Street lights in Kaohsiung are fully LED

Say goodbye to traditional lighting fixtures. The 240,000 street lights in Kaohsiung City are fully LED, which is expected to be completed before the end of the year. The Kaohsiung City Works Bureau will also retrofit the "smart street light" system to 80,000 street lights in the urban area. Once the lights are damaged, they can be reported back through the Internet immediately, saving the maintenance department's labor and cost for night inspections of street lights.

Kaohsiung City has begun to gradually replace high-pressure sodium gas lamps or metal-clad lamps in 2013. As of 2019, 120,000 LED street lamps have been replaced. Many of the lamps that have been insured but not damaged have long been decayed. At present, the overall refurbishment progress of the 35 districts in the city has reached 80%. Qianjin, Yancheng, Mi Tuo and Liugui districts have all refurbished, and Renwu, Taishe, Tianliao, and Mino districts have reached 90%. All replacements are expected to be installed by the end of the year.

The Works Bureau stated that the subsidy from the Energy Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs was limited before 2019, and only 120,000 LED street lights could be replaced in 7 years. Introducing private financing this year, and signing the "Energy-saving and Smart Street Lamp PFI (Private Finance Initiative)" replacement plan with two LED manufacturers. The manufacturer installs new LED lamps and replaces the LEDs to save electricity, and then according to the contract, the manufacturer submits an application every six months. The Bureau of Works estimates that it will take about 8 years for manufacturers to pay back their costs.

The new LED street lights consume 70 watts of electricity each, and the main roads such as Zhongshan Road use high-brightness 100 watts. The Bureau of Public Works estimates that it can save about 108 million RMB in electricity bills, reduce power consumption by about 70 million kWh, and reduce carbon emissions by about 37,000 tons per year.

In addition, this year the Bureau of Public Works also began to deploy "smart street lights" for street lights in urban areas. A black box for sensing is installed on the LEDs. Once damaged or unlit, it will be sent back to the system through the wifi generator to improve rush repair efficiency.

The Works Bureau emphasized that the illuminance and brightness of the new LED street lights meet the requirements. In response to some people's glaring reactions, engineers will adjust the angle of the street lights or install shading facilities to improve it.