The Virginian-Pilot
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VIRGINIA BEACH
There’s a new light shining on the city’s Oceanfront.
The Beach is joining a growing band of communities, including New York City, to experiment with eco-friendly streetlights.
Crews have installed six LED, or light-emitting diode, fixtures at 24th Street and Atlantic Avenue. Look for some soon at 2nd Street and the Boardwalk too, said Chuck Davis, the city’s building and maintenance administrator.
Cities have been drawn to the streetlights like, well, moths to a flame, because they use less power and last nearly 16 years, four times longer than traditional metal halide lamps, Davis said.
They also cost twice as much, he said.
Before Beach officials replace their entire inventory of fixtures, they want to know how brightly these LED lights will shine and whether they can withstand the salty air, Davis said.
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24th St Park
What better place to celebrate something good and green is the Park! Simple green concert?
LED Lighting
It is great to see the City moving forward with this Technology. Several other cities around the country are already installing this same product. Great Job Chuck and crew.
If you have not seen them you need to go check them out. They give off more light than the exisitng fixtures and they give off a better quality light.
Going Green is good!
Color
Remember, it may "wash out color", who cares if it saves money! Everything's sand blasted or sun bleached anyway! It's a beach town! LOL
Holy moley!
The city has actually (ok finally) done something I approve of.
The initial start up expenses will be recovered by the energy savings, so it is long term fiscally responsible. It is a far more eco friendly system than anything in wide spread use today. The system can stay in service four times longer than traditional lights.
My favorite part of all of this is that they installed only six lights.
Someone decided to evaluate performance before committing to a new technology. If they work, then great, buy a bunch more. If they do not, we just move on to our next idea.
If these lights can generate enough illumination to meet the need, what is not to like here?
Cold temperatures
I don't believe the cold temperatures have much impact on LEDs. I know from experience that not all florescent take cold well. You have to buy ones specifically for cold environments.
The solar panel would be pretty much worthless for a lighting application. You'd need maybe a 3'x5' foot panel and several car batteries per light. That still might not cover it on the shortest winter months and wouldn't cover it on overcast days. They work okay for accent lighting but not for big stuff.
LEDs
LEDs don't have the output of other types and they do have a tendency to wash out color, but they do last a long time and they do use less energy. I have heard that colder temperatures can affect them too. Putting solar panels and batteries with the lights makes perfect sense too. Maybe there's hope for Virginia Beach after all . . .
Metal Halide have a much
Metal Halide have a much whiter (blue?) CRI than Sodium Vapor. SV looks yellow/orange, MH looks nice and white. LED is interesting, but I don't think you can get the same amount of light output. Also, my made in China CF's have been failing way sooner than the rated life of the bulb. I haven't checked to see if it's the ballast or what, but I wonder if others are experiencing the same.
No. . .
I thought it was sodium vapor lights that are already used in most street lights that are the most efficient lighting available?
Sodium vapor, like metal halide, use tremendous energy. LED lights are a great idea for street lights.
One step at a time
New lights, great! There is a light on the side of Salem Road at the ball field, does it have a solar panel on it or is it wishful thinking? Wondered if it was to help light the field, which is another good idea. Since the fields have late night lights, why not use energy stored from all day.
LED is currently the most efficient
but when it comes to light out put they leave alot to be desired. Recent advances in LED technology has produced higher output white LED's that are getting close to what the average consumer would want and expect from a light source. As with anything though the LED is on the downward slope of modern technology and will be replaced by new products within the next 5 - 10 years by technology found in these links.
http://cleantech.com/news/627/cyberlux-claims-lighting-breakthrough-b
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/08/esl_bulbs_are_better_than_cfls_and_leds_says_company-2.html