Energy Saving Potential of Traffic-Regulated Street Lighting

Some municipalities switch off street lights for several hours at night to save energy and reduce operating costs as a consequence of soaring electricity prices in Europe. Complete darkness in the streets raises public concern about safety and security. The current street lighting standard EN 13201...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2023-04, Vol.15 (8), p.6750
Main Authors: Balázs, László, Braun, Ferenc, Lengyel, József
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cameras
Case studies
City planning
Control
Design and construction
Dimming
Electricity
Electricity pricing
Energy conservation
Energy consumption
Energy management systems
Energy use
Environmental aspects
Environmental impact
Hungary
Light pollution
Lighting
Lighting systems
Luminance
Municipalities
Operating costs
Pattern analysis
Power
Prices
Public concern
Roads
Roads & highways
Sensors
Statistical analysis
Street lighting
Traffic
Traffic accidents & safety
Traffic volume
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Summary:Some municipalities switch off street lights for several hours at night to save energy and reduce operating costs as a consequence of soaring electricity prices in Europe. Complete darkness in the streets raises public concern about safety and security. The current street lighting standard EN 13201 enables the road luminance to be reduced in parallel with diminishing traffic volume offering a viable tradeoff between energy saving and road safety. This paper presents a methodology to estimate the energy-saving potential of traffic-regulated street lighting based on traffic counting data. By analyzing traffic volume and composition collected from an urban street over the one-year period, we found that traffic sensor-regulated street lighting can deliver up to 55% reduction in electricity costs while maintaining road luminance in line with the recommendations of EN 13201-2. In the presented case, the daily traffic volume profiles were remarkably stable following either a workday or a holiday pattern. Statistical analysis showed that 45% energy saving could be achieved by the pre-programmed dimming schedule of the luminaires while remaining compliant with the standard. The effect of daylight-saving time on the energy consumption of adaptive street lighting was also analyzed.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su15086750