Relevant aspects of LED public lighting
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When carrying out a public lighting project there are many aspects to take into account, since it involves lighting areas in which, in addition to offering a service to a large number of people, lighting that offers safety and an adequate level is required in order to avoid possible accidents and dangerous situations, for example, in places where there is vehicle traffic and lighting represents a great factor for the safety of pedestrians and drivers. It is also really important that the elements intended for this type of applications have a fairly high luminous efficiency, since, due to the type of installation, luminaires are required that emit a high amount of light, which is sufficient to provide an adequate average level of illumination at ground level.
1 Type of lamps for public lighting
Different types of lamps are usually considered for public lighting projects, among them you can find tubes, streetlights, bulbs, bells and projectors. In general, technologies such as fluorescent tubes, mercury vapor lamps, high and low pressure sodium vapor, metal halide and induction discharge lamps were used traditionally. En la actualidad, la sociedad cada vez es más exigente a la hora de conservar el medio ambiente, de consumir menos energía eléctrica y en disminuir el mantenimiento de todos los equipos. Therefore, it is increasingly common that in most cases the use of luminaires with LED technology is a general rule, both due to the energy savings it represents compared to other technologies, and due to the use of materials with a lower environmental impact.
2 Calculo del nivel de iluminación
On the other hand, when you want to carry out a public lighting project, it is imperative to calculate the average lighting levels, whether on the road, platforms and parking spaces. In this case, it is necessary to take into account some important variables that affect the theoretical result of the calculation of the lighting level. One of the variables involved in the calculation would be the utilization factor, which consists of a measure of the performance of the lamp or luminaire and is defined as the ratio between the useful flux that reaches the ground and the total flux emitted by the lamp. Suppliers usually develop a curve of this value based on the ratio of street width to height, both on the roadway side and on the sidewalk side. One of the most used methods for calculating outdoor lighting is the total flow. The objective is to calculate the separation distance between the luminaires and guarantee an adequate lighting level. That is, knowing the luminous flux of the lamp, the desired average illumination, the width of the road and the arrangement of the lamps, you can calculate the minimum distance that must exist between each luminaire (separation of the posts).
3 Arrangement of lamps for public lighting
Another point to take into account when calculating the lighting level is the arrangement of the luminaires, whether they are intended for lighting sidewalks or any type of road. The types of luminaire arrangements are generally classified as unilateral, bilateral paired, bilateral staggered and central axial arrangements.
- The unilateral provision It is used when the lamps are located on the same side, therefore, this arrangement is normally applied for roads that are not very wide.
- The bilateral provision pareada se utiliza cuando la calzada es más ancha, y consiste en la colocación de las luminarias a ambos lados de la calzada.
- The bilateral stagger arrangement It is used for roads with an intermediate width in which the unilateral arrangement is not enough, so the luminaires are placed on both sides of the road in an alternating manner.
- The axial center arrangement It is used when there is a central island and the luminaires are placed on the island, located two by two, where the first illuminates one road and the second the other.
