They light and direct our paths of travel, leading us safely through cities and residential neighborhoods. Relied on 24/7, street and traffic lights are essential public commodities, however, they represent a large source of energy consumption and subsequent expense to the service ratepayer. Large cities with thousands of intersections can easily spend several million dollars a year on electricity for traffic signals alone.
New and retrofit lighting projects have illuminated new savings opportunities for cities that update their less efficient lighting systems. Street and traffic light changeovers in Chicago, Portland, and Ann Arbor have reduced energy use by 50 to 85%, effectively saving between $335,000 and $2.55 million annually, and preventing a combined total of 28,880 tons in CO2 emissions.
Credit: Stewart, Lewis - PG&E
Local governments can upgrade to high-quality, solid-state lighting (SSL) or light-emitting diodes (LEDs) to meet city lighting needs. LEDs last 3 times longer than traditional high-pressure sodium street lights and, in traffic signal units, use 40% less energy. With lower technology costs and improved efficiency, payback time is competitive enough for investments to be cost effective.
Making the switch not only reduces energy use and operation and maintenance costs, it also provides brighter, more uniform, and thus, higher quality light emission, improving overall street safety.
If you are tasked with evaluating new strategies for public lighting improvements in your local government, resources are available to help you maneuver your way towards successful implementation:
Are you in the process of developing and implementing energy efficient street and traffic lighting projects? Please, share your experiences with us!
Content for this Blog post courtesy of Scott Regenthal, National Renewable Energy Laboratory