StreetLightNews

The Worcester Telegram & Gazette reports that the city council of Fitchburg, Massachusetts plans to eliminate many street lights in an effort to save money. The suggestions so far propose that either one in four street lights be turned off, or the street lights should be turned on at major intersections, and shut off at half of the remaining fixtures. No suggestion related to dimming was allegedly discussed during the meetings.

The benefits of dimming are clear and well-documented. Companies offering solutions in street light management can generate energy savings of 25-40 percent through dimming and more exact burn hours. Such a solution can typically be installed in every pole or simply in the control cabinets, the latter being the most cost-friendly solution. Therefore, dimming would be a great alternative to the suggested solutions in Fitchburg, which in practice would mean that all lights can be left turned on, thus maximizing a high level of safety for the citizens while saving energy and money at the same time.

BBC News is reporting that more than 15,000 street light columns, or over 85% of the stock, will be replaced in Redcar and Cleveland, UK. The existing columns have passed their 25-year life expectancy, and another 2,500 street lights will be added over the next few years in order to raise the standard of the cities’ public lighting. It has been established that the distance between the existing lights is too large, so the additional 2,500 street lights will ensure better lid roads and improve safety for both motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians.

In Hanoi, Vietnam, the street light installations are outdated and not very energy efficient. Also, many of the poles are placed in the center of the road where they do not do pedestrians much good.
Therefore, the plan is to change 1,000 11-meter concrete poles with 9-meter aluminum ones. Furthermore, almost 2,000 bulbs will be replaced with energy-efficient bulbs (LEDs?). If the plan is approved, the lights will be changed by 2010 for the city’s 1,000-year anniversary. Read the article…

Lighting up a city’s streets is typically the single most significant energy expenditure of the city. And only few areas require the same amount of maintenance and operation resources.
With centralized control, savings of 8-10% can be achieved, but the real savings occur when the city switches to dimming. Studies and numerous experiences show that savings of 30% and above are reached, giving a pay back time of just a few years.
Follow this link to learn more about dimming technologies by e.g. power reduction and electronic ballasts.

In Wycombe, UK, it seems that the district council is having problems controlling the street light. According to the local newspaper, angry residents complain that a particular street light has been left on all day for more than five weeks, in spite of complaints from locals. A while ago, the same area had problems getting a broken light fixed, this took more than three weeks.
These cases often occur in areas where different authorities are responsible for different parts of the street light. Disagreements occur when responsiblity has to be appointed. Having a centralized control system would elimate such disputes, and could provide precise reports on the state of the street lights for the entire area.

In Warwickshire County, UK, the local newspaper reported last year that parts of the county’s street lights would be switched off in the early morning hours in order to save money. The county’s annual street lighting bill of £1.5 million could be reduced by £650,000, and this has sparked excitement among local politicians because the savings can be measured immediately. But the full switch off has resulted in protests from local inhabitants who believe that it will reduce street safety and lead to an increase in crime.
The debate has caused the county to support a proposal for a dimming pilot project instead of the full switch off. Comments from the councillors were mixed and revealed a great deal of scepticism. A Warwickshire council spokesman is quoted for saying that the cost of installing and operating a dimming system will be greater than any reduction in energy costs, but does state that this will change if the process becomes widely used.
Though the solution may be new in some areas, it is very widespread in others, and can be solidly backed by several years of excellent results, significant savings and return on investment of 1-2 years. Dimming solutions do have an initial cost, but this will quickly be outweighed by the savings on electricity and maintenance – without significant reductions in the street light quality. It seems bizarre that there are still serious considerations about lowering the street light quality through complete switch off when there are an abundance of intelligent street light providers offering well-tested and mature technologies.

In Trenton, Ohio, the cost of street lights will most likely be distributed evenly among the local residents. In an effort to cut down on the expenses in the city’s general funds, which is currently paying the $87,000 per year for street light, the residents will split the bill. This amounts to $1.50-2.00 a month. The city has had a discussion on its online forum, and has had no negative responses from residents. A similar scheme is used in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where the city will switch to LEDs, covering the cost through energy savings. However, as a first step in the plan, the city has implemented a special street light tax on downtown property owners.
These approaches to street light savings are rather unorthodox. Letting the citizens pay for the savings through taxes may be a good way of obtaining far-sighted investments in intelligent street light control and management which may otherwise be too expensive here and now.
Residents may be made increasingly aware of the actual costs of lighting and energy consumption, and at least the residents will not have to suffer from a poorer quality of street lights, such as complete switch off or turning off every other light. Read here for additional information… 

In one of the fastest growing Chinese regions, the Yangtze River Delta, the transportation infrastructure developments call for innovative solutions for energy management, including street lighting. The explosive growth in many areas of China has increased the need for installing solutions that can reduce the energy consumption and concurrently improve the quality and security of the installations.
The chosen system from Echelon, LonWorks®, will be installed in parts of the highways of Nanjing, as well as on one of the world’s longest suspension bridges, the Jiangsu SuTong Yangzi River Bridge.
The fact that the Chinese government and local authorities are concerned with coupling the massive growth and resulting increased energy consumption with energy management technologies indicates that environmental concerns are taken into consideration when planning and commissioning new projects. Read more…

In a cooperation between USAID, the United States agency for international development, and the Armenian government, a new lighting network has been installed. The infrastructure of the Armenian capital, Yerevan, is worn down and outdated and has not been upgraded for decades. This has had a very negative influence on the street light quality.
Previously, the street light was controlled in branches with only basic on/off functionalities. Each branch had to be inspected every day by technicians in order to avoid numerous outages. This procedure was not only labor-intensive, but also a very expensive practice.
Through USAID, a project involving 19 streets and 37 kilometers of line was launched in order to demonstrate the efficiency of such an installation. A centralized solution was chosen, allowing full control of the street lights from Yerevan’s lighting network center. This has enabled flexible lighting, allowing street light dimming at 1/3 and ½ of the full intensity. Daily inspections are no longer required and requests and inquiries from the central control point are immediately answered.
So far, the savings are expected to exceed the investments by 81%, allowing for a return-on-investment of approximately four years. There are plans to implement the system in the entire Armenian capital, supplying Yerevan residents with street light of significantly higher quality and reliability. The fact that it is cheaper and energy saving is an added bonus.
Source: http://armenia.usaid.gov