Page 51 - U4SSC Simple ways to be smart

Case 7: Smart street lighting

The problem

Lighting provides access, convenience and safety, greatly enhancing the experience of the city, but
is one of the biggest expenses for most municipalities, constituting up to 40% of the total budget.
Public lighting contributes to around 19% of the electricity production and is responsible for about
6% of greenhouse gas emissions. 79

At the same time, cities are challenged to bring more services into cites such as video monitoring,
environmental monitoring, public wi-fi, public address systems, electric vehicle charging and small
cell networks like 5G.

The solution

A combination of LED’s and IoT sensors can bring significant saving for municipalities. LED-based
lighting by itself brings considerable energy savings, but autonomous operation of the lights,
based on the environment (ambient light) and human presence (motion sensors) can bring further
reductions in energy usage, as well as reducing light pollution. For example, lights can be switched
on at sunset, to a low intensity and become brighter when they sense people nearby. If the lights
are connected to a network, they can be monitored and controlled remotely. This enables efficient
maintenance and, with analysis of the usage patterns, constant improvements in the service.

At the same time, lighting poles are being re-invented as smart poles to provide additional services
on the street. They can be used to mount a range of sensors, to support digital displays and public
80
address systems, as points for EV charging and to provide Wi-Fi connectivity. Not all cities will need
all of these services, but the infrastructure provides flexibility to tailor a system to local needs.

With proper maintenance, the lifetime of a system of smart street lighting can be around 20 years.
The system starts delivering value immediately, through energy savings. The cost of such a system
will depend on the services that are included. Where existing infrastructure is retrofitted the costs
can be significantly reduced. Smart street lighting can be implemented incrementally, starting
with one area or with a limited range of services, and expanding as funds become available. A
resource-constrained city should start with some basic features as a pilot project and expand as
cost-savings are realised.

Results

Smart street lighting has been implemented in many cities with well-documented results:

• In Jaipur, India, savings of 72% in energy and a significant reduction in CO2 and light pollution
were achieved with a connected smart lighting solution. 81

• In Texel, a small Netherlands island, a 60% energy saving was achieved with reduced light
pollution and increased safety using a centrally controlled lighting system. 82

U4SSC: Simple ways to be smart 39