StreetLightNews

In Menasha, Wisconsin, an energy saving proposal was approved last week. With a no-interest loan from the city-owned utility’s power suppplier, WPPI, they expect a fast payback based on annual energy savings.

According to Don Merkes, Mayor in Menasha, the project has the potential of saving $60,000 annually, divided between energy savings from new bulbs and savings on maintenance.

If the calculations are correct, the payback will be les than three years.

The article does not mention whether the city is also planning on installing a centralized control solution.

Read more in the local newspaper here.

In Vietnam, authorities are working on a draft law on improving and streamlining energy use. Currently, the country wastes an estimated US$ 1 million worth of energy every day due to inefficient energy usage.

Putting this money towards solutions in the LV grid such as substation monitoring and intelligent streetlight control would be a simple and fast way of installing energy saving solutions that pay for themselves relatively fast.

In Ho Chi Minh City, energy saving measures within streetlight have had a significant impact on the city’s CO₂ emissions. In the first half of 2009, Ho Chi Minh City has saved approximately 114.8 million kWh of electricity, according to the Director of the municipal Energy Conservation Center (ECC), Huynh Kim Tuoc.

In 2008, the city replaced 131,000 incandescent bulbs with more energy efficient bulbs, saving 220 million kWh.

The city expects to replace the remaining 200,000 incandescent bulbs by the compact bulbs by next year for the local public lighting.

Individual talks and strategic sessions with the key players in the lighting industry has led to the conclusion that the timing for the upcoming Light Middle East edition, which was to be held at the Dubai International Convention & Exhibition Centre from September 27-29, 2009, would instead be preferred in autumn 2010. Exact dates will follow.

South Korean Jongoh Lee presents a new innovative and environmentally friendly street light solution. The solution features a solar-powered unit that charges during the day, but what is truly spectacular about the solution is that it installs directly onto a branch of a tree. The street light unit is shaped like a branch with four leaves, thus blending in with the tree that it is installed onto.

During daytime, ‘the branch‘ is barely noticed, but at night, ‘the branch’ comes to life with the help of a luminance sensor. This solution seems easy to install, and the environmental benefits are obvious.

However, a few questions remain unanswered. How well do the units charge the solar panels through tree crowns? Since the units are not bolted down, how does one prevent citizens from stealing the units?

The city of Peterborough is attempting to become UKs green capital. One way of achieving this is to dim the streetlights. The City Council is considering dimming in order to substantially reduce their carbon footprint. See more at Peterborough Today.

However, only lights on parkways would be dimmed, not residential area streetlights, where they would remain on full blast. With the dimming technologies available, it would make sense to dim streetlights everywhere, not just on parkways and motorways. One of the city councillors states in the article that dimming is not something that should be used on all roads. It seems that they still have some research to do over at Peterborough.

Five new street lighting research projects focus on establishing new standards and best practices for the lighting industry.

Roger Elphick, chairman of the UK Lighting Board, points out that the initiative is important because it creates a joint effort towards energy management and an increased focus on minimizing the carbon footprint that comes from street lighting.

Included in the five projects are topics such as reviewing the quality of street light and determining the appropriate lighting levels for different situations. Also, there will be a project focusing on financial returns and improving the efficiency of lighting systems and energy cost reductions.

The projects are all set to be completed in Spring 2008. We will follow up on the results at this site.For more information regarding the article at the Institution of Lighting Engineers, read more here…  

At the Spring Mountain Ranch community in Nevada, a rather unconventional solution has been chosen for powering the community’s street light.

A total of 992 lamps are running on natural gas, and since they are not equipped with the technology to be turned off, they burn 24 hours a day, summer and winter.

This comes at a high cost for the community, and the residents are picking up the tab. A resident from the homeowner’s association reports that one month’s gas bill comes to $17,500. This equals $17 per lamp per month. Electricity-powered street lights in the area cost between $3 and $6 a month.

Abandoning the solution is not really an option as the gas company will charge $240 per lamp to be retrofitted to electricity. So for now, the lights will stay on 24h.

Read the article here… 

A growing number of people are convinced that they possess the ability to affect street lights by their mere presence. The phenomenon is known as Street Light Interference, hence SLIders.

SLIders report that they have a paranormal effect on both street lights and electrical applicances. I know of several companies making modules for improved street light control. Someone should pitch this idea to them: Make a module that prevents the lights from turning off when they are passed by a SLIder, and sell the world’s first SLIder-proof street light system.

Read the full article on the phenomenon here…

American-based Civil Twilight Collective works with exploring how our built, urban environment can apply natural phenomena in a practical way. One of their ideas is to involve the lunar cycle when lighting up the streets.
The lunar-resonant streetlights will sense and respond to the moon, dimming and brighting according to the particular phase the moon is in. The Civil Twilight Collective states on their website that the project will save energy and lower light pollution, giving urban dwellers a better experience of the lunar cycle.
Great idea, but I wonder if it is efficient enough. Each luminaire is equipped with a photosensor, so I suppose they can adjust for clouds. And the cost of equipping every street light with a photocell, dimmer and LED cluster? Must be high.

The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA), being very active in preserving or restoring the dark skies by eliminating light pollution, has recently introduced an ordinance for small communities, urban neighborhoods and subdivisions. The ordinance describes how outdoor night light can be effective and reasonable without polluting the surroundings with excess light.
The purpose of IDA is to minimize the effects of light pollution, including energy waste, harm to ecosystems, poor nightime ambience, reduced visibility at night and  to educate everyone about the values of quality outdoor lighting.
Read the ordinance here…