Skip to main content

San Diego to deploy smart streetlights

The City of San Diego, California, is partnering with GE to upgrade streetlights in a bid to reduce energy costs by 60 per cent as well as transform them into a connected digital network that can optimise parking and traffic, enhance public safety and track air quality. The City will be installing 3,200 smart sensor nodes that can use real-time anonymous sensor data to direct drivers to open parking spaces, help first responders during emergencies, track carbon emissions and identify intersections that c
February 24, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
The City of San Diego, California, is partnering with GE to upgrade streetlights in a bid to reduce energy costs by 60 per cent as well as transform them into a connected digital network that can optimise parking and traffic, enhance public safety and track air quality.

The City will be installing 3,200 smart sensor nodes that can use real-time anonymous sensor data to direct drivers to open parking spaces, help first responders during emergencies, track carbon emissions and identify intersections that can be improved for pedestrians and cyclists.

The anonymous information from the sensors can be used by developers to create apps and software that can benefit the community.

Additionally, the City will be replacing 14,000 streetlights with more energy efficient versions, which is expected to reduce energy costs by US$2.4 million annually. These streetlights include technology that allows for manually or automatically dimming and brightening in public venues, depending on natural light conditions.

The City expects the project to achieve an estimated 60 per cent reduction in energy. In addition to reducing overall greenhouse gas emissions, the streetlights are also intended to reduce light pollution.

An adaptive control system captures real time interval data, monitoring and notifications for maintenance purposes and also provides GPS coordinates at each fixture. Over the life of each fixture the system automatically ramps up power as needed to meet specified lighting standards.

Related Content

  • January 20, 2012
    Adaptive control reduces travel time, cuts congestion
    Situated in San Diego County, California, the growing city of San Marcos has seen its population increase by 53.5 per cent since the turn of the century. Although this dramatic population increase has spurred economic growth bringing new business, homes and opportunities to the city, it has also increased traffic congestion along its central corridor, San Marcos Boulevard. This became the most congested arterial in the city, and, by 2006, the second-most travelled corridor in San Diego County.
  • May 22, 2017
    Siemens streetlight program for US city aims to cut energy usage in half
    Siemens is partnering with the City of Huntington Beach, California, to engineer, install and maintain a new 11,000 energy efficient streetlight system. The technology features LED lighting that aims to reduce energy consumption by over 50 per cent and create clearer illumination to help reduce vehicular accidents and increase safety for city residents.
  • April 17, 2015
    US cities pilot new LED lighting technology
    San Diego, California and Jacksonville, Florida are to trial new GE Lighting technology designed to help them become more intelligent and efficient. The GE LED solution uses LED street lighting installations to connect, collect and analyse data being generated, harnessing the power of the industrial internet to help each city run better while providing new services and conveniences for residents and visitors. In addition to piloting the intelligent-city enabling solution, Jacksonville will also pilot. Li
  • January 21, 2014
    San Francisco to trial ‘smart’ street lighting controls
    San Francisco’s Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) is to trial a ‘smart’ street lighting central management system, (CMS) developed by UK-based smart street lighting company Telensa. The SFPUC owns, operates and maintains over half the city’s street lights and recently announced a project to replace its high pressure sodium cobra-head style light fixtures with ultra-efficient light emitting diodes (LED) luminaires. Telensa’s PLANet (Public Lighting Active Network) street light central management sys