With cheap energy why change to LED streetlighting?
Stavanger in Norway has some of the cheapest electricity in Europe at only 0,02 Euro/kW/hr. Even with significant reductions in energy from using LEDs over conventional light sources, payback times were still quite long so why did they change?
Background
Lyse Elnett, the municipalities owned Energy Company, develops and operates all public lighting in Stavanger and its neighbouring 11 municipalities.
In total, there are 72,000 lighting points, but Stavanger is the largest with 27,000. Stavanger is also seen as the initiator for new solutions.
Testing of LEDs was started in 2008 and in 2012, a political decision was made in Stavanger to use LEDs for replacing existing light sources and for all new ones to. So far 1,200 LED luminaires have been installed.
Reasons for change
To achieve a “green” future, energy saving energy is always important. From 2016 – 2019 over 6,500 mercury vapour lamps, MBF/U, will be replaced in Stavanger. This gives a 60% reduction in energy consumption, and even more if combined with smart control systems.
The white light and improved colour rendering gives a better quality of light compared with conventional light sources such as high pressure sodium. This improved quality means increased security for people and gives them a better sense of well-being.
The much longer life of LEDs means that maintenance costs are greatly reduced because lamps are replaced much less frequently.
With LED there is also a great opportunity to direct the light to where it is needed.
What to look for when choosing an LED streetlight
From the Stavanger experience, the important issues are good quality luminaires in terms of:
- Technical design
- The materials used
- Low glare
- Long lifetime
- Reliability
- Futureproof
It is also important that the manufacturer have representatives in Norway so they easily can give support and advice.
Lyse Elnett do their own lighting design calculations, so photometric plug-ins for design must be available from the luminaire manufacturers. Good lighting solutions are important both for the attractiveness of the city and for the safety and wellbeing of the citizens.
Improvements for the future
The next stage is to introduce a cloud based central management system. This communicates with field-installed units through the internet, mobile network and license-free ISM radio. The solution enables central management of individual and clusters of luminaires.
Further energy savings can be made by dimming when there is no need for the maximum illumination level/light output. Beyond that, it will be possible for the smart system to interact with the end users and public authorities. The lights can be dimmed when there is little pedestrian or vehicle traffic and it can be boosted to 100% output when there is an emergency.
The smart system will also allow the artificial light to work together with the natural light in a way that will improve the citizens’ health and wellbeing. This will also give better solutions for the impact of light on the natural environment.
Smart lighting systems can also bring us further on our way towards a Smart City concept for Stavanger. The system has to be futureproof. This means that we can add various sensors, cameras and in this way, offer new services and added value for the citizens.