StreetLightNews

The city of Ann Arbor expects to spend $640,000 on new LED street lights which are expected to pay for themselves over the next 4.2 years in energy savings.

In a press release from Philips, their new energy-efficient LEDs, CosmoPolis, are praised as a breakthrough in reducing the environmental impact of street lights. The LEDs emit white light and are said to provide greater safety through increased visibility. They have been installed in a residential area and are expected to decrease power consumption by 10% compared to high-pressure sodium lamps, without compromising the lighting performance.
Compared to conventional street lights, the new installation provides a better, whiter light which can be pointed more directly to the streets, avoiding pollution of night skies. So far, CosmoPolis has been adapted by 50 European cities.
While Philips boasts about the fast payback of the LEDs, there is no information about the control of the street lights. At one time, Philips put a lot of time and effort into a centralized control system for street lights, however, such a system is not mentioned in the press release.A centralized solution makes even more sense to install after LEDs have become prevalent. LEDs typically last for 12 years when being lit for 11-12 hours per day. With high reliability, bulb changes can be based on the number of burn hours. A centralized system can easily keep track of the amount of hours the street lights have been turned on. Read more here…

The LEDs that are being tested at Manchester University have shown to last four times longer and use less than half the electricity of conventional lamps. The county council of York is positive towards the improved light source and see great potential in being able to half their annual £600,000 electricity bill on street lighting. More information 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.