A June 2016 report, "Market Data: IoT for Residential Energy Customers," published by Navigant Research, examines the global market for devices and services that are considered to be part of the residential "Internet of Things" (IoT), including forecasts for shipments, installed base, average selling prices, and revenue, through 2026.

According to the report, connected devices have proliferated in the last few years, providing residential utility customers with easy and affordable tools that allow them to create more "intelligent" homes that feature greater levels of efficiency, comfort and security.

Examples of these devices and services include connected/smart thermostats, solar PV installations, connected/smart lighting, electric vehicle charging stations, smart meters, smart appliances, security systems, smart plugs, and on-site energy storage systems.

Navigant predicts that the residential IoT trend will continue to grow during the next 10 years, particularly as industry stakeholders continue to find ways to meet the demand for integrating disparate devices and in-home systems.

"The momentum behind the IoT trend continues to accelerate, with the number of devices shipped annually likely to grow more than fivefold during the forecast period," said Neil Strother, principal research analyst with Navigant Research. "The convergence of demand for connected devices and the supply of more affordable options and applications are fueling this growth, making the potential scale quite astounding."

According to the report, as consumers adopt an increasing number of connected devices, key stakeholders can help consumers overcome challenges in integrating these devices and deriving benefits from them by providing ongoing data insights to achieve more automated and efficient homes.

While the future of residential IoT seems strong, according to Navigant Research, Lux Research suggests the same will be true for industrial IoT. According to its June 2016 report, "Predictive Maintenance: The Art of Uptime," the rapid development of the industrial IoT is ushering the next generation of predictive maintenance (PdM) solutions for industrial equipment around the world. Along the way, it is driving new business models and creating massive opportunities for vendors and operators.

With advances in sensors, connectivity and analytics, PdM (which is one of the coveted uses of industrial IoT) is poised for a massive overhaul that will improve asset uptimes and decrease costs, forcing many industrial organizations still living in the maintenance "dark ages" to rapidly embrace change.

"Remote diagnostics and maintenance solutions are a key factor in enabling OEMs to offer equipment-as-a-service [XaaS] models," said Isaac Brown, a research analyst with Lux and lead author of the report. "To fully benefit from the new technology, industrial organizations need to rapidly move away from the current practice of fixing equipment only after failure, or at pre-determined intervals."

After surveying operations managers across a variety of industries and regions, Lux was able to report three specific findings:

• There is a wide range of solutions available. PdM programs require vast resources, but can be tailored to specific needs in order to increase uptime and drive costs down.
• Varied business models are emerging. One manufacturer, for example, is installing processing and communications capabilities on its compressors and using data to perform predictive maintenance analytics. Other manufacturers are experimenting with new business models that could eliminate capital expenditures, providing XaaS.
• However, adoption is slow. Despite proven performance benefits, adoption of PdM is slow in some industries. To date, the energy and heavy industries are further along in adoption than are other industries.

For more information on how IoT is impacting industrial lighting, see "Industrial Revolution: Lighting the IIOT."