Powerful changes lie ahead this year. Explore how evolving rules and attitudes are converging with advancing technology to push the industry forward.

Key Takeaways:

  • 2023 is set to be the greenest electrical year on record
  • Flexibility, control, and energy savings are trending among residential and commercial sites
  • Some established best practices for electrical industrial maintenance will become more important than ever for businesses in 2023 and beyond

Technological advancement is always increasing, and so are the demands for it to innovate and provide for homeowners and hard-working commercial sites. Lots of businesses say there’s an exciting new year ahead, but you know we’re not exaggerating when we say the electrical industry is lit for 2023!  

There are some impressive and interesting developments providing us with a glimpse into a very bright future, so let’s spotlight some of the most important trends in the electrical industry for 2023.

A healthier commercial environment gets the green light

The escalating rate of global power consumption generates huge carbon emissions. Thankfully, electrical energy pollution is on the decrease in 2023 thanks to the widespread adoption of new, greener lighting solutions with lower energy profiles and higher illumination quality.

In terms of commercial sites, these positive changes are largely being driven by electrical codes, including the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) 2021 and extensive 2022 additions to the ANSI/ASHRAE 90.1/IES energy­efficiency standard.

Two factors dictated by the above codes are limits on illumination power consumption and increased ability to control light sources. More and more employers are getting in line, and you can bet the lower utility bills that come from more efficient lighting are sweetening that idea, not to mention the list of potential tax credits and rebates businesses can claim for electrical efficiency!

How evolving lighting helps homeowners in 2023

People today want their lights to be part of a super convenient and personally expressive domestic experience, and manufacturers are stepping up to the challenge. LED lighting in residential settings will continue to grow in popularity due to their several advantages. These include using up to 75% less energy while boasting a life expectancy that is 25 times longer than incandescent lights.

They’re as lightweight and flexible as they are efficient, with the latest designs offering unprecedented luminance controlled by apps or voice commands. This is great for homeowners tired of squinting against overly dim or harsh lighting or getting up and down to power on or off.

Here’s a guide to the best LEDs for 2023. They’ll help your home join the trends of greater lighting control, smart environmental sensors, and mood creation. If you’re unsure which colors to choose, here’s a light that provides 16 million of them.

New wiring for a new world

The way most buildings are wired isn’t really optimized for 21st-century lighting systems, so electrical industrial maintenance will be a top trend going forward. The greatly reduced energy consumption of modern lights simply doesn’t require the same wattage as in ye olden days.

This means the electrical wiring industry will be busier than ever retrofitting older wiring systems while installing streamlined ones into new constructions, with the market trending steadily upward into 2025. Of course, there are many facilities with medium- to high-voltage wiring requirements since they’re running a lot more than just lights.

Some of these wires run overhead, others underground, and stretch for miles of undersea cables carrying internet signals to and from the United States. There will be an estimated 29.3 billion networked devices online in 2023 as two-thirds of the global population gain access to the internet. 

Simply put, the world will be going wire wild in the year ahead as cables of all kinds, from control and coaxial to data and telecom, are laid down in the right places and at the right wattages.

Guess what must be built (and wired) to keep the world connected? Data centers. Lots and lots of them, but not in the same way they’ve been constructed in the past. This year, there’s a new kind of data center that’s trending.

Data center trends for 2023

The trend of power combined with sustainability is also showing up strongly in data centers. This is because they’re growing in size and number worldwide to keep up with the staggering amounts of data being generated. Roughly 33% of the world’s data centers are located here in America, and data centers worldwide will be guzzling up 20% of Earth’s power supply by 2025!

Data centers will become increasingly reliant on machine learning and AI in the year ahead to manage mountains of information. This means the scale and quality of their switching, cabling, and cooling systems must evolve and increase as new backend networks are built.

Electrical infrastructure and equipment designed for energy efficiency are going to be a must in this sector. All this will mean plenty of work for those in the electrical industry as data center design and construction effectively enjoys two boosts this year (exponential growth and a post-COVID pickup).

This projected hyperscaling of electrical operations makes it more vital than ever for architects, electricians, and data center managers to understand some vital things if they want to be involved with successful data centers in 2023. It’s also making electrical industrial maintenance more important than ever, including:

Knowing what’s buzzing in the electrical industry is more than just trends and news. It’s a way for electrical professionals and their customers to stay informed, competitive, and, most importantly, compliant with new regulations. Bookmark our blog for regularly updated insights!

Contact Universal Electrical Services to stay on trend

The UES team brings decades of electrical experience to multiple industries throughout Florida. From full installations and electrical industrial maintenance to emergency callouts, we’re here to help with your electrical needs, data center requirements, and a lot more. Just contact us for a free quote!