Page 40 - Energize June 2021

TECHNICAL

Lighting the way to smart

city development

by Bjorn Smidt-Hart, SMEC South Africa

Electric public lighting was introduced into city landscapes in 1878, with Yablochkov candles (early arc
lamps) illuminating the Avenue de l’Opéra in Paris. Since then, public lighting has become an almost
unnoticed service, despite its importance.

ublic lighting provides a sense of visual safety and security Darkness can create a sense of isolation within communities and
which will often lead to an increase and further promotion may result in business areas becoming deserted through the lack of
Pof community activities, events, sport, trade, industry and patronage if these businesses are situated in dark, unattractive or
commerce beyond normal daylight hours. unsafe environments.
It is a service that has the power to indirectly promote economic
growth in a city. Although public lighting may assist in generating Although public lighting aims to provide practical illumination of
revenue indirectly for a municipality, it does add to the electrical public spaces, it is important that these spaces are illuminated to
consumption and operational costs of a municipality, for which levels in compliance with national standards such as:
a budget needs to be reserved. This should include a budget for • SANS 10098 Public Lighting (road and street lighting).
maintenance and improvements on a city’s system, which may need • SANS 10389 Exterior Lighting.
to expand as the community’s demands grow. • SANS 10114 Interior Lighting.
Public lighting should no longer be considered a singular • Occupational Health and Safety Act, 1993 Environmental
service but should rather be viewed as a multi-discipline service; Regulations for Workplaces, 1987.
that through small initiatives, the public lighting infrastructure could
be used to transform a municipality into a more sustainable and The way in which public spaces are illuminated by lighting systems
efficient entity that may better serve the general public. and how these systems are managed, operated, and maintained
may impact the perception of the general public regarding the way a
The importance of public lighting city or town is managed.
Public lighting is any lighting installation or system that provides
illumination at night, or during low-light conditions (such as stormy Public lighting trends
weather), or in poorly lighted spaces (such as tunnels) in public As municipalities have developed and expanded, so have the
places and places that the general public may have access to. demands for service delivery and the need for the associated
The purpose and importance of public lighting is to illuminate infrastructure for these services. As a municipality develops, the
public places to allow the general public to carry out tasks safely, public lighting infrastructure should expand proportionally with the
observe and react and to create a safer night-time environment for demands and needs of growing communities.
the community, through visual security, while making many public
spaces more usable and enjoyable for the general public. Two trends developing in public lighting:
• The implementation of energy efficient LED (light emitting
diode) luminaires.
• Improving the quality of lighting installations.

Both of these trends promote a favourable service infrastructure
and could advance the infrastructure to a status acceptable for
IoT (Internet of Things) system implementation and integration.
These advancements coupled with IoT systems could be used to
further promote revenue generation and may assist in improving the
delivery of other services to the general public.
Through the implementation of an energy efficiency initiative,
the alleviation of energy poverty could be addressed as more energy
becomes available within a municipality. Energy productivity gains
may lower the cost for the economy as a whole, enhance energy
Figure 1: Electric lighting with Yablochkov candles along the Avenue de supply security and reduce the need to develop new sources of
l’Opéra at the 1878 energy generation.

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