The Future of Electrical Technology: Exploring the Newest Trends

While the role of the technician, in maintaining and fixing electrical equipment, might remain the same, the nature of the electrical technology that they work with is very likely to change over time. What’s more, is that the skills and expertise needed to do the job can change with those electrical trends, as well.

As such, it’s always important to keep one eye on the future of electrical engineering as an electrical technician. Not only can it help you anticipate the kind of skills development you might need, but if you’re running your own business, you might be able to identify niches that you can move into.

This blog will provide a glimpse into the future of electrical technology by exploring the latest trends and innovations anticipated for the remainder of the year and 2024. It will cover cutting-edge advancements in the electrical industry and offer insights for electricians to stay informed and prepared for upcoming changes within their careers.

Widespread Adoption of Greener Lighting Solutions

There’s one meta-trend that has been steadily pushing more and more little trends over the years. That is of course, the increasing concern with carbon emissions and the development of green technologies. Lately, this has manifested in the spread of greener lighting solutions, offering lower energy use, as well as better quality lighting.

This change has come as a result of some electrical code changes, which put limits on lighting power consumption, as well as an increased focus on controlling light sources. Workplaces, in particular, are starting to implement green lighting at a faster rate than commercial customers, due to potential tax credits and rebates. As this technology becomes more widely available to meet the increase in demand, homeowners are likely to take advantage of the same availability.

Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) Tech on the Rise

One of the most common concerns for modern electronics users is that they forget to pack a charger when they leave home for a trip, leaving them without the ability to give their devices the juice that they need. However, while still somewhat burgeoning, wireless power transfer technology is starting to change that.

Although  it is not the most efficient way to charge devices at the moment, wireless power transfer (WPT) devices are able to transmit electrical energy from a power source to a device without the need for wires to connect them, by using time-varying electromagnetic fields. This is the same kind of electrical energy that we use for wireless communication devices. Wireless chargers are getting more and more popular and may represent the standard of power transfer at some point in the future. Wireless charges have uses for the smart home, electric cars, wearables, and in remote areas, where access to the grid isn’t always easy.

Lighting That Affords More Control

The spread of LED lighting, in both commercial and residential settings, has allowed people to use a lot less energy while ensuring that their bulbs work a lot longer than the incandescent lights that were previously the standard. However, it’s not just efficiency driving the popularity of these lights, but luminance control.

Where dimmers might have been the only means of controlling luminance levels previously in the home, nowadays, there is an increase in both voice command and app-controlled lighting. They can allow homeowners a much greater range of control over their own lighting. Whether this is to create certain kinds of ambiance with mood lighting, to adjust the visibility of a scene, or even to create more sophisticated automatic lighting, these systems are becoming a lot more popular in the modern household, especially thanks to their connection with smart home hubs.

Wearable Technology

At this point, wearable tech might not be entirely new, but it certainly is becoming a lot more fashionable as well as versatile. People aren’t just wearing them because they are popular, however, there are more and more people wearing devices that have life-saving capabilities, whether it’s for job safety for industrial workers, or at-home safety for the vulnerable and accident-prone.

The range and use of wearable tech are continuing to grow, allowing people to monitor their health, to alert for help in emergencies, to make and receive calls, to track location, and more. As microprocessors, sensors, and power sources become smaller, we can expect there to be even more new and exciting wearable tech solutions on the way.

New Generation of Electrical Wiring

The wiring in a lot of older buildings is simply not up to the standard that our increasingly digital and power-dependent world requires. As such, electricians should expect that industrial electrical maintenance of working on replacing and optimizing these wiring systems, is going to take up an increasing amount of their time as we go forward.

Retrofitting older wiring systems, installing new systems, and continuing to expand networked areas is destined to be a focus for the electrical industry going into the next few years, and an increased reliance on data centers is to be expected.

Electrical Vehicles Becoming Normalized

It’s fair to say that we are well and truly in the swing of moving towards electric vehicles as a society. Electric vehicles continue to make up a larger share of the overall driver market and have become mainstream, rather than a niche or luxury offering. That said, it’s not just the vehicles that electricians have to take notice of, but the infrastructure that will come alongside them.

Charging stations are going to be in much more demand, as business owners and city planners are starting to acknowledge the need for additional infrastructure. Electricians could play a key role in that.

Keep Up With The Electric Utility Industry Trends

While the specifics of electrical technology may change over time, the ground-level skills needed to be an electrician are always likely to be the same. As such, if you want to make sure that you have that good core set of skills, no matter what may come, take the time to look at our training offerings here at NTI. After that, keeping up with the future of electrical engineering can be a lot easier.