Most cities have tens of thousands of street lights. Before upgrading to LED, these lights can represent as much as one-quarter to one-half of a city’s budget. In fact, traditional street lighting remains one of the heaviest consumers of electricity.
Smart Street Lamps Save Energy & Reduce Costs
Most cities already recognize the need to reduce energy consumption and costs associated with street lamps. As a result, several street lamp improvement projects are already taking place around the United States.
According to a recent study, smart street lamp deployments will deliver $15 billion in cumulative energy savings for U.S. cities through 2023. Cities will achieve these savings through the conversion of traditional lamps to energy-efficient LEDs and connectivity used to monitor each light. This technology saves 50% or more on energy usage per light.
Solar-powered smart street lamps communicate status several times per day, reporting on health and energy usage to ensure consistent lighting and accurate billing. This eliminates the guesswork typically involved with measuring energy consumption. Unlike traditional models, smart street lamps provide cities with a measurable environmental impact and cost analysis.
Preventing Crime in City Spaces
In addition to reducing energy costs, improving street lighting has been shown to reduce and/or prevent crime. Significant reductions in crime have been seen when improvements were made in both public and private settings including residential neighborhoods, parking lots, shopping malls, campuses, hospitals, and other facilities.
Improving street lighting not only helps reduce crime, it also strengthens community support and cohesion. With proper lighting, offenders tend to perceive a greater risk of apprehension, while residents work together to prevent crime in their neighborhoods.
Residents generally see the installation or improvement of street lamps as a sign of positive investment in the community. This gives citizens a greater sense of pride and cohesion for their fellow residents and encourages a personal investment in the area, increasing individual interest in watching over the community.
IoT Solutions
Mint Controls understands that different cities have different needs. This is why we work directly with each of our clients to develop a solution, custom tailored to their needs. Please contact us for more information about our IoT smart city solutions.