Appalachian Launches Distinctive Smart LED Street Light

The ALLED SL4 smart LED street light launched by Appalachian integrates networking and control systems.

As previously reported, the city council of Welland, Ontario, Canada has decided to use Appalachian's LED lighting fixtures to replace the city's 4,300 street lights and 2,410 decorative light fixtures. Appalachian Lighting Systems (ALSI) will adopt the ALLED SL4 LED street light equipped with the ALLink control system to replace the existing 70~400W HID street lights.

ALSI SL4 LED Street Light

　　The company stated that the new ALSI street light features integrated networking and an adaptive control dimming system, which can save 75% of energy compared to traditional lighting sources. The SL4 design has strong thermal management capability to extend product life. Robert McAnally, VP of Operations at ALSI, said: "Thermal management has always been the foundation of our engineering design philosophy. According to TM-21 testing, the L70 lifetime is expected to be greater than 150,000 hours at an ambient temperature of 65°C." The design also enhances robustness to cope with lightning strikes and other conditions. McAnally said: "The power supply is the weak link in today's street lights, and the Surge Protector has proven to be the key to lightning protection and fixture reliability. The SL4 design is rated to withstand up to 10 voltage surges up to 10 kVA."

　　The smart LED street light has integrated network capabilities, enabling programmable dimming, OFF/ON cycles, and monitoring of energy usage and fixture health. For example, the network control system can report power surge occurrences at any time, and the controller can monitor and report energy consumption for utility power billing records.

　　The wireless network of the fixture is based on the IEEE 802.15.4 wireless network standard, conforming to the 2.4-GHz frequency band, and also complies with the foundation of the ZigBee industry standards. McAnally said that self-healing functions and AES-128-bit data encryption security features have also been added to the smart LED street light. The connection to the central control center of the local wireless street light network is made via cellular General Packet Radio Service (GPRS).

　　McAnally stated that the SL4 street light is the first networked street light with a DC-side fixture power supply integrating a communication system. Many other smart LED street lights use photocells connected to AC power. The network installation enabled by the SL4 street light enhances the reliability of protecting the electronic systems inside the fixture.

　　The processing system is controlled through a Web-based user interface with multi-level password protection. For example, citizens who can provide an emergency service agency-level password can allow the service team to activate light flashing to guide staff to the location of an emergency incident.

　　The street light renovation in Welland, Ontario, Canada marks the first installation and deployment of SL4 street lights.