The UK’s 7.4 million street lights soak up around 30% of the energy budgets of local authorities. Over a year the total cost of switching on street lights night after night is a staggering £300m.
Yet only 10% of our street lights are fitted with the next generation LRDs, which can cut energy bills by two thirds and as the same time significantly reduce carbon emissio0ns. But now this is changing as city after city is realising the huge benefits that come from replacing old street lights with new LED technologies.
Although our designs are traditional, our thinking on technology is as up to the minute as you can get. We still work with standard HPS systems but are increasingly incorporating the latest LED technologies as an alternative. Our principal LED partner is Philips Lighting, a company with an outstanding reputation for quality.
In today’s age of tight budgets and low carbon, the adoption of LEDs can free up cash for other local authority services, reduce maintenance costs and cut greenhouse emission all at the same time.
Key features and benefits
We offer a range of LED solutions, in particular the Philips Fastflex Gen2. This system is built up from an LED board with lens strip and xitanium ballast. It delivers 135 lumens when running at 350Ma (although this is lower when fitted because of obstructions such as lenses, glazing and the lantern framework).
Key features
- Thermal protection against overheating
- Future proof – can be upgraded to include more energy efficient components in later years
- Various lenses available for varying applications
- Multiple strips can be installed within most luminaries
- Driver has a range of features including constant light output, dimming profiles and DALI interface
- Photometric data available
Key benefits
- Exceptionally efficient light source with energy savings of over 60% when compared with conventional technologies.
- Ability to be dimmed to any specific level easily and linearly. Avoids early period over-illumination.
- LEDs cast even, directional light, with no optical power wasted. It is estimated that as much as 30 per cent of current street lighting is inefficiently dispersed upwards.
- LEDs can be digitally controlled instantaneously via CMS.
- Copes with power fluctuations more robustly.
- At present LED’s are up to 90% recyclable and do not contain lead, mercury or other heavy metals.
LEDs provide up to 100,000 hours of light. The figure for standard bulbs is just 15,000 hours.
Switching all of the UK’s lights to LEDs could prevent up to 475,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere, the equivalent of taking 200,000 cars off the road.
Philips Fastflex Gen2
Philips Xitanium constant current LED driver
LED drivers
We work with the most innovative LED drivers from a wide range of manufacturers, in particular Philips.
These electronic devices provide the vital control that is key to unlocking energy savings in any LED street lighting project. They provide constant current output with both central and stand-alone dimming protocols. For unrivalled design freedom, some drivers are fully programmable. We would be pleased to advise you on the most suitable drivers for your lighting system.
Los Angeles undertakes world’s largest LED retro-fit
In 2011 Los Angeles embarked on the world’s most ambitious LED street lighting conversion project in partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative. This followed a global trial of LED street lighting n a dozen cities. Stage 1 of the Los Angeles project involved fitting LED fixtures to 140,000 standard street lights. In stage 2, LED fixtures were fitted to 70,000 decorative lamps.
The results of the conversion were spectacular.
- 63.3% electricity savings over the previous HPS lights.
- Reduced maintenance costs: pre-LED, an average of 70,000 lighting repair and maintenance call-outs were logged per year. Post-LED, the figure dropped to 46,300.
- LED lights last longer: 10 – 15 years compared to 4 – 6 years for standard lights.
- Reduced failure rate: 0.2% compared to 10% for standard lights.
Glasgow City Council now following the Los Angeles example
Glasgow is to press ahead with a programme to switch 10,000 street lights to LEDs. These will be along the city’s main arterial roads. Stage 2 of the project will extend LEDs to a further 60,000 lights.