Skip to main content

Siemens launches one-watt traffic signal

Siemens claims to have improved the energy efficiency of traffic lights by more than 85 per cent by using what it calls one-watt technology. The first pilot projects are already running in Bolzano, Italy and Bietigheim-Bissingen near Stuttgart in Southern Germany.
July 1, 2016 Read time: 1 min
Siemens launches one watt traffic signal

189 Siemens claims to have improved the energy efficiency of traffic lights by more than 85 per cent by using what it calls one-watt technology. The first pilot projects are already running in Bolzano, Italy and Bietigheim-Bissingen near Stuttgart in Southern Germany.

According to Siemens, a typical intersection with bulb-based technology and around 55 traffic signals (red, amber and green) can now avoid more than 6,000 kilograms of harmful carbon emissions a year. One-watt technology uses digital LED driver modules, which Siemens says eliminates the need for load resistors and switching elements in the signal light units which consume most of the energy.

Compared with the 60 watts sometimes consumed by incandescent bulbs, the electricity required by individual traffic light signals can be cut to just one or two watts. State-of-the-art LEDs with extremely low power consumption still retain full light intensity, while the one-watt light units also reduce service costs.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Improving traffic flow with the SignalGuru app
    September 19, 2012
    Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed SignalGuru, an app that uses dashboard-mounted smartphones to help drivers avoid red lights and reduce fuel consumption. Researchers say that SignalGuru predicts when a traffic signal is about to change, and the speed that should be driven when approaching an intersection in order to cruise through without stopping.
  • London needs just one road user charge, says report
    July 8, 2019
    London’s patchwork of road charging schemes should be replaced by a single, distance-based user charge, according to new research. Apart from anything else, it would be much fairer… The UK capital’s multiple road charging schemes require a radical overhaul, according to a new report by the Centre for London thinktank. The suggested solution is to replace existing levies on drivers with a single, distance-based user charge which would more fairly reflect how much, and at what time, people are using London
  • Huawei advocates for change
    April 23, 2025
    Achieving technological change also requires a shift in mindset, as Jacky Wang, vice president of Huawei’s Smart Transportation business unit, explains
  • Uber clean-up - those all-important facts and figures
    September 11, 2020
    Ride-hailing giant says it can switch to all-electric vehicles 'in any major city' by 2030