LED Street Lights Are Being Removed From Five Locations

LED street lights are being removed from five locations across Bermuda after a pilot scheme found the energy-saving lights weren’t up to scratch. Government and BELCO have been working on a six-month trial, which saw a total of 68 street lights having their regular bulbs replaced with energy-saving LEDs. But BELCO crews are now replacing the LEDs as the quality of light was “not adequate” to light up our streets at night. The bulbs for the pilot programme are understood to have been supplied by Electrical Technology Management (ETM). This is the same company that installed the LED lights at Global House, which breached health and safety regulations as well as building and electrical codes. A damning Government report also stated that no proper feasibility study was carried out, technical officers had raised concerns in advance about poor lighting levels, the lights installed were not certified with a recognised electrical testing laboratory, and an electrical permit for the lights was not applied for. The unsuccessful LED street light trials were carried out in Barry Road, St George’s; North Shore Road, Devonshire; Fractious Street, Bailey’s Bay, the Death Valley area of Southampton and the Crawl area of Hamilton Parish. It is understood that those concerned remain hopeful of installing LEDs in all the Island’s 3, 895 street lights, but the contract for this work has not yet been signed. Talks are however continuing and Government has returned to the drawing board to try to come up with alternative energy-saving options. In the meantime, the LED lights installed for the trial are being ripped out and replaced with regular bulbs. Government is responsible for street lights and it contracts BELCO to do maintenance on its behalf. A BELCO spokeswoman said the pilot scheme had finished and no contract regarding LED street lights had been signed. She said: “The LED pilots were carried out in five locations around the island, and they showed that the quality of light was not adequate, so options will continue to be explored. "Government supplies the bulbs, so any further pilots using energy efficient products would be paid by them, so the decision to move forward would be theirs. "We support the effort to find the right energy efficient bulbs for Bermuda’s street lights”. Street lights that use LEDs (light-emitting diodes) as their light sources are used across the globe with their primary appeal being a reduction in the cost of keeping streets lit. They are currently being used in cities such as New York, Washington, DC, Seattle and Toronto, with some LEDs being dimmed late at night and early in the morning when streets are quiet. However, a common drawback of LEDs is that most light is directed to the road, rather than lighting up the sidewalk and surrounding areas. This concentration of light has raised concerns about safety and security because of dark patches in-between street lights. However, the ETM website states that its LED street lighting is a powerful alternative with high efficiency. It states that a single powerful LED is used as the light source with a high brightness semiconductor chip and “it reaches its intensity of light instantly unlike other light sources”. The website goes on to guarantee energy savings of more than 50 percent compared to a sodium light and a five- to ten- year lifespan. The BELCO spokeswoman added that the company’s regular street light maintenance was continuing “with regular bulbs, not LED’s, as they were just a pilot”. She said: “BELCO crews continue to work to replace bulbs/lamps across the Island, having recently received a shipment of bulbs and other equipment from Government. "BELCO is contracted by Government to replace bulbs and maintain street lights”. A Ministry of Public Works spokesman said they were working with BELCO to review street lighting “for the benefit of Bermuda”. But he said BELCO had been responsible for managing and paying for the pilot scheme. He said: “This initiative is designed to test a new lighting technology at certain locations to evaluate the best option for efficient street lighting. "The latest technology is being reviewed with the ultimate objective of reducing energy costs. "We will continue to review technologies to find the best option for efficient street lighting”. ETM president and owner Leroy Robinson did not want to comment. Source: royalgazette.com