The City of Ann Arbor, Michigan, the newest LED City™, expects to install more than 1,000 LED streetlights beginning next month. The City anticipates a 3.8-year payback on its initial investment. The LED lights typically burn five times longer than the bulbs they replace and require less than half the energy. The LED streetlights currently installed in Ann Arbor are based on the New Westminster Series made by Lumec, Inc., which contain LED light engines from Relume Technologies, Inc. The light engines are based on the performance-leading Cree XLamp® LED.Full implementation of LEDs is projected to cut Ann Arbor's public lighting energy use in half and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2,425 tons of CO2 annually, the equivalent of taking 400 cars off the road for a year. Detroit Edison, Ann Arbor's local utility provider, will meter the new LED streetlights with the intent to gather sufficient information to develop new LED-based tariffs.
One of the reasons LED light clusters quickly became popular on traffic lights is because long-lasting LEDs reduce maintenance costs, increase public safety (no completely dead lights at rush hour) and avoid traffic blockages during maintenance. A similar rationale lies behind the increasing popularity of LED clusters in automotive lights. The advantages of LED street lights, similarly, are significant beyond mere payback on energy savings.
Via::Cree & Treehugger