One thousand LED streetlights were recently installed in a resort town in Spain, reported Seoul Semiconducter, Inc. “Streets will be brighter, tourists safer, and electrical bills lesser,” their story begins.
Apparently, the new LED lights were installed in the municipality of Rafelbunyol and are part of a larger movement to replace existing light bulbs on streets and in public facilities throughout the country with high-quality, energy-efficient LED lighting.
The city of Valdez, Alaska has joined the Cree LED City initiative, an international program that promotes the deployment of energy-efficient LED lighting, Cree announced earlier this week. Valdez is in the process of converting all 343 of its street lights to utilize LED technology.
The mayor of Valdez, Bert Cottle, said the new LED lights will achieve 45 percent or higher energy savings when compared with the high-pressure sodium lights being replaced. “As we look ahead and anticipate rising energy costs, investing in LED technology becomes even more attractive,” he said. “Community feedback on the initial lights has been overwhelmingly positive. Valdez citizens like the quality and color of the new LED lights and they are happy about the projected energy and maintenance cost savings.”
Los Angeles joins the growing list of cities converting conventional streetlights to LED technology. The City plans to retrofit a total of 140,000 LED fixtures in local and residential neighborhoods over the course of the next five years as part of the green streetlight program.
The LED streetlights are estimated to reduce L.A.’s energy usage by 40 percent as well as lower carbon dioxide emissions by 40,500 tons per year (roughly the equivalent of taking 6,700 cars of the road).
Fairview is the first town in Texas to build a street exclusively lit by LED lighting, according to a press release from Cree, Inc. Additionally, Fairview joined the LED City initiative, an international program that promotes the deployment of energy-efficient LED lighting. The city’s newly constructed, four-lane Fairview Parkway, features 82 LED street lights.
“Fairview is proud to join the LED City initiative with the opening of the first new street in Texas lit entirely by LED street lights,” said Mayor Sim Israeloff. “The quality of light is superior even to what we anticipated and is far better than what could have been provided by traditional lighting. In addition to better light quality, the town can reduce maintenance costs, improve safety, practically eliminate light pollution, and dramatically reduce energy consumption.”
Chapel Hill, N.C. has joined Cree’s LED City initiative, an international program to promote and deploy energy-efficient LED lighting, according to a recent press release.
Chapel Hill, home to the University of North Carolina, recently installed LED streetlights along the high-profile 100 block of Franklin Street, one of the town’s most recognizable landmarks. Specifically, the town is engaging in a 12-month pilot program which will include replacing 10 conventional streetlights with LED fixtures as well as solitciting feedback from residents regarding the quality of lighting. Expected energy savings is projected at 50 percent or more.
In Romeo, Michigan, the local Downtown Development Authority (DDA) recently investigated and discussed the option of using LED lights to replace their current streetlights. Unfortunately, according to DDA Coordinator Janine Saputo, the timing just wasn’t right — yet. The process did, however, inspire her to pursue alternative LED solutions for the city’s streetlights. While it seems as though Saputo is ready to implement greener technologies, others are not as enthusiastic about the efficient, new technology. In fact, some are concerned about negatives outweighing positives when making the switch to LEDs.
“We’re not sure whether these streetlights are readily adaptable,” said Paul Reiz, a DDA liaison. “You’ll find that a lot of light fixtures aren’t easily adaptable to the LEDs and could shorten the life of them.” Ruiz also expressed concern that the LED lights would be too bright.
On February 16, President Clinton announced that the Outdoor Lighting Program of the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) is working with Los Angeles on the largest LED street lighting retrofit project ever undertaken by a city to date. Over a five-year period, the City of Los Angeles’ Bureau of Street Lighting will replace 140,000 existing streetlight fixtures in the city with LED (light-emitting diode) units that not only will improve L.A.’s lighting quality and reduce its electricity use, but also will help the city to save money in the process.
While typical streetlight lamps will last from four to six years, LED fixtures have a longer life span, estimated from 10 to 12 years. The new, white-light LED streetlight units are more durable and damage-resistant than other technologies. This not only will reduce the frequency and cost to repair streetlight fixtures, but also will provide L.A. with considerable savings in labor and material. The improved equipment life also means that fixtures will more reliably light streets and sidewalks for city residents.
The Levi ski resort in Finland will become the first district in the country to install LED street lighting, according to an OSRAM press release. A total of 3,840 LEDs and oval lenses, supplied by OSRAM Opto Semiconductors, will be installed in 64 lamps providing “a pleasant light with exceptional efficiency.”
First: “exceptional efficiency.” “This street lighting system fits perfectly with the concept of energy savings,” writes OSRAM. “The local authority is investing heavily in its regional infrastructure, placing great emphasis on innovation and sustainability.”
