Cree Lighting

Smart Lighting and Smart City - Networked lighting

A more efficient, innovative, and less expensive LED public lighting for the City of Tradate: the project for the new urban lighting by CREE Lighting has completely revolutionized the network architecture with the creation of an infrastructure capable of transferring and receiving data from every single light fixture.

AMBROGIO MORO GIVE THE LIGHT TO TRADATE
opportunity

In 2016, the Municipality of Tradate (VA) said 'enough!' to scarce and poor lighting that resulted in high energy bills and unsafe roads. Tradate's public lighting had around 2902 lighting fixtures installed, of which 1667 were owned by a private company, and 1235 owned by the City. The total cost of the annual 'bill' was approximately 350,000 euros, not counting maintenance costs, which were 115,000 euros. The public lighting system served the entire municipal area with different methods and technological solutions: the devices with mercury vapor lamps, not very efficient and no longer adequate to recent standards, were still a large part of the entire system (almost 27% of the total) while the devices with high pressure sodium vapor lamps constituted about half of the system (51%).
There was a significant number of devices equipped with metal halide lamps (18%), all on the municipal system, while the of devices with LED lamps were a mere 4% of the total. Thanks to the 'RILLUMINIAMOCI' project, the Municipality of Tradate started a renovation process of the lighting fixtures, at the end of which the entire public lighting network was entrusted to an energy services company that after having renewed the entire system with LED technology, will deal with the management and maintenance for twenty years. At the end of the amortisation period, the Municipality will automatically regain possession of the entire network.

Ambrogio Moro – Energy & Innovation for citizens

In order to start a project that fully met all the requirements set by the municipal administration, Ambrogio Moro, the company responsible for the project, chose Cree Lighting Europe as the technological partner. The set goals of (a) energy saving, (b) enhancement of the urban centre and peripheral areas, (c) efficiency improvement of the network, and (d) Smart City functionalities, were at the centre of a complex series of activities, starting with the choice, made by lighting designers, of innovative products from a vast portfolio that offer a wide choice of control options, colour temperature, and optics. Thanks to the combination of these elements with the lighting solutions suitable for every area, urban or street, the company Ambrogio Moro has succeeded in satisfying all the requirements for the renovation of the system.

Thanks to the modularity of Cree Lighting’s lighting systems, lighting engineers and architects were able to work with local authorities and the energy service provider to design lighting systems that are easy to install and configured according to the different needs of the various urban areas.

The goals of the project

The goal of the public lighting project was to bring innovation, integration, and interaction to the users, making the newly illuminated area a 'smart' and technologically advanced area.

Ad-hoc lighting solutions were studied for the various areas that define the urban layout of the city; for this reason, 3 different zones were identified to divide the municipal territory: the Urban Centre, the Industrial Zone, and the 'Green' Zone, in order to choose the best devices in terms of efficiency and urban decor.

The Project

The devices used in the project ('Cree® XSP' series) have been developed to optimize light and economic performance in street lighting, halving energy consumption compared to traditional solutions and combining high efficiency and better light emission quality.

For the green and urban areas, the ‘Urban’ series of lighting fixtures were chosen (specifically the RKT and SQUARE LED devices, and the 'Circular' and 'Artistic' lanterns), whose design fits the urban landscape seamlessly. These devices have a technology that includes advanced control systems, combined with high reliability.

Designed in line with the sustainability standards set by the European Union, they are conceived as tools at the service of the urban landscape. Each device is built with the NanoOptic® Precision Delivery Grid™ optical system by Cree® that directs the light exactly where it is needed, in the necessary quantity, and without waste. Cree®'s Urban Series lanterns prevent the dispersion of luminous flux without sacrificing the charm of the night atmosphere, and have proved to be effective for lighting streets, squares, parks, and any place that needed to be enhanced by high-quality lighting. The control systems allow the amount of light to be adjusted to suit any situation or time of day.

Smart Lighting at the service of the citizens

The project carried out in Tradate has completely revolutionized the concept of public lighting network. In fact, in addition to doing its job more effectively, the individual device is part of an infrastructure capable of transferring and receiving data from each individual light fixture. With the new public lighting system many features can be activated, such as video surveillance but also internet connection via Wi-Fi network, alarm management, and the remote control of each individual lamp. The results achieved with the new lighting therefore include the implementation of a rational and planned renovation of the systems; an effective reduction of light pollution; energy saving values around 65%; the rationalization of operating and maintenance costs of the systems; the creation of a video surveillance system that is adequate and updated to the users’ requests; the creation of targeted lighting levels of the most dangerous pedestrian crossings.

In this way, Cree Lighting technicians and designers worked at Tradate to reduce pollution and improve infrastructural comfort, optimizing quality and safety. The LED lighting systems have contributed to reducing the costs of the Municipality thanks to energy savings and reduced maintenance costs, offering a fast return on investment and providing value-added Smart Lighting services.