Street lighting: pilot project launched

The road user himself is also the clock generator for the light in the new system, according to the Electricity Works of the Canton of Zurich (EKZ). The new system was recently put into operation on an approximately one-kilometer stretch of Birmensdorferstrasse in Urdorf, Canton Zurich. On the test stretch, a sensor measures the flow of traffic, whereupon 27 LED luminaires adjust their luminosity.

With so-called "traffic-monitoring light," the traffic flow of all road users determines the lighting, which intelligently adapts continuously to the measured traffic. A sensor sends measured values on the traffic flow to a virtual control center, which transmits the signal to the luminaires by radio.

This second test series, which EKZ launched together with the Canton of Zurich's Department of Construction, is a follow-up project to the "advance light" tested in Regensdorf (ZH).

No compromise on safety

"We are looking for lighting systems that offer safety in public spaces, are at the same time energy-efficient, but do not disturb with their dynamics," explains Jörg Haller, Head of Public Lighting at EKZ and a member of the specialist group at the Swiss Lighting Society. The system of "traffic-monitoring light" is promising, he says, because it reduces light emissions while maintaining safety. The flowing light change is said to be barely perceptible, but to make electricity savings of up to 30% possible. In the one-year pilot project, the EKZ is investigating the reliability and costs as well as the energy saved and acceptance among the population.

For the canton of Zurich as the client, the focus is not only on energy efficiency but also on the cost-effectiveness of the tested systems: "In the pilot projects in Urdorf and Regensdorf, the street lights are controlled in very different ways. We are curious to see how the economic efficiency of the two complex systems will be in the long term," explains cantonal engineer Felix Muff.