StreetLightNews

According to a study by a local Indian citizen’s group, India can save thousands of dollars by managing their street lights more effectively. Even late at night, lights are blazing for empty streets, says the group, making the suggestion that cities turn off every other street light. This is possible at a very low cost. This type of energy saving has been practiced in Europe for decades, but many have found out that the strobing effect it has on drivers and the affects on the night safety for pedestrians are disadvantages that justify investments in energy saving solutions where the street lights can be dimmed instead of turned off.

Turning off every other street light, as suggested by the Citizen’s Council, may provide energy savings, but it hardly qualifies as ‘effective management of street light’. Rather, it is an old-fashioned approach for a problem that requires solutions at a higher technical level. We have seen advanced solutions be installed in several developing countries, financed in a number of different ways to make them attractive even for municipalities in the most ailing economies.

In Delhi, they are getting the gist of things, inviting tenders to bid on a street light management system for a 365 km stretch of road. It seems that they have realized that simply turning off every two or three street light is insufficient and not nearly visionary enough. Read the article here…

In a pilot project, 16 LED street lights have been installed at Toronto’s Exhibition Place. The city’s mayor, David Miller, states that the initiative is part of an ambitious plan to become the greenest city in North America.
Installing LEDs, he says, is will reduces costs, increase safety and improve the environment. The LEDs were manufactured by Leotek Electronics and supplied by electromega. The price per luminaire, $1,200, is expected to be recouped from savings in electricity consumption and maintenance. For more information on LEDs check out LEDs Magazine.