges, which they will also freely admit to, are managing product introductions, helping distributors manage inventories in a product category that will continually evolve and training their salespeople (as well as distributor salespeople) on the product category (and new products).

The boom is happening now.  In 5-10 years distributors and manufacturers will be challenged to replace “holes in the ceilings that have LEDs” … after all, how frequently will they burn-out.  Regardless of the answer, it is probably less than incandescents and most fluorescents.

But, we thought we’d share some lighting information we’ve recently developed:

• Philips Lighting is using LinkedIn to great use, creating a group called Innovations in Light.  If you’re in the industry, this is one you may want to join.
• We received this message from a friend regarding an EPA/DOE Energy Efficiency conference call

Dear ENERGY STAR Partners and Interested Stakeholders:

Last fall, EPA and DOE launched a new EPA/DOE Partnership on Energy Efficiency in Buildings and Products. This partnership represents an exciting new era in cooperation between the two Agencies, leveraging the skills and abilities of each for greater success. Strong, well-managed federal energy efficiency programs are critical to achieving the Obama Administration’s objectives around climate and energy independence, and enhanced collaboration between the Agencies will present important new opportunities to drive greater efficiency for American consumers by enhancing the ENERGY STAR® program and driving greater efficiency in homes and buildings.

Please contact energystar@icfi.com to register for the call, noting “October 13 Conference Call” in the subject line of your e-mail. The conference call number will be sent to confirmed registrants next week.

Random food for thought … many distributors and others in the industry use the graphic of an incandescent lamp in either their logo or to describe “a bright idea” or “innovation”.  With incandescents no longer being manufactured in the United States, plus diminshing in usage due to CFLs, LEDs and other technologies, is the incandescent lamp the image of the industry or innovation? Or homage to Thomas Edison?  Here’s a link to an article on the closing of the last incandescent lamp factory in the U.S.

Do you think lighting / energy efficiency growth will outpace overall electrical growth in 2011? What are you doing, if anything, to pursue this market? Which distributors do you think are aggressively pursuing this market?