The Technology Partnership (TTP), a European technology development company, said it is moving the Internet of Things (IoT) market forward with a smart lighting control system that cuts power consumption in half.
The company teamed with lighting specialist Mayflower to develop a wireless control system for street lights it said uses 50 per cent less power than existing smart lighting systems. The product uses a Zigbee self-healing mesh network to communicate with Mayflower's central management system through a secure GSM-based internet connection, and forms part of a broader TTP effort around IoT that also includes developing products to optimise home energy systems, and remote monitoring equipment.
Richard Sims, TTP's project manager, said Mayflower set "aggressive cost, performance, and reliability targets," for the latest version of its lighting control system, and hailed the resulting solution as a "significant Smart City development."
Mayflower said it has installed 180,000 smart lighting control nodes in the UK and Ireland to date, and that its order book currently stands at 300,000 nodes. The company's control system is already being used to monitor and control installations including high masts and street lights, and illuminated bollards and signs.
Pat Mitchell, Mayflower's director, said the company is "increasing sales in the UK and exploring opportunities overseas."
In the UK the company has an order to add 50,000 control nodes to a system deployed by a local council that currently already has 90,000 nodes in operation. That set-up has already enabled the council to cut CO2 emissions by around 4,000 tonnes, the company revealed. The latest version of the control system has also been approved for use in North America.
IDC recently noted that businesses are increasingly looking towards the possibilities IoT products offer in terms of improving efficiency and business processes, and generating additional revenues.
The research company predicted the global market for IoT products will grow from $1.9 trillion (€1.4 trillion) in 2013 to $7.1 trillion in 2020, but added competition in the sector will intensify over the forecast period.
For more:
- see the TTP press release [PDF]
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