LED streetlights - more light, less energy

Cash for Clunkers gets all the press, but cities across America are also taking advantage of  federal resources to invest in energy-saving technology.  These investments will improve the quality of life for residents while easing the long term burdens on taxpayers – and they also mean important opportunities for green businesses.

The city of Palo Alto recently launched a small pilot program to test the effectiveness of a new, smart streetlight system.  They are replacing a small number of High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lights with Light Emitting Diode (LED) lamps, and they are also partnering with San Jose-based technology company Echelon to equip the new lights with the company’s power line networking technology and segment controllers.

The new LED lamps last longer and use about 40 percent less energy than HPS streetlights.  Further, the Echelon technology system allows for the remote management of streetlights, dimming them when less light is needed or increasing light when necessary. The system has other meaningful uses beyond energy conservation.

“This software can be integrated with city planning software such as parks and recreation reservations,” says Steve Ngyuen, a spokesperson for Echelon.  So it’s not at all far-fetched to create a system that schedules higher light levels around little league fields for night games wherein the lumen output degree and timing is triggered by the park reservation system. Another example is an emergency service that causes the LED lamps to strobe at the location of an accident or other incident.  Yet another, is to dim the lights in the absence of pedestrian traffic, and raise them when people are detected.”

Palo Alto joins cities like Anchorage, San Francisco, and San Jose in similar partnerships. But the city hasn’t stopped with Echelon when looking for partners. “We were able to secure assistance from lighting experts at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to provide technical input to the pilot project at no cost to the City,” says Christine Tam, the pilot project manager in Palo Alto. “We plan to issue a joint report with PNNL on the pilot results later this year.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Tam reports the City has applied for the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant administered by the Department of Energy and plans to use a portion of the grant funding (approximately $450,000) to replace between 600 to 750 units of the HPS fixtures with LED fixtures. She says the expected annual energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reduction from these new streetlights are approximately 185 MWh and 74 metric tons respectively. If the City replaces its entire inventory of HPS fixtures (6,300), total annual energy savings and greenhouse gas emissions reductions are estimated at 1,500 MWh and 600 metric tons respectively.

While Echelon does not release the financial details of its individual projects, it’s clear that companies like Echelon are strengthening their position as the vendors of choice as municipalities take advantage of the newly-greened mindset in Washington.