Italy: iGuzzini joins the race for LED street lighting
- Leni Schwendinger
- Apr 19, 2009
- 2 min read
iGuzzini factory near Ancona, Italy
The iGuzzini lighting factory is set near the Adriatic sea, tucked into a composition of small villages, towns and pastures.
In March, a group of North American lighting designers and representatives were hosted by iGuzzini and Sistemalux – for a week in Ancona and Roma, Italy. Our hosts were generous, and the visit was high-spirited, informative and luscious. When we arrived at the factory our host declared,
Italians think sideways. We deviate from rationale thinking…
and went on to tell us about the newly designed LED street light: Archiled.
Enel SpA, Italy’s largest utility has contracted with iGuzzini to develop optics for LED streetlights to replace metal halide, mercury vapor and high-pressure sodium -based street lighting. The engineers and designers developed a patented solution – which began with a curve calculation that would use least energy for innovative public lighting.
Archiled on display
The cobrahead-style streetlight head contains an 84-watt array of LEDs (106-watts total) comparable to the light output of a 150 watt HID source. Characteristics include Color Rendering Index (CRI) of 80, a patented thermal management system, an integrated fin design to optimize the thermal management, and replaceable ballast.
Archiled has four default operating modes which reduce the power and the light output of the fittings according to the selected profiles. Besides the default operating modes, customized scenes and profiles can be programmed using a dedicated software.
The products will be on the worldwide market for 2010 and iGuzzini expects orders of 40,000 pieces per year.
Public lighting is increasingly recognized by new theory, science, practice and as a distinctive market. The outdoor lighting fixture industry is in an overheated race to blend new street lighting fixtures with energy-saving and sustainable characteristics.
LED is the source of choice and the number of cities testing LED street lighting is multiplying. ( See “More cities tap stimulus package for LED streetlights” USA Today March 3, 2009, “At least 30 cities have asked for more than $104 million in federal stimulus funds to help them make the change.”)
My company, Light Projects, is currently reviewing a new LED streetlight for the municipality known as New York City.
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