The First DC Smart Grid for Public Lighting
23 May 2014
The pilot projects for the first DC smart grid for public lighting in the Netherlands, and worldwide, have been launched.
On May 12, CityTec has signed a contract with Afvalzorg in the municipality Haarlemmermeer for the first pilot project to replace the existing street lighting with the new sustainable lampposts. In cooperation with CityTec who realizes these pilot project, Direct Current Ltd has developed DC drivers for LED lighting and the public lighting system together with a smart DC system that makes a DC grid possible. This is a full DC grid that connects DC lampposts to a DC smart grid working entirely on DC.The LED fixtures are developed and produced in co-operation with Lightwell. The commissioning of the public lighting on the DC smart grid is scheduled in October 2014 and will be celebrated with a grand opening.
The second pilot project is implemented in the center of district Musselkanaal of the Municipality Stadskanaal. Stadskanaal signed the contract with CityTec on May 21. The existing public lighting is being replaced with 44 light poles with the DC drivers for the LED lighting and public lighting system developed by Direct Current Ltd, connected to an almost 2 kilometers long DC smart grid. Stadskanaal is the first municipality with a public lighting DC smart grid.
Innovation in DC and Renewable Energy
The innovative smart DC system is a unique concept of Direct Current Ltd in which electricity is combined with communication. This is an innovation in the field of DC voltage and the first globally. By building communication into the DC grid, each lamp can be controlled separately, in a central management, and adjusted at a distance which improves usability and reduces maintenance costs significantly.
Furthermore, a DC grid is an innovation in renewable energy. There are energy savings due to reduced energy losses, reduced raw material costs by using less components than the current AC grid, and the longer lifetime of the DC drivers in contrast to the current AC drivers in the LED lighting. As a result, this is an intrinsical sustainability in energy. For more information on the DC system, DC grid, and DC drivers for LED lighting, see: Project Public Lighting on DC Smart Grid.
The two pilot projects are now started in Haarlemmermeer and Stadskanaal, and there are still more pilot projects with public lighting on DC smart systems in the pipeline, later on this year.