How Do Smart Street Lighting Work?

There were days when High-Pressure Sodium (HPS) bulbs were all over the streets. According to the 2002 study by Navigant Consulting for the U.S. Department of Energy, 57.8TWh/yr was the power consumption for outdoor stationary lighting. The high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps, with 50.2TWh/yr, were major contributors to energy consumption. The massive energy requirements have made smart street lighting a necessary technology for countries worldwide.

LED lights are integral to such systems. They provide better lumens per watt (lm/W) for energy efficiency, and their electronic nature allows them to offer unique features considered impossible with traditional lighting technologies.

LED smart street lighting systems have features such as automatic GPS positioning, automatic dimming, lighting based on latitude and longitude time zones, automatic parameter upload, energy consumption statistical reports, and parameter anomaly alarms. These features combined pave the way for systematic, automated, and efficient outdoor lighting. This article will cover all the working mechanisms of smart street lighting, its benefits, and its types. Let's begin!

Smart Street Lighting System and Its Components

When we use the word "smart" to describe any system, we mean that it can collect data using sensors and make decisions based on computational output using processors. Users of smart systems can customize processing to achieve desired results.

A smart street lighting system ensures energy efficiency, lowers power consumption and decreases light pollution while enhancing public comfort. Several parts collectively perform the function of an intelligent street lighting system. Here are their details:

● Sensors

Sensors act as inputs to the lighting system, collecting data based on environmental conditions. They are mounted onto the lighting fixture or pole and provide feedback to the system. In the next section, we will explore the various types of sensors.

● Communication

Smart street lighting systems use communication methods such as Zigbee, LoRa (Long-Range), NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things), Wi-Fi, and Cellular Networks to communicate between the lights and the central control system.

● Dimmable LED Light

Any smart street lighting system requires a dimmable LED light. This light represents a major contribution to the system's power efficiency, and in the same breath to it’s overall functionality. The advantage of its ability to adjust brightness according to demand using a small electronic circuit makes its light generation method an ideal one for lighting systems.

● Processing Chip

A processing chip communicating with central control software is needed to control the lighting system. This chip changes the brightness, gathers data, monitors devices, and controls them to integrate all devices into a smart street lighting system.

● Power Supply

LED PCBs or chips work at voltage levels between 0 and 12V. Therefore, a power supply unit is required. It converts the high line voltage into the desired LED voltage based on the processing chip's requirements. These are also called drivers of LED lighting fixtures. Depending on the smart street lighting manufacturer's LED implementation, they can be 0-10V dimming, Timer, DALI, or PWM types.

● Central Controlling Software

It is user-friendly software with an interface that allows smart street lighting management through a computer or mobile device. It is also known as the Central Management System (CMS). There are many proprietary software from various lighting system manufacturers, some popular ones being Acuity Brands Atrius, Digital Lumens LumiGrid, Hubbell Lighting iLumin, Signify Interact, and Cree Lighting nLight.

Sensors for Smart Street Lighting

In a city saturated with cars and human traffic, sensors of smart street lighting systems act as eyes and ears. Instead of manually turning lights on and off, the feedback from the sensors automates the lighting system by using photocells and motion sensors. However, modern systems also include vibration and sound sensors for an integrated city management system.

❖ Ambient Light Sensor

Optical sensors are becoming an integral part of LED smart street lighting. They monitor ambient light conditions to adjust the illumination intensity or brightness. They can also turn the light off based on natural light conditions. These sensors are photovoltaic cells that produce electricity when exposed to sunlight. The light intensity falling on the photovoltaic cell converts to electricity, which acts as a signal.

❖ Pedestrian Street Light Sensors

The detection of a person walking past the light post will also lead to an increase and decrease in street light brightness. The LED smart street lighting will increase efficiency based on the implementation technique. The sensors will detect pedestrian movement and increase the brightness of the lights in front and back of the pedestrian while maintaining low brightness for the remaining path.

❖ Traffic Sensors

Running the street lights at full brightness wastes energy and resources when traffic is low at night. Traffic sensors detect oncoming vehicles and increase the brightness of the path ahead of them while reducing the brightness behind them. A fast communication protocol is needed since traffic sensor signals must reach the processing unit for rapid decision-making.

❖ Weather Street Light Sensors

The LED smart street lighting system obtains weather data and sends it to the central management system (CMS). Sensors include temperature, humidity, wind speed sensors, barometers, and rain gauges. Furthermore, modern ultrasonic sensors are compact. Installers can place them above the light fixture with little space or weight added to the assembly. This system can help city management and provide data to authorities on a grander scale.

❖ Sound Street Light Sensors

On lighting poles, city management can install sound detectors for the sake of citizens’ safety. Such guns in these detectors could detect gun shots and give the authorities geographical location where to take necessary measures. The detector sends the information using the set communication protocol to the CMS, which routes it to the designated law enforcement agency.

❖ Vibration Street Light Sensors

Vibration sensors for earthquake detection can also be installed above streetlights to detect and take necessary action ahead of time. They can provide live data from various locations for in-depth analysis and accurate responses.

Working Mechanism of Smart Street Lighting System

The working mechanism of a smart street lighting system involves using a controller, lighting, power, communication, and other detection components. All of the components are continuously communicating with the controller.

The sensors send data to the controller, which converts it to digital form for transmission and control. The controller also communicates with the power module for the adjustment of the brightness of the LED lighting or perform the ON/OFF function. As mentioned in the earlier section, it generates alerts for the CMS system and provides data using a communication protocol, such as 4G, WiFi, or any other.

Benefits of LED Smart Street Lighting

LED-based smart street lighting systems provide massive economic, safety, and personalization advantages that traditional lighting systems cannot achieve. Here are some of the key benefits of smart LED lighting:

• Energy Efficiency: Reduces energy consumption by using motion detectors and dimming features to provide illumination only when needed.
• Cost Savings: It reduces electricity costs by 50-75% and provides fast ROI.
• Public Safety: Enhances safety through better illumination and integrating sensors that detect gunshots and monitor traffic.
• Data Collection: Gathers critical data to help cities make well-informed decisions and improve usability for residents.
• Scalability and Flexibility: Easy to scale and adapt to the smart city of tomorrow without requiring complete changes to the city’s infrastructure.
• Environmental Impact: Lower CO2 emissions to support your sustainability goals.
• Maintenance Improvements: Facilitates remote monitoring and reduces maintenance costs through real-time updates and alerts.
• Urban Development: Forms the foundation for smart city infrastructure, enabling air quality monitoring, traffic control, public Wi-Fi, and more.
• Economic Benefits: Increases local business revenue and reduces crime rates through improved urban environments.
• Long Lifespan: Due to the longevity of LED light bulbs - up to 20 years - they replace often, and thus costly, fewer times.

Case Studies of LED Smart Street Lighting

Numerous case studies have proven the feasibility of LED smart street lighting systems. Various cities worldwide are adopting the technology, and the results are worth discussing. Here are some of the cases:

1. Chicago

Chicago is leading with a $160 million project to replace 85% of its public lights with smart street lights. The initiative projects to lower energy consumption by 50-75%.

2. Los Angeles

80% of Los Angeles roadways now have smart street lights installed. The connected lights have LED bulbs, 4G LTE wireless connectivity, and sensors to detect gunshots and other threats. In the first year, LA has seen a 63% reduction in energy costs and improved city-wide cell service.

3. Dallas, TX

The Smart Cities Living Lab program features 23 smart street lights with LED bulbs and devices for parking management, lawn irrigation, and air quality for Dallas' West End Historic District. However, the results include a 35% drop in energy costs, a 12% rise in local business revenue, and a 6% drop in crime. If Dallas fully implements the technology across its 85,000 lights, it could save about $90 million annually.

4. Schenectady, NY

Using LED lights, Schenectady is deploying smart street lighting with a motion sensor to dim during no traffic. The entire network is accessible via a secure web browser. HD cameras on light posts improve traffic flow and citizen safety. The mayor is exploring additional ways to leverage IoT technology for city maintenance and infrastructure improvements.

5. Yasi, Romania

The Smart Street Lighting Project in Yasi, Romania, aims to transform street lights in the suburbs. Initially, over 8,000 smart street lights were installed by management, and smart energy-saving modes and automatic dimming were adopted to reduce power consumption by more than 50%. CHZ Lighting, in collaboration with Zhejiang Fangda Intelligent Control Co., Ltd., has launched intelligent lighting street lamps using the latest 4G interconnection technology. The system uses a centralized controller to upload signals to the cloud, allowing remote monitoring and dimming control via server and mobile terminals.

6. Suceava, Romania

In Suceava, Romania, CHZ Lighting has installed over 1,600 ST29-30W smart street lights in the city and its towns. Utilizing the latest 4G interconnection technology, each street light is part of an interconnected group, with signals uploaded to the cloud by a centralized controller. The result is a way to keep owners in charge of and even manage the lights remotely to operate the lights and save vast amounts of energy efficiently. The project has been well received, greatly improving lighting quality, reducing electricity consumption, and simplifying maintenance.

CHZ Lighting Smart Street Lighting Advantages

If you are looking for a reliable brand for your smart street lighting project, then CHZ lighting is the way to go. They incorporate many otherwise impossible features on a traditional lighting system. Here are the key advantages of partnering with CHZ lighting for a comprehensive setup of street lighting:

• CAT4 for Communication: Using full-band 4G communication for reliable connection enables GPS automatic positioning of the streetlight SIM card.
• Data Transmission: These lights can automatically provide energy consumption statistical reports and automatically upload parameters.
• Alarm System: The LED controllers send a signal to the CMS of any parameter anomaly that can reduce maintenance personnel visiting charges.
• Control Circuit: Automatic diming based on three techniques: 0-10V / Timer / DALI. The lights can automatically detect geo-position (latitude and longitude) to turn LEDs ON/OFF with sunrise and sunset.
• Premium SMD LED Chips: Uses high-quality Philips 3050 or 5050 chips for superior >160Lm/W light efficiency.
• Robust Drivers: All CHZ LED lights use MW drivers, one of the industry's leading ones.
• Certifications: CHZ manufactures its LED products using standardized technology and international certifications, including CE, CB, ENEC+, ENEC, ROHS, ISO9001, ISO14001, ISO50001, and ISO45001.
• IP Ratings: CHZ lighting produces enclosures that provide IP66 / IK09 ratings for water, sand, and impact resistance.
• Lifetime: CHZ Lighting modules offer 50000+ of service life.

Conclusion

Smart street lighting technology is now proven and well-established. Many examples prove the viability of these systems for modern urban development. You can incorporate weather, sound, lighting, earthquake, and proximity sensors to make a robust system that protects authorities with extensive field conditions in cities. They can reduce energy bills and helps control crime through gunshot detectors.

The lighting system may include public alert modules, cameras, digital signage, and other street light applications. The fast 4G connectivity in the CHZ lighting smart street devices unlocks the massive potential to incorporate more sensors and devices into the unit. Visit the CHZ lighting website to find a wide range of solutions ideal for smart street lighting. We hope you find products for your next big smart street lighting project!