SAN JOSE, CA - Echelon Corporation announced today that its technology was featured in a remotely monitored streetlight system demonstration by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and PG&E. Streetlights networked with Echelon's LonWorks® technology can significantly reduce a city's energy and maintenance costs while improving light quality and safety. The demonstration was shown yesterday using lights installed on Turk Street (between Taylor & Jones streets) in San Francisco's Tenderloin District.
"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 vice-president 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."
Streetlights are among a city's most important — and expensive — assets, accounting for almost 40% of its electricity bill. A managed street lighting network based on Echelon's technology offers cities an innovative way to control costs, lower energy use and carbon dioxide emissions, improve safety, beautify neighborhoods, and provide many other benefits, all from a single, networked infrastructure.
"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."
The San Francisco demonstration was a joint effort between Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), BetaLED (supplier of the smart LED streetlights fixtures), and Lighting Systems (the street light system distributor). The solution featured new LED streetlights from BetaLED embedded with Echelon's power line signaling technology (an international communications standard). This allows 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.
Source: centredaily.com