Conference on “Urban lighting in the era of connected cities”
The conference on “Urban lighting in the era of connected cities” moderated by LUCI on the 7th of December 2015 brought together the cities of Los Angeles and Paris, as well as companies Cisco and Egis to discuss how public lighting can become more connected, more energy-saving and more efficient.
It was organised within the framework of ForumLED, an international congress and exhibition on LED technology which took place in Lyon on 7 and 8 December 2015.
Ed Ebrahimian, Director of the Bureau of Street Lighting in Los Angeles, which has converted 165 000 streetlights to LED since 2009, outlined some of the impacts so far. In addition to over 60% energy savings, there has been a significant reduction in maintenance with only 0.7% of light failures. Furthermore lighting levels have remained constant over the eight years so far.
He also outlined the various smart lighting solutions implemented in LA, which include remote monitoring units, smart-meters, solar powered streetlights on bicycle paths, telecommunications poles, and electric vehicle charging stations attached to street light poles. Los Angeles not only expects these solutions to help further increase energy and maintenance savings, but also to generate additional revenue for the city. It is, for example, implementing solar-to-grid pilots in which the Bureau generates power from solar panels installed on street light poles which is then sold to the utility company.
Christophe Demesmay, Project Manager at Egis, France presented the different steps that could be taken by cities to move forward towards smart lighting when they are envisioning the renovation of their public lighting systems. He emphasised the need for local authorities renovating their urban lighting to install future-proof lighting systems adaptable to as yet unforeseen needs in the long-term.
A key point on the move towards connected urban lighting was made by Mrinalini Ingram, Director of Strategy and Planning at Cisco Systems Inc. who stressed that it is essential to move away from a silo mentality and way of working. Smart city solutions are all about connecting urban services, urban lighting being one of the key elements.
Programme
- Developing the smart connected city industry (Creating holistic solutions through consortiums)
Mrinalini Ingram, Director Strategy and planning, Cisco Systems Inc., California, USA - From the renovation of lighting to Smart Lighting
Christophe Demesmay, Project manager, Egis, France - Feedback from City of Paris
Denis Perrot, Head of Expertises and Innovations, EVESA (in charge of Street Lighting, City of Paris), France - City of Los Angeles – street lighting and smart city solutions
Ed Ebrahimian, Director Bureau of Street Lighting, City of Los Angeles, USA
