Author Topic: Solar powered street lights  (Read 6398 times)

Offline Skipx219

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Solar powered street lights
« on: January 13, 2010, 11:09:31 AM »
It appears that PSE&G are installing Solar Powered Street Light Heads on Main St from Spring Valley Rd.
north towards Route 4 today.  ???



Offline Editor

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Re: Solar powered street lights
« Reply #1 on: January 13, 2010, 11:19:06 AM »
Excellent.   8)

Offline itsme

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Re: Solar powered street lights
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2010, 12:22:06 PM »
My understanding is that they will be replacing all mercury vapor lights throughout the city at no cost to the city. 

Offline richard sachs

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Re: Solar powered street lights
« Reply #3 on: January 24, 2010, 02:11:55 AM »
They are NOT solar powered.  They are the fluorescent lights using less energy.  The new lights concentrate light toward the street and have no glass bowl underneath that would create glare.  Have you noticed that it's easier to drive at night? 

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Re: Solar powered street lights
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2010, 10:52:09 AM »
There was an article about this in the most recent Chronicle, but I can't find it online.  This is a few months old now.

PSE&G Plans to Light Up Streets for Less
Friday, September 18, 2009 4:53 PM
(Source: The Record - Hackensack, New Jersey)
By James M. O'Neill, The Record, Hackensack, N.J.

Sep. 18--PSE&G this week began replacing 96,000 streetlights with new energy-efficient units that could save municipalities a combined $1 million a year in electricity costs.

The new units are rectangular in shape with recessed bulbs. They provide more light but less glare and less "light pollution" than the mercury vapor units they will replace.

The new induction fluorescent lights will be installed on municipal roads and residential streets in towns that sign up for the replacement program. Ridgewood, Fair Lawn, Emerson, Elmwood Park, Wayne, Teterboro and Secaucus are among the 46 North Jersey towns that have already signed on to the program, which costs them nothing.

"It's all free, and it could save us $25,000 a year in electricity costs, so it's a win-win for our borough," said Tony Luna, borough manager in Lodi.

PSEG on Thursday started to replace streetlight units in Lodi.

"It's a brighter light for less cost, and our borough has been showing an interest in green projects like this," Luna said. Lodi has already added some hybrid vehicles to its borough fleet, including an electric car for property maintenance. And the town is looking into the possibility of installing solar panels on the roofs of borough buildings, Luna said.

PSE&G is using $50 million it received in federal economic stimulus money to pay for the project.

PSE&G worked with a California company, U.S. Lighting Technologies, to design the new units. The fixture, dubbed "The Jersey," is painted a pastel green to denote its environmental benefits. The utility was spurred by 2007 federal legislation that outlawed production of the more inefficient lighting units.

The induction fluorescent bulb has been in use in Europe and Asia, but not as much in the United States because of its cost, said Benjamin White, the project leader for PSE&G.

The new lights use 30 percent to 40 percent less electricity than mercury vapor lights, and contain significantly less mercury, according to PSE&G. They are a white light source that helps the eyes see objects more clearly, and less than 5 percent of energy consumed is lost to heat.

"There's also no spill light above the horizontal plane of the fixture, as opposed to the more traditional drop globe design," White said.

Because they are more efficient, electrifying the lights would require 45,000 fewer megawatt-hours annually, resulting in 21,000 fewer tons of greenhouse gases, according to PSE&G.

There's another benefit to the new lights: They each last up to 100,000 hours, four times longer than their mercury vapor counterparts. That means there will be fewer cases of lights burning out. Luna said that it sometimes takes PSE&G up to three weeks to schedule replacement for burned-out lights on lower-priority streets.

About 220 municipalities in the utility's service area contract with PSE&G to maintain their municipal streetlights, paying a contract fee for the service. About 81 have signed up for the new lights so far, said PSE&G spokeswoman Bonnie Sheppard. All 96,000 new lights are expected to be installed within two years.

E-mail: oneillj@northjersey.com

 

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