UK LED lighting suppliers will perhaps take some comfort from what they see happening in Portugal.
The rollout of LED street lighting has been going strong in Portuguese towns all summer.
But you could ask when will something similar start in UK cities.
Local operator EnergiaViva has installed LED street lights in 10 towns and cities and work on a further 20 Portuguese municipalities is expected to be completed within a few months.
This is the latest phase of a programme which saw the first luminaires introduced in April 2009.
The expectation is that a co-ordinated roll-out of LED street lighting will see the elimination of high-pressure sodium lamps from Portuguese streets in just a few years.
As Luis Mota, Director of EnergiaViva points out: "It's encouraging to see how many more local authorities in Portugal are also taking a long-term view and investing in state-of-the-art lighting. We see a complete national conversion to solid-state technology as a realistic goal over the next several years."
The key to what is happening in Portugal is the creation of a viable supply chain for the introduction of LED lighting in what are large-scale projects. There is a consortium of companies in the energy, lighting and construction industries working together.
Perhaps it is this type of co-ordination throughout the supply chain which is missing here?
With regards to the coming of age of the LED lighting, we will see street light moving to LED. The simple control of immediate on or off is important for safety and energy consumption. As the home controls outside most houses the easy approach of turning a street light on as a passer by walks or intelligent systems switch road lights on 200m in front a car.
I spoke to Harvey Tait of Gleichmann Sunrise, he has spoke to local authorities and companies. He has a working LED street light demo, its very good, if you are looking to dabble or want to see what its looks like call him.