UK wireless technology developer Telensa will provide smart streetlight controls for 64,000 LED lights around Edinburgh, UK, as part of the city’s energy efficiency strategy.
Like many UK cities, the City of Edinburgh is pursuing a number of solutions to improve energy efficiency, data collection, automation and connectivity across a variety of sectors. Introducing smart streetlight controls, which can be linked to motion sensors and ensure streets are only lit when they are in use by pedestrians, is one cutting edge strategy that could deliver significant benefits.
The deployment of the new smart streetlight controls in 64,000 lights across the city is already underway, and is expected to be complete by the end of 2020. Telensa is also installing its wireless central management system, PLANet, which includes wireless nodes connecting individual lights, dedicated wireless connectivity and a management application which allows lights to be controlled remotely.
What are the advantages of wirelessly controlled lighting systems?
One of the primary advantages is that the system is able to track the performance of all streetlights in real time, allowing faults to be quickly identified, tracked and rectified. This removes the need to carry out surveillance patrols to identify broken lights. Because all lights are being tracked at once, their energy consumption can be measured, leading to the possibility of more accurate energy bills.
Further, the system ultimately pays for itself in the reduction of energy and maintenance costs that it delivers, and establishes an infrastructure framework for further smart city development: once connected, streetlight poles can act as hubs for smart city sensors.
What does Edinburgh hope to achieve with the new system?
In the words of Will Gibson, founder of Telensa, the rollout of the new smart streetlight control system is only the first step towards implementing a wide variety of smart city innovations across Edinburgh: “We are working with our partners in Edinburgh to deliver an efficient and smart street lighting control system, one that will be responsive to citizens’ needs for decades to come. We’re looking forward to working together build a new generation of smart city applications, all enabled by the city’s lighting network.”
