San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and PG&E recently demonstrated streetlights installed on Turk Street (between Taylor and Jones) in the Tenderloin District, networked using Echelon’s LonWorks technology. The new LED streetlights, remotely controlled and monitored, promise to reduce the city’s energy and maintenance costs while improving lighting quality and safety. Streetlights are among a city’s most expensive assets, accounting for almost 40% of its electricity costs, according to Echelon.
The solution featured new LED streetlights from BetaLED embedded with Echelon’s power line signaling technology, allowing communication and control of the streetlights over the existing power lines. Echelon’s i.LON SmartServer is the segment controller, monitoring and controlling the streetlights from anywhere, at anytime over an IP connection. During the demonstration, Mayor Newsom used an iPhone to control and monitor the streetlights. Mayor Newsom also demonstrated a capability unique to LED lights and individual lamp control–the ability to “strobe” the lamps on and off. Tying such a capability to emergency services could add benefits such as enabling response teams to easily locate the site of an incident. A similar pilot project was completed in 2008 on Beale Street in San Francisco and was jointly developed by Echelon, PG&E and BetaLED.
“Networked street lighting systems have been shown to reduce energy use by up to 40%, while improving citizen safety, dramatically lowering maintenance costs, and providing to-the-minute confirmation of lighting performance and availability,” said Anders Axelsson, Echelon’s senior VP of sales and marketing. “Like many energy and cost efficiency solutions, smart, networked streetlighting is not a question of invention, it is a matter of applying today’s technology and products in innovative ways to yield immediate and impressive results.”
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom prepares to control streetlights equipped with Echelon control networking technology using an iPhone over the Web.
“Municipalities and utilities are looking for immediate ways to reduce cost,” said Al Ruud, president of Beta Lighting. “BetaLED provides lower total cost of ownership than traditional sources by reducing energy and maintenance costs. When Echelon’s technology is added, energy and maintenance savings potentials are further enhanced, freeing up funds for other budgetary expenses.”
Click here to learn more about the control system. Click here to learn more about BetaLED’s streetlights.
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