Energy saving and remote control for street lighting in Bergamo (Italy)
BACKGROUND
Often the need to better improve the user service involves a operation cost increase, but not always new technologies help to find solutions able to determine a cost reduction and meanwhile improving safety.
After October 2001 ANAS transferred to Provinces all competences pertinent to non-state roads, for this reason the Province of Bergamo had the need to be equipped with a new advanced Remote control system.
The Province of Bergamo, in particular the Assessorship of Road condition and the Technical office had to face a dilemma:
"How to assure a better service on the roads to users and meantime guarantee a better management efficiency to roads and galleries amounting to about 1.350 kms with 12 kms of lighted tunnels?"
On the ground of the analysis performed by the technician of the IIIrd Area - Road condition Service of the Province of Bergamo, we wonder :
- Is it possible to keep a surveillance on a so large road system in real time?
- Is it possible to find arising situations and keep all plants monitored and functioning in order to find phenomena in itinere and plan all interventions to avoid damage risks?
- Is it possible to invest a not very large amount of money without causing inefficiencies due to endless road yards?
- Meantime perhaps could we aim at energy saving and at standard plant according to law against lighting pollution as ratified by the Law 17/2000 of Lombardy Region?
THE SOLUTION
The present electric plants with Remote control in the Province of Bergamo are made up in the following way (last update: OCTOBER 2007):
Nr. 54 Electric Panels for power saving (management) complete of transmission devices to the "Control Center" for a total of 1600 kW on an installed total ones of 1860
Nr. 60 Remote controlled lighting points and Remote management by GSM modem
Nr. 8 Remote-surveillance points with possibility of audio conversation with bidirectional place in the two Galleries of Lenna and Camerata Cornelio as well as video transmission
Nr. 2 Points for smoke alarm monitoring in tunnel as well as carbon monoxide
Nr. 5 Alarm pump positioning and generators in the two underpasses on the Interurban Axis
Nr. 4 Traffic light control points
Nr. 2 Variable messages panels
Nr. 300 LPC pole modules to controlling, switching-on and monitoring of single lighting point
involving 80% of users and which are in a position to exchange information with the "Control Center" made of a simple PC at complete disposal of the responsible, technician and maintenance workers.
Any state and alarm conditions are immediately transmitted to the "Control Center" which will transmit, in its turn, to the single GSM telephones and for this reason a continuous operator presence isn't necessary.
THE BENEFITS
Nearly all different complaints concerning switching off plants for days and days, are avoided, or that there's smoke in gallery as trouble signals are immediate. Through the "Control Center" you can start fan procedures and the lighting plant switching on as well as the starting of the underpass water evacuating pumps.
Each morning the different devices placed in all Panels scattered all over the territory download all the working data to be analysed, while all the alarms are automatically sent when the trouble occurs.
During the first six-monthly check, we verify that only in the Interurban Axis layout we obtained a electric energy saving of 21,000.00 €, reaching 42,000.00 € a year, this plant corresponds to about 1/3 of lamps installed in plants managed by the Province of Bergamo.
We're obtaining better results in plants installed in galleries (nr. 12) as these plants work 24 hours a day and so the saving percentage is always about 35/38%, achieving even 43%. It'll allow further savings of 40,000.00 € a year.
