From patio lights to air conditioning units, some of the world’s largest cities are now adding pricey options to their city sidewalks.
The top-end prices for the most common types of lights are now in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, but that is starting to change.
New data from market research firm Market Insights indicates that cities in North America, Europe, and the United Kingdom are now making the switch to LED-based lighting systems, while China is also moving to a more sustainable way of lighting its streets.
“The trend is very clear, cities are moving away from fossil fuels,” said Market Insight’s Matt O’Brien.
“And the trend is for the world to have more and more energy efficient lighting systems.”
In addition to the price hikes, cities across the world are also making the transition to LED lights, which are brighter and less energy-intensive.
As more cities adopt these new lighting technologies, there is also a growing demand for street lighting that is less expensive to install and more environmentally friendly.
O’Brien says cities are using LED lights to replace the older, flammable gas-powered lights.
LED lights produce far less CO2 emissions and can last up to 40 years compared to old gas lights, making them the “greenest” lighting option.
In North America and Europe, LED lights are becoming more common, though the average price for them has increased significantly.
According to O’Briens research, the average cost for an LED street light in the United States rose from $1,100 to $2,100 between 2012 and 2018, while the average increase in prices in Germany and the Netherlands was between 10 and 20 percent.
In Japan, the price of a LED streetlight has also increased between 18 percent and 27 percent.
The biggest increase in LED lighting prices was seen in Europe, where the average average price of an LED lights went up from $2.40 to $4.60 between 2012 to 2018.
The prices of the most popular types of street lights have also gone up.
O”I think this is a great thing, because the cost of lighting has gone down in the last few years,” said Paul Janssen, president of O’Reilly Lighting.
“If you look at the price for the average LED street lamp, it’s a lot lower than it was 20 years ago.”
But O’Connor says the cost to retrofit existing street lighting systems with new, LED lighting is still high, which could mean that it’s not always an easy decision to replace your old light fixtures.
“If you buy a new light fixture and it’s going to cost $50,000 to retrofitting, you have to think twice about whether that’s worth it or not,” he said.
In addition, the cost and availability of new LED street lighting equipment is also going up, and there are some countries that are only now starting to adopt LED lighting as a major energy-saving technology.
In the United Arab Emirates, new LED lighting equipment can cost $1 million.
In Spain, the cheapest type of LED street lights cost $2 million to retrofitted.
According to OBrien, cities around the world need to take steps to make lighting systems more energy-efficient and more eco-friendly.
“I think it’s very important for the city to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy and that means that if you want to see green lights on your streets, it has to be an efficient system,” he added.