Annual deployments of smart streetlights will grow at a CAGR of nearly 22% until 2031, according to market watcher Guidehouse Insights.

Smart streetlighting is seeing demand due to its ability to support the deployment of smart city IoT devices.

The report explores emerging smart streetlight trends applied to public road and pathway luminaires that allow for operation to be tailored, modified and monitored remotely. Estimates are provided across global regions.

Smart streetlighting continues to be one of the leading smart city technologies in terms of completed deployments and annual revenue. The use of smart controllers and photocells on streetlights to save on energy use has become common place among medium and large cities, and demand is only expected to increase as barriers to entry continue to lower.

According to the report from Guidehouse Insights, annual deployments of smart streetlights are expected to rise from 5.8 million units in 2022 to 33.5 million by 2031 representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.6%.

“Because of shifts in municipal service priorities and new financial stresses on cities, demand for the technology grew to new highs throughout the coronavirus pandemic, with suppliers reporting records in both the number of requests for proposal and requested project size,” said Grant Samms, research analyst with Guidehouse Insights. “In addition, cities are increasingly utilising smart streetlights to host additional equipment like air quality sensors, congestion monitoring devices and smart cameras.”

The ability to support the deployment of smart city IoT devices plays a key role in rising demand, as smart streetlights are ubiquitous and already equipped with power and data backhaul. Many smart streetlight vendors are designing plug-and-play units that can convert a legacy lighting fixture to a smart streetlight while setting a foundation for future IoT expansion, according to the report.

The report provides market estimates for public smart streetlighting and excludes sales of LED luminaire or lamps themselves. Information provided is based on primary and secondary market research on shipments of connected control nodes for streetlights and consists of three component markets: controls and communications hardware, software applications, and services for hardware and software integration.

Guidehouse Insights is the dedicated market intelligence arm of Guidehouse, and provides research, data and benchmarking services for rapidly changing and highly regulated industries. The insights are built on in-depth analysis of global clean technology markets. The team’s research methodology combines supply-side industry analysis, end-user primary research, and demand assessment, paired with a deep examination of technology trends, to provide a view of emerging resilient infrastructure systems.