With much discussion about how to save energy and costs and make the street lights efficient, the alternative variable lighting solution has been found - the iPad controlled smart streetlights which are to be installed right across central London will tell technicians when they are broken or need replacing. Westminster City Council has successfully implemented a pilot scheme, and will make all 14,000 of its street lights smart over the next four years.
The extract from a report at West London Today reads: “The council says roll-out means an initial £3.25m investment which will be recouped through energy and maintenance savings within seven years, and the technology will go on saving council tax payers £420,000 a year from 2015/16 onwards.”
“This provides people in Westminster with the light they require to feel secure and continue to function safely in a 24-hour city. But it also will reduce our energy bill by nearly £1million every two years. A huge saving that we can pass onto the taxpayer,” – comments Cllr Ed Argar, cabinet member for city management.
It’s the first time in the country history that a system is electronically monitoring lights and infrastructure and dispatches the engineer a bulb that needs changing or broken a wire. Moreover, the system even has the ability to forecast when a lamp is likely to fail. “It also carries a function for brightness levels to be lowered or raised at the touch of a button, even from an engineer standing under the lamp column with an iPad and a corresponding application.”- says the report.
