‘One-Watt’ traffic signals from Siemens

Small is big news on the Siemens stand as the company unveils its ultra-low consumption One-Watt technology for traffic lights. The move from incandescent bulbs to 230V LED lamp heads had seen an enormous reduction in power consumption (down from 60Watts per head to around 15W) but means the load resistors and switching elements in the signal units are often the biggest energy consumers.
April 6, 2016 Read time: 2 mins

Small is big news on the 189 Siemens stand as the company unveils its ultra-low consumption One-Watt technology for traffic lights. The move from incandescent bulbs to 230V LED lamp heads had seen an enormous reduction in power consumption (down from 60Watts per head to around 15W) but means the load resistors and switching elements in the signal units are often the biggest energy consumers.

With One-watt technology the use of 24V LEDs and digital driver modules has eliminated the need for load resistors and switching elements and means a complete signal head may require only one or two Watts to operate.

This provides huge benefits as a large city like Berlin can avoid some 2,000 tons of carbon emissions and save €500,000 in energy costs every year.

In cities still using conventional filament bulbs in their traffic lights, the potential savings are significantly higher and according to Siemens One-Watt technology traffic signals will typically pay for themselves in less than five years.

Furthermore, Siemens said its LED signals retain full light intensity and also reduce service costs and it monitors voltage, current and the luminosity of the LED units, adding that may become possible to predict when LED units will fail so enable preventative maintenance.

The first One-Watt pilot projects are running in Bolzano, Italy and in Bietigheim-Bissingen near Stuttgart in Southern Germany.

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.
    Read More
  • February 2, 2012
    Signal optimisation reduces congestion, improves travel times
    The Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County's Department of Public Works(MPW) identified seven corridors in the County that experience heavy traffic congestion and needed traffic signal timing improvements to improve traffic flow as well as air quality and fuel consumption. The seven corridors included a total of 223 signalised intersections. To conduct this study, termed the Traffic Signal Optimisation Study for the Metro Nashville Signal System, MPW received funding from the Federal Conge
    Read More
  • February 9, 2017
    Smart LED traffic signals prevent snow and ice build-up
    Canadian company Current powered by GE, has launched a smart LED traffic signal that can help prevent the build-up of snow and ice on the lamps. The new heated shell GTx low profile lamp is equipped with sensors that measure ambient conditions and automatically activate the heating elements on the front shell to help prevent ice and snow formation on the lamp. This feature also allows for reduced energy consumption as the element is not required to be on at all times.
    Read More
  • October 13, 2015
    Transport in the round
    The ITF’s Mary Crass tells Colin Sowman why future transport demands will require governments to overcome the silo effect of individual single-modal authorities. The only global multimodal transport policy organisation,” is how Mary Crass describes the International Transport Forum (ITF), which is housed at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). As head of policy and summit preparation at the ITF she says: “All other organisations are either regional or have a modal focus, we cove
    Read More

Highlighted Content