Cities test smart public lighting

We are very close to Switzerland, and I am writing you an article that I read this morning in "LE MATIN", the famous daily newspaper of this country.

 LAMPS - Street lighting costs CHF 160 million per year in Switzerland. It would be possible to save half of it by changing certain habits. French-speaking towns like Yverdon have already adapted and larger agglomerations are preparing for it.

Nighttime lighting is becoming ever more intelligent and more efficient. An inescapable movement especially as Switzerland will align itself with the Ecodesign directive for energy-consuming products of the European Commission. This directive will in particular ban the sale of mercury vapor bulbs from 2015.

Some towns and municipalities in both French-speaking and German-speaking Switzerland did not wait to install LED-based public lighting (Light Emitting Diode) in certain streets. Yverdon took the plunge a few years ago and the city of Winterthur is trying it out with a test phase on a cycle path, explains the local daily Landbote.

LED lamps will replace the existing models but they will also have the right to sensors that will be triggered when pedestrians or cyclists pass. If successful, this system could foreshadow the night lighting of the city of 100 inhabitants.

Landquart decided in 2011

The advantages of LEDs are numerous and interesting for a municipality: in addition to a price which is becoming more and more affordable, with mass production helping, and a markedly lower consumption, LED lighting systems allow a total variation of the light intensity and above all, they offer almost instantaneous ignition.

More and more cantons are also tackling the issue, such as Berne, which is examining the principle of light on demand in various pilot projects. Nighttime lighting is still a real energy drain, says cantonal engineer Stefan Studer, but the use of LED lamps should gradually improve the situation.

Many municipalities in Basel-City or Zurich have already launched test programs based on LED technology. Landquart in Graubünden took the plunge in 2011 by replacing all of its street lighting. Consumption was reduced by 60% and the new installations should pay for themselves in eight years.

LEDs yes, but not everywhere

The first findings are therefore encouraging, but it emerges that the use of LEDs is not recommended in places requiring strong light. However, municipalities can turn to SAFE, the Swiss agency for energy efficiency, which offers various examples of public lighting management.

According to the agency, nighttime streetlights represent 1,5% of global consumption and generate annual costs close to 160 million francs per year. This amount could be halved by choosing new technologies and adapted piloting systems.

spring in the morning

Article Pascal Schmuck,

PIR photography