Up to 81% of new LED lighting utilization

Recently, a group of researchers from Taiwan and Mexico in China have developed a new type of lighting system. By making efficient use of LEDs, street lights can be used to illuminate only the places where light is needed without generating unnecessary light.

In the roads illuminated by ordinary street lights, especially narrow roads, we often see the situation where the light and dark areas of the road surface are jagged. This traditional lighting method is not only inefficient but also causes serious light pollution. Studies have found that more than one-fifth of the electric energy of traditional street lamps is wasted by horizontal and upward light.

“A unique feature of this new type of LED system is that it can adapt to the street lighting layout of different streets and provide efficient lighting for various streets and roads,” said Professor Sun Qingcheng, who is involved in the study in the Department of Optoelectronics and Engineering at Central University of Taiwan, China. Say.

This new type of street light system consists of three parts. The first part consists of a series of light-emitting diodes, each of which is equipped with a device called a total internal reflection lens (TIR). Its function is to collect light and precisely control the direction of the light beam so that the light rays are emitted in parallel without mutuality. cross. These lenses are mounted in a reflective cavity to recover light and ensure that they are used more to illuminate the target. This is the second part of the system. The third part is its outermost light filtering device, its role is to reduce the excess glare. With this unique structure, researchers can control the shape of the beam. The currently designed beam shape is rectangular, which is very suitable for road lighting.

Researchers use light utilization (OUF) to quantify the performance of streetlights. The higher the light utilization, the better the streetlight performance. Computer simulation results show that the light utilization rate of this new street lighting system can reach 51% to 81%, far exceeding the current 45% of ordinary street lamps. In addition, compared with traditional street lamps, this new type of street lamp has higher brightness, more energy-saving, and is less prone to glare and light pollution.

Researchers said that due to the simple structure and the use of ordinary LED bulbs, modular assembly can be facilitated. They expect to complete the prototype design within the next 3 to 6 months and conduct actual installation experiments on the road early next year.