San Antonio Retrofits 20,000 Street Lamps With Toshiba LEDs

In densely populated areas, street lamps are a must. Even though they make it a lot easier to take out the trash after dark, they’re not the most ideal luminaries. That harsh orange glow casts a weird pallor over the landscape, consume vast amounts of energy, and in major cities, creates light pollution that blots out the evening stars.

In an attempt to cut down on energy use and illuminate the streets with a more natural color, a San Antonio utility recently announced that it will replace over 20,000 high-pressure sodium (HPS) street lamps with Toshiba’s 100-watt 42-chip TGT LED luminaires.

Toshiba, LED, street lamps, San Antonio, retrofit

Image via Toshiba

Apparently, the glow from traditional street lights produces low color rendering, which may make it difficult to discern true colors of cars or surroundings, whereas LED luminaires produce a more accurate color rendering, according to Toshiba. Thus retrofitting the lights will actually increase safety and visibility in areas of concern.

Oh yes, and then there’s the massive energy savings: The Toshiba LED Luminaire uses 70 percent% less energy than the HPS street lamps and has a rated life of 100,000 hours L85. The photocells have a rated life of 15 years, which means the TGT luminaire lasts up to 5X longer with a lower lumen depreciation than metal halide and 2X as long as HPS products. Over all this means less energy consumption when the lights are on, and less money spent on replacement bulbs and parts.

CPS Energy tested many LED roadway luminaires before choosing the Toshiba product. According to the company, the luminaire was selected for its product performance including the communications-enabled feature that allows connection to the Smart Grid.
