Assessment of energy-efficient LED street lighting through large-scale demonstration

LED lighting is the next wave of evolution in energy efficient lighting solutions. In order to conserve more energy, LED street lighting is quickly become a trend. In Taiwan, the government has established a policy to subsidize the use of LED lighting for road illumination to promote energy-saving measure. As of now, there are more than 30,000 LED lights already in service and more lights will be replaced and put into service yearly basis. LED lights have a longer service life and better efficiency; however, their reliability must be tested in-situ so that their characteristics such as power, optics and heat-dissipation characteristics can be verified. In this study, three years of follow-up from 2009 to 2011 have been carried out to find out if the demonstrative projects have met government´s expectations. Based on the study, it indicates that the replacement of mercury vapor lights by LED lights could save 50% electricity and the acceptance level of the general public have reached 80%. Therefore, according to this study, the benefits of LED street lighting were confirmed and it should be promoted for wide adaption.