Skip to main content

Telensa lights up Hertfordshire

More than 12,600 street lights on Hertfordshire’s A-roads are being upgraded to LED lighting using Telensa’s PLANet street light central management system (CMS), which will allow the lights to be monitored from a central point. This will reduce inspection costs and make it easier to spot and repair any faults. The system will also allow lighting levels on the A-roads to be reduced during the night, rather than turning lights off completely. Once the new lights are installed, light levels will be reduced
November 27, 2014 Read time: 3 mins
More than 12,600 street lights on Hertfordshire’s A-roads are being upgraded to LED lighting using 7574 Telensa’s PLANet street light central management system (CMS), which will allow the lights to be monitored from a central point. This will reduce inspection costs and make it easier to spot and repair any faults.

The system will also allow lighting levels on the A-roads to be reduced during the night, rather than turning lights off completely. Once the new lights are installed, light levels will be reduced by 25 per cent between 11pm and 6am on A-roads.

According to Hertfordshire County Council, which awarded the US$10.2 million contract, managed by highway services contractor Ringway, the project will bring savings of around US$1 million each year from the end of 2015 onwards. The new combined LEDs and CMS system will result in reduced energy costs, lower carbon emissions, reduced maintenance and improved visibility for road users.

Telensa’s low power ultra-narrow band (UNB) wireless control system comprises control and monitoring nodes (telecells) fitted to street lights which then connect wirelessly to a base station and onto a central system server.  

The Telensa radio infrastructure – 48 wireless base stations to cover the whole county of Hertfordshire – will be installed, tested and commissioned in advance of upgrading the street lights.

Each base station can accommodate up to 5,000 telecells over a range of 2-3 kilometres in urban applications 5-8 kilometres in rural areas. Wide area coverage is then achieved by linking these base stations in a cellular architecture creating networks of several hundred thousand lights across hundreds of square miles.

The PLANet system accurately controls switching and dimming of street lights. It also measures energy and detects faulty street lights and helps local authorities and smart grid operators to manage energy consumption and deliver improved maintenance and significant savings on energy bills. It can also be applied to all types of lighting fixtures, retro or new build deployments and works with a wide range of lamp types including LEDs.

Council cabinet member for highways, Terry Douris, said:  “The conversion of Hertfordshire County Council’s existing lights to this modern technology forms part of our overall commitment to maintain and improve our roads for the benefit of all road users in Hertfordshire. The Telensa system was chosen because it is field proven by scores of other UK local authorities.”

“This system gives us total flexibility,” added Douris. “First, to implement this A-road upgrade, then to add on any individual streetlight columns if they require replacing, and, finally, to implement further phases of LED/CMS replacement as and when it’s economical.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Wi-SUN: here’s why mesh networking works
    May 10, 2019
    There are several networking options available for smart city planners. Phil Beecher of Wi-SUN Alliance makes the case for wireless mesh networks when it comes to rolling out IoT solutions The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing fast. Connecting thousands of sensors and control systems in bi-directional networks is paving the way for a new generation of smart city and transport infrastructures. For many of these applications, wireless connectivity is essential where cable installation is not practical.
  • Siemens switches US city of Manchester to LED street lights
    July 9, 2015
    Siemens is switching 9,000 street lights to LED technology in the US city of Manchester in New Hampshire. Some 4,500 lamps have already been refitted and the work should be completed by the end of September. Siemens will also be responsible for service and maintenance work. Siemens says LED technology reduces power consumption by 60 per cent and will bring the city considerable financial benefits, with annual savings of US$500,000 in terms of energy and maintenance costs such as replacing light bulbs.
  • Low power retrofit LED wait indicators from Siemens
    January 7, 2013
    Siemens’ new energy saving LED pedestrian crossing wait indicator retrofit solution allows both Siemens and Peek 48 volt incandescent wait indicators to be upgraded to the latest Central Light Source (CLS) LED technology, says the company. Siemens claim the low power consumption the solution offers power savings typically in excess of 70% and represents a highly cost effective upgrade option for existing wait indicators, particularly when undertaken alongside a wider LED traffic signal upgrade program. The
  • UK council awards highways asset management contract
    September 10, 2015
    Norfolk County Council has awarded a five year, US$770,000 contract to highways asset management software provider Yotta. The deal includes Internet hosted versions of Mayrise highways and street works software, as well as Yotta’s visualised asset management platform, Horizons. The contract also includes multi-platform support for mobile devices as well as integration with the Council’s customer relationship management (CRM), finance system and third party contractor works management system. The Mayrise