The Anonymous Widower

Scheveningen

I took these pictures just as the sun went down at Scheveningen in Holland.

The interesting pictures are those of the LED streetlight.  So why is this light so good?

• The light appears to have fifteen sets of three rows of four 1-watt LEDs.  They look like they are the same LEDs as in my floodlights here.
• These lights have a total power consumption of perhaps 200 watts, but then nearly all of this energy ends up as light.  A typical halogen light would use between five and ten times more energy.
• You can also see that each of the individual banks of four lights are angled to give an even light on the ground.  This is exactly the same way that the lights in floodlight towers at a football ground are arranged so that the pitch is evenly lit.
• LEDs have a life of many years, so how much will be saved on maintenance.  I suspect that these lights might even just need a wash every year or so.
• One subsidiary benefit of these lights is that the light goes where it is needed and not up in the sky.  Astronomers will be very pleased.

But these lights are just the start.  As LEDs are dimmable, low-voltage, easily controlled and have a low energy consumption all sorts of tricks can be played to make them even better.  In a country with enough sun, you could even have the lights solar-powered.  But perhaps in Holland or the UK, by using a light profile, which dimmed them in the middle of a night, it might even be possible.

It may be quite a mundane piece of street furniture, but in a few years time, all street-lighting will be based on these principles.

If it isn’t, it’ll be a disgrace.

November 8, 2009 - Posted by AnonW | Transport/Travel | Lighting, The Netherlands