Philips has announced that it plans to upgrade the city lighting of Madrid, Spain, with internet-connected LEDs. A total of 225,000 street lights will be replaced, in what the company says is the largest such project to date. The city will benefit from improved efficiency, costs and light quality.
Philips is currently in the process upgrading 91,000 street lights with similar connected LED technology in Buenos Aires, Argentina. That project accounts for 70 percent of the city's lighting infrastructure and was the world's previous largest city lighting project, the company says.
Of the 225,000 street lights being upgraded in Madrid, 84,000 will have LEDs of one sort or other installed. The remainder will simply be changed to more energy efficient non-LED lighting. Once installed, it will be possible for Madrid to monitor and control the lighting using its existing control system.
"This will be the biggest technological renewal ever seen in Madrid City," says Madrid mayor Ana Botella. "A change that will allow achieving some important goals. Namely, reducing the city’s energy consumption thanks to energy efficient luminaires, extending the lifespan of the city lighting and controlling light pollution by enabling the regulation of the intensity of light when and where it’s needed."
The new lighting is expected to save Madrid 44 percent of its lighting energy usage compared to the existing infrastructure. The financial savings will be used to offset the cost of upgrading the technology.
Source: Philips