City installs streetlight controls

There are now smart streetlight controls on 64,000 LED lights across the city installed as part of the council’s strategy to use more energy efficient  street lights which began under the last administration. The company chose to enter into an LED replacement contract with Amey, and in doing so the digital transformation leader CGI Group selected Telensa a Cambridge based company which leads the way in smart city applications.

Telensa PLANet is a wireless central management system (CMS) that enables centralised remote control of the city’s lighting. It consists of wireless nodes connecting individual lights, dedicated wireless connectivity, and a central management application. The system already controls more that 1.5 million lights.

PLANet provides real-time monitoring to identify and track faults, which will cut the number of residents’ complaints about broken street lights and remove the need for street lighting staff to undertake night-time patrols to identify faulty lights. It also measures actual energy consumption, submitting information directly to the Meter Administrator and increasing the accuracy of energy billing.

The system pays for itself in reduced energy and maintenance costs, improves quality of service, and enables streetlight poles to act as hubs for smart city sensors. With more than 1.5 million lights connected, Telensa PLANet is the world’s most popular connected streetlight system.

Transport and Environment Convener, Councillor Lesley Macinnes, said: “We are rolling out energy efficient street lights with smart remote controls to communities right across the capital, starting this summer and continuing on a ward-by-ward basis until the end of 2020. We’re making every effort to minimise disruption to residents and businesses throughout and will target information to communities as the roll-out comes to their area.”

“We are working with our partners in Edinburgh to deliver an efficient and smart street lighting control system, one that will be responsive to citizens’ needs for decades to come,” said Will Gibson, Founder and Chief Commercial Officer at Telensa. “We’re looking forward to working together build a new generation of smart city applications, all enabled by the city’s lighting network.”

“We are delighted to be working with Telensa to unlock the efficiency gains and smart city potential of connected street lighting,” said Justene Ewing, VP Consulting Services and Partnership Director for CGI at the City of Edinburgh Council. “This project is another step in our long-term digital transformation of public services throughout Edinburgh.”