As demand for lighting in production, daily life and advertising continues to grow, the share of electricity consumed by lighting has become increasingly significant. According to statistics from China International Lighting Network, in developed countries lighting already accounts for more than 25% of total electricity consumption. In China, lighting electricity consumption reached 390 billion kWh in 2007, accounting for over 12% of the nation's total electricity consumption, with an average annual growth rate of approximately 15%. At the same time, driven by the rapid development of the domestic tertiary sector, the advertising lighting industry represented by signage lighting has been expanding at a remarkable pace.

      Some signage construction projects involve heavy upfront investment and high ongoing operating costs, while also giving rise to a certain degree of light pollution. Surveys have found that in the late-night hours, when pedestrian and vehicle flows are sparse and traffic volume is low at certain locations, signage still operates at high illumination levels, resulting in obvious energy waste. In addition, grid voltage generally rises during the late-night period, which shortens the service life of signage facilities and drives up maintenance costs. It is therefore advisable to reduce the operating power of signage based on the nature of the location and the operating time period, so as to achieve energy conservation and consumption reduction.

      The traditional signage maintenance model suffers from prominent drawbacks: low maintenance efficiency, heavy investment in manpower, materials and financial resources, a large on-site inspection workload and high operational risks. Even with substantial inspection resources deployed, faults may still fail to be detected and addressed in a timely manner. If on/off schedules need to be adjusted temporarily, personnel must travel to the site for manual operation, which is not only inefficient but also prone to human error, while the response speed of fault repair remains limited. Relying on manual operation and maintenance makes it difficult to achieve intelligent operation.

      As digitalization continues to advance and smart city development moves forward, market demand for energy-efficient, environmentally friendly and intelligently managed urban signage keeps rising, and the development goal of “operating on demand and managing with precision” is becoming increasingly clear.

      With the growing maturity of IoT technologies and related products and the deep integration of sensors and networks, and guided by the concept of “connecting all things and sensing the world,” smart signage has emerged. The smart signage system integrates multiple technologies, including power line networks, GPRS networks, the Internet and sensor networks, and represents a typical application of the Internet of Things in the power and energy sector. Used for the intelligent management and control of urban signage systems, it enables remote centralized management, monitoring and control of all urban signage across an area. Through the management platform, any network workstation can conduct 7×24 real-time monitoring of signage at various locations, obtain real-time data on signage operation and device status, and achieve predictive maintenance, ensuring that signage remains in optimal working condition over the long term and meeting the goals of on-demand operation, improved management efficiency and reduced energy consumption.