Following the demonstrated financial benefits from a previous deployment, Wiltshire County Council in southwestern UK has decided to expand its county-wide intelligent street lighting deployment by an additional 7,000 ‘smart’ luminaires.
UK-based developer of smart streetlighting and Internet of Things (IoT) data collection systems Telensa has been selected by the County Council to expand its Planet intelligent street lighting to a total of 42,000. The county’s established deployment already controls 35,000 light units, and has paid for itself in just six years through reduced energy and maintenance costs. The Central Management System’s controls are also being upgraded as part of a broader LED replacement program for which Ringway is the contractor and Atkins is the consultant. The combination of Telensa smart controls and advanced LED lights from Urbis Schréder has enabled the local authority to implement sophisticated lighting profiles that save energy and create a more pleasant urban environment. The project began in October and is due for completion in October 2021.
Telensa’s Planet is an end-to-end intelligent street lighting system, consisting of wireless telecell nodes connecting individual lights, a dedicated wireless network and a central management system. Planet maximises the benefits of LEDs, pays for itself in reduced energy and maintenance costs, improves quality of service through automatic fault reporting, and turns streetlight poles into hubs for smart city sensors. With more than 1.7 million lights connected, Telensa Planet is the world’s most popular connected streetlight system.
Using its Ultra Narrow Band (UNB) network technology, Telensa makes wireless smart city applications, helping cities around the world save energy, work smarter and deliver more joined-up services for their citizens. Building on the compelling business case for its smart street lighting, the company provides cities and utilities with an open, low-cost platform to add multiple sensor applications. Based in Cambridge, and with regional operations in the USA and Australia, Telensa is working with Microsoft, Samsung and Qualcomm technologies in the Urban Data Project, helping cities to build future-proof operations driven by data intelligence, trust and transparency.
“The addition of Telensa controls has helped the Council to significantly reduce our energy costs, while at the same time improving our street lighting service,” said Peter Binley, head of service for highway asset management and commissioning at Wiltshire County Council. “Extending our partnership to a total of 42,000 smart streetlights county-wide is an example of our leadership in intelligent infrastructure to deliver a safer, smarter, and more efficient environment for our citizens.”
Telensa’s chief commercial officer, Will Gibson, added, “Rising energy prices and tightening budgets mean that it is more important than ever to be able to offer local authorities deployment-proven solutions. We’re delighted to expand our partnership with Wiltshire to deliver a more efficient street lighting system that will serve citizens’ needs for decades to come.”
