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LED Street Lights – Road Lighting

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Street lighting consumes a lot of energy; thus, the reduction of road lighting cost is one of the primary goals to achieve. To reach this objective, we need to consider LED road lighting with a high luminous flux, which consume less power and provide the same brightness. LED lamps can reduce energy costs up to 60%, while maintaining the same lux on the ground and illumination levels.

The result of introducing LED lighting in 12 cities across the globe (such as New York, London and Kolkata), shows that LED technology accounted for 85% of energy costs reduction.

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Replacement of traditional lamp with LED is not the cheapest solution on the act of purchasing. However, after only 1 year, you will recoup the cost through a number of advantages. If you are planning for a project in the long term (installation longer than 1 year), you should consider LED, as you will save 6 times as much as with HPS or Metal Halides, over their entire lifespan. Advantages of LED street lights include:

a. Long lifespan up to 80,000 hours compare to 26,000 hours with standard lights – costs for replacement/maintenance are reduced

b. Low energy consumption – led light consumes 4 times less energy compared to metallogaloidnym analogue

c. Dimmable control at low traffic times (brightness may be reduced for the energy saving)

d. Resistant to voltage drops

Street Lighting Control

In order to optimize energy consumption in a number of road sections, motion sensors and dimming controllers can be installed: when a pedestrian or vehicle is approaching the light, it will become brighter; when there is absence of movement, it enters sleeping mode. This helps in reducing energy consumption 50 to 80%, while it increases lamp lifespan.

Motion Sensor of Street Lights

1. Time Interval

Sensor will operate during the given period of time. Values ​​are set in intervals of 5 seconds to 10 minutes (depending on model). This is the simplest of all the settings – you need to evaluate how often people appear in a given zone, and set the time delay for this interval (with a wiggle room margin of 1 to 2 minutes). This is necessary to avoid random light switching.

2. Sensitivity

This functionality enables the light to react to movement. The higher the sensitivity of motion sensor, the better the unit reacts to movement. Basically, this parameter is set for 3 times. In addition to this, it needs to be reconfigured depending on the time of year, as the sensor may be affected by warm air rising from heating.

3. Light Level

The sensor determines when movement occurs only within established light level. It switches on the light only at the night time.

What Voltage to Choose?

The choice of power for the street lamp depends on the size of the road, which we are selecting illumination for. The larger the distance between poles and the width of the roadway, the more powerful the lamps must be.

1. For led highway lighting, poles are usually located at lengthier distances from each other and lamps are set farther away as well. In this case, we need high power led street light from 150 to 600 watts.

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2. For the illumination of minor roads, less powerful lamps can be installed. The suitable road light for this situation should be from 70 to 150 watts.

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3. For illumination of sidewalks, parks, bicycle paths, etc, the street light fixture could consist in a low-power lamp, from 30 to 80 watts.

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Color Temperature of LED Street Lights

The choice of light temperature depends on what effect we want to achieve. For highways, yellow light should be preferred; in conditions of poor visibility such as fog or blizzard, 2700-3500K temperatures will provide better coverage. Led city light for the parking areas could be cool white color 5000-6000K, due to the fact that it provides better feeling of security to pedestrians than warm colors.

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Protection for Outdoor Application

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Street lights must be resistant to different temperature and weather changes, since the alternation between day and night brings distinct climate challenges. This will ensure fixtures operate stably in different seasons. By the same token, every street light should be fully protected against dust and moisture permeating its inside. When choosing outdoor led street lights, attention should be paid that the IP rating is no less than IP 54. Above all, street lamps must have high corrosion resistance; therefore, it is necessary to make sure the device is cased in aluminum.

Heat Dissipation of Luminaires

LED lamps are resistant to various external temperatures. But what about the heat dissipation?

Like any other light source, LEDs convert electrical energy into radiation energy and produce heat. So, it is a mistake to believe that the LEDs do not generate heat. Despite the fact that LEDs do not emit it in the stream of light, they still generate it (but much less than other light sources).

Lamp with good light-emitting diodes will not be productive if the heat removal system is not good enough. It is important that the lamp can be cooled properly in order to avoid arbitrary disconnection or failure. Lamps with high-quality heat sink may cost more, but the life span of these devices and absence of necessity for service maintenance cover all expenses. If incandescent lamps should be replaced approximately every 3 years, street LED operate within 8-10 years.

In LedsUniverse our heat sink has 3 outstanding advantages. The first being that the structure comprises a pure aluminum body. The second benefit is related with the fact that the plate and the fins are a single unit, which leads to quicker heat dissipation. Lastly, our engineers have installed the fins at very specific inclined angles, which ensures that fast air flow helps the fixture to be cooled down at all times, even when turned on for many hours at a stretch.

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LedsUniverse’s street lights have a unique asymmetrical structure (flat central lens strip and two rows bent sideways in the extremities), as well as air gaps that allow wind to sift by, ensuring the required coolness.

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Street Light Poles

The distance between poles is determined by power of installed lamps. The stronger the light intensity, the lengthier the distance between supports.

There are several types of support structures for street lighting on the basis of differences in the materials used:

a. Wood

b. Metal

c. Concrete

The first of these was very popular in the past, due to the lack of more technological-advanced solutions. Today, wooden poles for street lighting are not popular and could be found only in small villages. A support structure for lamps of any type – including LED lighting residential – require not only a pillar, but also a mast.

In the case where there is no possibility to establish a support because of plants, the preferred embodiment is a rope fixing, along with cables. Simultaneously, distance between lamps should be considered.

Galvanized metal poles from 3 to 12 meters are used for lighting streets, parks, residential areas, shopping areas, parking lots. Zinc coverage protects against corrosion even if mechanical damage. Light poles more than 12 meters high are used for highways, stadiums, main city squares and so on.

All types of supports should be designed for wind speeds of up to 160 km/h. From this standpoint, metal poles are more preferred.

It is also important to know that high lamp poles are not recommended to be installed on hills, since strong gusts of wind will shake the masts and because in a storm they can be struck by lightning. Surface and ground lights are not recommended to be placed in ravines, as they might flood during winter time.

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Depending on the type of object, it is necessary to choose the appropriate layout scheme for supports. For example, if we are talking about alleys, then the location of the poles will be one-sided. In case the width of the road is more than 10 meters, installation should envision double-row rectangular approaches or checker board schemes.

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Avoid Dark Spots

Very often we see gaps in lighting coverage in the streets. This gives discomfort to chauffeurs and can cause fatigue while driving, possibly even being a trigger for the on-road accidents.

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LedsUniverse has the unique led for street lighting Ultra series, with an asymmetrical design. Because of this, the light is distributed in 3 directions, covering a large surface area. This avoids the so-called dark spots effect – or zebra effect.

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Our 80 Watt Street light LED UltraN, can replace a 250 Watt HPS High Power Sodium

Our 100 Watt Street light LED UltraN, can retrofit a 400 Watt Metal Halide

Choosing the right street lighting fixture is an important task and requires some knowledge. That’s why the best option is to cooperate with an experienced and reliable led street lighting supplier, such as LedsUniverse. Our qualified specialists advise you the best suitable solution and produce the highest quality product, which is several steps ahead of any other street light in China.

The first system of street lighting was established in Amsterdam in the XVII century by Jan van der Heijden – member of a fire brigade. The grandiose project involves the installation of more than 2500 lanterns designed by them without any help. These oil lamps were used until 1840. This successful experience was adopted by other cities. Thus in 1807, in London, were established gas street lamps that were lit up by lamplighters. The end of the XIX century was the beginning of a new era, where reigned electric lamps. In XX century, they are replaced by gas-discharge lamps used to this day.

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Today, street lighting in some areas is still not ideal during night time. We have many examples of improper light distribution and areas where there are no efficient street lights. Therefore, we need a responsible and thoughtful approach to street lighting. It is important to determine which lamp and what characteristics we need to choose to ensure safe and high quality lighting.

Outdoor lighting is fundamentally different from indoor, because of design elements, installation method and specifications.

Before we start talking about these things, let’s have a look at the basic types of lamps.

Incandescent Lamps

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Its work is carried out at the expense of heating the filament with inert gas. Incandescent lamps produce a large amount of infrared radiation (IR) and emit more heat; at the same time, they emit a small amount of visible light. This light is a very energy-intensive and short-lived therefore it’s used more and more rarely.

Halogen Lamps
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Kind of incandescent lamps, which has a halogen vapor inside. These lamps have a longer life span, but make noise and heat during operation. In case the filament shatters, the lamp will emit poisonous substances of mercury which are dangerous for the environment.

Mercury Lamps

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It uses gas discharge in mercury vapor. Unstable when voltage drops, very hot during operation and requires special recycling. Mostly used to illuminate large areas.

Metal Halogen Lamps

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The composition includes mercury, an inert gas, and halides. Heated substances are transformed into steam to produce light. It needs time to fully warm up and reach maximum brightness. After turning off, the lamp can only be restarted after having cooled down to room temperature. Attempts to turn on the hot lamp can cause device damage.

Metal halide lamps are brighter than all other types of lights introduced before, but they also produce extensive infrared and ultraviolet (UV) radiation, as well as a lot of heat.

LED Lamps

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The LEDs act as a light source. They are non-toxic, and therefore do not require special recycling. LED lamps light up instantly, don’t need to warm-up (as HPS lamps) and do not consume high inrush currents. Driver LED lamp has a high efficiency and does not generate noise during operation. They have many advantages over conventional lamps as longer life span, instant readiness for operation, lack of body heating, energy saving and many others. Unlike fluorescent lamps, LEDs do not emit harmful UV-rays that destroy the materials and coloring of paint, which makes them an ideal lighting solution.

Now we can see that LED lights have more advantages when compared to other technologies. They are more efficient, require no maintenance, and are environmentally safe. Many countries have already completely switched to LED lighting. Further we consider this type of lamps for road applications.

When choosing led road lamp, one should pay attention to the different characteristics such as energy efficiency, power, security, etc. Let’s have a look at main parameters we need to consider.

Commonly, a street light or street lamp is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or walkway. This kind of illumination system is being used from thousands of years.

The earlier street lamps were oil lamps used predominantly as they provided a long-lasting and moderate flame. These lamps were mostly used by Greek and Roman civilizations. The main purpose of those lights was to provide security: both to protect the wanderer from tripping on the path over something or keeping the potential robbers at bay.

Nowadays, the technology has evolved and there is no need to put fire any more on the streets. We are using more efficient systems to illuminate the streets and highways. The most common lamps are High Pressure Sodium (HPS) and Metal Halide (MH). These lamps offer good enough illumination at cheap price, but the electrical needs are very high as they require big amounts of power. Other problem of these lamps is that they lack of an optical system to project the light in the desired direction so they create black spots between poles.

For the past 10 years, a much more efficient technology has been growing: the LED. The LED lamps can save over 60% of energy while providing the same amount of light. Usually the LED lamps are made with multiple light sources, and in some cases (like in our company) each light source has installed special optical lenses to make even more efficient the light and eliminate black spots between poles. This technology requires a bigger investment at the beginning but it will be compensated between 6 months and two years by savings in the electricity bill. Also, the lifespan of the LED is 5-10 times longer than HPS and MH lamps so the maintenance cost is much lower.