Echelon Corp., San Jose, Calif., has built a strong presence in providing the communications infrastructure for smart grid deployments and industrial networking and has its eye on the Internet of Things. The company moved this week to further diversify its position with an acquisition that brings wireless and wired outdoor lighting controls into its catalog.
Echelon announced that it has acquired Lumewave Inc., Sacramento, Calif., a privately held provider of wireless outdoor lighting control systems with a strong track record selling its solution to U.S. municipalities, universities, medical facilities and enterprises. Echelon will sell the Lumewave products — which include individual lighting controllers, gateways, and management and maintenance software — and will incorporate Lumewave’s established sales channels in North America into its existing channels worldwide. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“With this acquisition of Lumewave, Echelon is enriching our product portfolio and sales channels in outdoor lighting control, for both city street lighting and the compelling market for enterprise and commercial outdoor lighting,” said Ron Sege, CEO and chairman, Echelon Corp. “Lumewave’s products, combined with Echelon’s own, will give our customers tremendous flexibility in controlling their outdoor lighting assets. The expanded product offerings and sales coverage will enhance Echelon’s revenue stream and allow us to better address the fast-growing North American market.”
The outdoor lighting market, including streetlights and lighting for parking areas, walkways and other outdoor spaces, is forecast to grow from less than 2 million units today to more than 100 million units in the next 10 years, according to research by the Northeast Group. The group expects the value of installed controls to rise from less than $250 million to more than $10 billion by 2024, with 40% of that investment expected in North America.
Lumewave builds standards-based wireless solutions for outdoor lighting, which will continue to be available through its established manufacturers’ rep channel and will now also be sold through Echelon’s direct sales and manufacturer reps and integrators in the U.S., the companies said in a release. The combined product portfolio will target streetlighting and other outdoor lighting installations, such as parking lot and structures, university and corporate campuses, hospitals, large retailers such as shopping malls and auto dealerships, parks and recreational facilities.
Among the higher profile projects in Lumewave’s portfolio are the University of California campuses at Davis, Irvine and Santa Barbara; the California State University at Fullerton; and the City of San Francisco.