European smart city vendor Telensa has started work on connecting 55,000 light emitting diode (LED) streetlights in Gloucestershire, U.K. to its wireless controlled central management system. Using the Telensa PLANet platform, each streetlight will have a telecell plugged in to wirelessly connect the lights to the cloud and then be controlled via a streetlight-mounted base station. Once completed, the LED lighting project in Gloucestershire will reduce annual energy consumption by 7,000 carbon tonnes, Telensa says.
An example of LED street lighting and how much more light is produced than conventional lighting. (Source: Telensa) The PLANet system gives the Gloucestershire City Council complete control over the LED network in order to vary lighting levels to suit changing local needs over time or to respond to local events or emergencies. The wireless system also helps in automatically identifying the need for repairs and maintenance.
Telensa says that wirelessly-connected LED streetlights is just a stepping stone to enabling other Internet of Things (IoT) applications through a similar wireless network leading to other smart city systems, such as smart parking, traffic radar or lighting-based analytics.
