Friday, May 30, 2014

Street Lighting In Modern Times

By Marci Glover


Raised sources are the most preferred for lighting our towns, cities, road edges and walkways. In street lighting, the source of light is usually turned on and off at certain times. In modern times, lamps have photocells that are light-sensitive. Their work is to automatically turn on the light at night and off in the morning. Previously, solar dials aided this function. It is common for sources to be on tall poles connected with wires between them.

Before the invention of incandescent lamps, candles were used in cities. Later, lamps needed a lamplighter tour every night to light all the lamps. This were then improved such that, an ignition device was used. It could strike the flame on its own provided the gas supply was active.

Invention of arc lamps made its mark as the foremost electric street illuminating method. Lamps made of carbon arcs using alternating current were used for ensuring that consumption of both electrodes took place at an equal rate. A departmental store in the French capital used this lighting system. The disadvantage with this type of illumination was the harsh intense light it emitted. It caused a lot of discomfort in towns, and maintaining it was time and resource consuming. They were replaced by brighter, cheaper and more reliable incandescent bulbs.

Incandescent lamps were often operated at a very high voltage in circuits arranged in series. The popularity of series circuits was influenced by the fact that the higher voltage in the circuits gave out more photons for every watt used. This arrangement also made it easy to control all bulbs in the district.

Contemporary street illumination entails use of discharge bulbs. In most instances, they are sodium lamps with high pressure within them. They emit large quantities of light, but only use small amounts of energy. Nevertheless, they are often found to be inappropriate for lighting during the night in contrast to ordinary white light. Study has established that the normal white light is the best for drivers owing to the fact that it helps them see properly, and act fast whenever braking is needed.

New technologies for street illumination like induction lights produce white light that gives high levels of lumen. This makes it possible for illumination that requires less power and lumen to substitute current ones. Lack of official specifications on the prescribed lights has made it impossible for most municipalities to endorse them. LED luminaries are being widely accepted owing to test confirmations that they are more energy-efficient and perform well.

A harmonious system of photometry was created by coming up with two similar measurement systems. This was a good idea since less power is used compared to previous methods. It saves the cost involved in measurement. The new method; Outdoor Site-Lighting Performance predicts and measures three elements of light pollution: trespass, glow and glare. This method makes it possible for lighting technicians to quantify the working of current and planned illuminating designs and applications to cut down excessive illumination crossing the boundaries of a property.

Accidents can be prevented, and safety promoted through proper lighting on the streets. However, if caution is not taken, street illumination can turn out to be disastrous. Street users and drivers are likely to encounter night blindness; stray energy that may cause electrocution, and fatal collisions caused by poor lighting.




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