Echelon boosts energy IQ of French streetlights

Some 30,000 street lights in France were equipped with Echelon’s energy control networking technology last year, helping communities to cut lighting-related energy use by up to 45 per cent, according to the company.

The street lighting solution includes Echelon’s power line signaling technology for distributed control, Echelon SmartServers for segment control and enterprise connectivity, and system software from the French company Streetlight.Vision.

As much as 40 per cent of city energy budgets go toward street lighting, some studies have found. Furthermore, a streetlight can be responsible for emitting an average of 200 kilograms of carbon dioxide every year.

“Even though France has one of the lowest electricity prices in Europe, many cities and French streetlight maintenance companies are deploying smart and controlled street lighting solutions,” said Christophe Orceau, General Manager of Streetlight.Vision.Most projects in France have moved beyond a desire for an energy-efficient lamp to a requirement for system-wide intelligence and control, according to Echelon. French cities including Lyon, Brest, Moissy and the RSEIPC (an organisation that manages 20,000 streetlights close to Chartres) have specified Echelon-compatible smart street lighting in their tenders. This is in addition to more than 60 large and small cities in France that have deployed an Echelon-based streetlight monitoring system in 2010 on part or throughout their streetlight network. This adoption is up significantly from the 15 cities that deployed Echelon-based street lighting in 2009.

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