StreetLightNews

In Hanoi, Vietnam, the street light installations are outdated and not very energy efficient.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…

In order to increase the safety of night-time driving on UK motorways, and additionally lower CO2 emissions, the Lancashire County Council decided to equip a stretch of motorway M65 with a dimmable lighting system controlled by traffic flow. The system can be dimmed with up to 30%, and is equipped with an intelligent controller and a two-way remote communication facility. Additionally, it offers individual control of luminaires, event reports and constant monitoring functions of the installation.
The project came about when lighting fixtures at a specific stretch of the motorway had to be renewed. The previous installation was controlled by photocells mounted at each feeder pillar, switching the lights on and off through a contactor. The lighting levels were constant throughout the night. The luminaires in the old installation were also emitting excess light beyond the boundaries of the highway, contributing to light pollution in the surrounding area.A replacement plan was implemented in order to link the lighting level to the traffic flow, reduce the power consumption and to monitor possible lamp defects.
Through already existing traffic counters which continuously monitor the amount of cars on the motorway, the lighting levels are adjusted to preset levels depending on the traffic flow.With more than 3,000 cars per hour, the lighting level was kept full on. With 1,500 to 3,000 cars per hour, the lights were dimmed to 75, and with less than 1,500 cars, lights were dimmed to 50%.
The new luminaires allow for ‘soft’ switching when shifting from one level to another, avoiding sudden changes in the lighting levels. Additionally, traffic safety is judged to be increased because dimming, opposed to e.g. turning off every other light as a savings measure, provides protection from a flickering or strobing effect.The completed pilot has shown that not only has the stretch of motorway gained better lighting quality and improved control, CO2 emissions are lowered 274 tons to 129 tons through a combination of the dimming, traffic flow control and the new luminaires. Read more here…

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 New Zealand, as in several other countries around the world, the operator of the street lights is not necessarily owner of the cables that supply power to the poles.
Take Rotorua, for example. While the Rotorua District Council is responsible for maintaining the poles and the light bulbs, the cables supplying power to the network is owned by a power company.
Due to a disagreement over areas of responsibilities, a simple repair of the street lights in a particular stretch of the road took over eight weeks. This is often the case when the operator and manager of the street lights is not also the owner of the entire infrastructure for the power network. Also, it makes it significantly more complicated to install central control systems.
It is surprising that the council is not working harder on establishing a method for optimized street light control. The single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions from local councils (30-50%), and the prospect of significant energy savings combined with an improved quality of light should have them clapping their hands. Read the article here…  

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 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

A UK study has been initiated in order to identify the effects of street lighting on crime levels. The study concludes on findings of various related reports from a time period of several decades.The findings reveal that improved lighting immediately lead to an increase in the perceived public safety. This encourages more people to use the streets at night, which again intensifies natural surveillance.
Generally, people sense that a well-lit area is safer than one that is dark.When certain areas are made more bright at night, it also deters potential offenders from committing crimes because their risk of being recognized or interrupted during their criminal activities is increased.Thus, street lighting improvements are a tangible alteration to the surroundings which can act as a catalyst to lower crime rates through changes in perceptions, attitudes and behaviors of residents and potential offenders. The image of the location might improve, giving locals and offenders the impression of increased control and order. This again might have a positive effect on community confidence.
Depending on the crime problem, it is concluded in the study that improved street lighting can often be implemented as an inexpensive and effective crime-reducing measure. Read the full report here…