By Phil Beecher, CEO and President at Wi-SUN Alliance
We are currently in the midst of mass urbanization, placing increasing pressure on municipalities to improve experiences – including safety and convenience – for a larger number of citizens.
By 2030, it is estimated that there will be approximately 43 cities with over 10 million inhabitants worldwide. This will no doubt lead to increased traffic congestion, poor waste management and extreme demands on local resources and services. To address these issues, we continue to see new Smart City initiatives being rolled out, with smart lighting a key element of these projects.
The Importance of Smart Lighting
Street lighting represents one of the largest energy consumers in cities, accounting for up to 50% of public electricity usage. Given the scale of this consumption, local governments have made the switch to LED technology as a major step towards sustainability.
LEDs last up to seven times longer and use up to 75% less energy than traditional lighting solutions, reducing energy and maintenance costs for municipalities.
By 2029, it is predicted that more than 90% of streetlights will be LED-powered, as cities begin to incorporate sustainability initiatives and goals. Not only do smart streetlights provide a greener alternative for city illumination, but they can serve as the foundation for wide-ranging Internet of Things (IoT) networks across a city.
By integrating sensors and wireless communication technologies, street lighting can be used to collect real-time data on air quality, traffic, and public safety. This transformation positions streetlights as vital tools for effective urban management.
Delivering Network Canopies
Wi-SUN FAN (Field Area Network) is a key enabler for Smart City connectivity and street lighting innovation, providing an open, standardized, and secure wireless mesh network to transfer data seamlessly even in congested or hard-to-reach areas. This standardized approach makes them the ideal solution for Smart Cities, especially as traditional star networks struggle in areas where narrow streets of high-rise and concrete buildings are present.
Wireless mesh networks – such as Wi-SUN FAN – and their decentralized nature reduce the dependency on centralized infrastructure, by dynamically routing data through multiple pathways, ensuring no disruption in the event any modes fail or become overloaded. The communication network’s infrastructure also means new nodes can be added at any time with no requirement to redeploy the entire network.
Enabling Critical Applications
These smart streetlight networks can be integrated with sensors that monitor environmental factors like temperature, humidity, and air quality. This data – captured by the wide coverage of these streetlights and their networks – is valuable for cities seeking to address pollution or other areas that need more green space.
There is also a safety element – motion detection applications can automatically brighten the lights when pedestrians or cyclists approach to ensure better visibility in the dark. In the event of emergencies, such as floods or accidents, streetlights can also change colors or flash to guide people to safety or alert authorities.
Smart street lighting also plays a key role in traffic management and parking, forming an IoT communications network canopy to collect and provide real-time information about available spaces. By providing this data to drivers using signs throughout the city, cars can be directed towards quieter areas, reducing unnecessary congestion and carbon emissions.
Networks in Action
Today, a project involving the City of London is demonstrating the potential of intelligent street lighting. The narrow streets, alleys and hidden areas within the city has created urban canyons, or ‘conflict areas’ which has led to a number of connectivity black spots.
To overcome these issues, old lighting units that were reaching obsolescence were replaced with smart lighting solutions, supported by Wi-SUN technology. Over 12,000 LED lights, supported by 10 different gateways and an effective central management system, have been implemented to reduce maintenance costs, energy consumption, and to better monitor environmental factors.
Building the Cities of Tomorrow
As urban populations grow and the demand for sustainable solutions intensifies, municipalities worldwide are discovering how intelligent city infrastructure networks can reduce costs while improving efficiency and citizen safety.
Global industry alliances like the Wi-SUN Alliance are supporting these efforts by driving the intelligent deployment of wireless devices for use in Smart Cities, utilities, and other IoT-reliant applications. The use of Wi-SUN FAN – especially including new FAN 1.1 – and the technologies they enable, are making day-to-day Smart City operations future-ready and more efficient. Smart street lighting is becoming a major catalyst for the ongoing transformation of urban environments.
As more cities embrace Wi-SUN technologies, the future of urban living looks brighter, both literally and figuratively.