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.