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.

Related Content

  • Major traffic signal upgrade underway in Greater Manchester
    March 21, 2016
    A nine-month programme to upgrade traditional wait indicator lamps with longer-lasting and energy-saving LED lights across more than 500 traffic signal sites is underway in Manchester, UK. As part of a contract awarded to Siemens by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), wait indicators will be upgraded at pedestrian crossings and junctions throughout all ten districts of Greater Manchester. This follows the successful completion of a major traffic signalling upgrade programme by Siemens in 2014, with the
  • Rethink required to reduce road transport’s environmental impact
    March 15, 2016
    Against a background of a renewed focus on limiting the rise in average temperatures, Colin Sowman looks at a project that is taking a holistic approach to the environmental impact and safety of road transport. At the COP21 meeting in Paris last December, almost 200 nations agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to keep the rise in global temperatures to 2°C) compared with pre-industrial levels. The transportation sector is a major contributor to the production of CO2, one of the main green
  • Siemens delivers 25,000th traffic controller
    December 12, 2012
    A Siemens type C940ES traffic controller, part of a shipment to the Glückstein district of Mannheim, was also the 25,000th traffic controller of the series. The controllers will be used to upgrade traffic signal control at all junctions in Glückstein, and is specifically designed to meet the requirements for controlling 40-volt LED (light-emitting diode) lighting equipment, which saves up to 90 per cent of the energy consumed by conventional bulbs. The high safety level of the controllers installed in Mannh
  • Green light for traffic signal performance
    June 24, 2016
    A revamp of traffic light maintenance is helping to reduce congestion, save money and improve safety on Greater Manchester’s roads, according to the latest figures from Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM), which is responsible for all 2,400 traffic signals across the region. These show that the number of incidents of traffic signal failure has steadily declined over the past three years. Between July 2015 and April 2016, there was an average of 413 signal fault faults per month. This is 24 per cent