Barcelona switches to smart lighting
Smart lights can operate for 6 days without sunlight
Barcelona has implemented smart lighting at Llevant beach, featuring lights that can operate for up to 6 days without sunlight.
The 22 smart street lights generate all the energy required to operate, without needing to be connected to mains electricity.
Six of the streetlights are hybrid solar/wind powered lights that were specially designed for Barcelona’s wind conditions. The hybrid lights are unique in that they are the “only units of their kind in the world which can function with wind strength below 1.7 m/s”, according to the City of Barcelona website. “The streetlights use LED light technology and are highly energy efficient, with good quality light levels and a 20% lower energy consumption”.
The smart street lighting system cost 135,000 euros to implement, and represents energy production of around 280 kWh per year for the hybrid street lights and 190 kWh per year for the solar powered units.
Llevant beach is Barcelonas newest beach, opening in 2006, following a significant urban renewal project. Llevant beach area has been dramatically transformed from an industrial precinct where factories were just 200 metres from where the beach.
The City of Barcelona is a leader in the implementation of smart technologies, and was awarded the “2015 Global Smart City” by Juniper Research.
For more information see City of Barcelona’s website.
