In order to gain an understanding of consumers‟ levels of satisfaction with the real-world performance of the controls products studied in this report, eight project managers of
networked streetlight controls installations in the U.S. and Canada filled out surveys to describe their experiences with the controls technologies in their installations. Their responses are summarized in Tables 3 and 4. Each project manager may have interpreted slightly differently the 1-to-5 scale the survey used for their responses; while responses by a single project manager show his or her relative satisfaction with a given functionality or usefulness of a specific product feature, responses across projects may be difficult to compare.
In general, project managers for these demonstration products were most interested in non- energy benefits such as streamlined operations and management. They therefore highly valued controls products‟ abilities to detect faults and to generate notices and reports. Additionally, many projects also sought to evaluate the controls products‟ energy metering capabilities. Most demonstrations did not prioritize energy-saving features, such as dimming or adaptive lighting control; this may in large part be due to the current un-metered billing structure for most streetlights, which results in managers being unable to reap financial benefits for adaptively reducing street lighting energy.
Project managers expressed general satisfaction with wireless networked controls‟ abilities to improve streetlight operations and maintenance through accurate fault detection and power metering; many stated that they would highly recommend to any municipality or streetlight operator installation of such controls on all streetlight systems.
Table 3: Controls Demonstration Matrix I
Overview
Pilot Location Glendale, AZ Hamilton, Ontario San Jose, CA SFPUC Portland, OR
Entity; Territory Size City of Glendale; 19,554 total fixtures
City of Hamilton; 45,000 total
fixtures City of San Jose; 62,000 fixtures
San Francisco Public Utilities
Commission; 18,500 fixtures City of Portland; 54,500
Technology ROAM Streetlight Intelligence ROAM ROAM Virticus
Date of Install Jan-08 May-10 Jan-10 Jan-10; Nov-10 Early 2011
Number of Fixtures Controlled 19,554 10 140 50 non-dimming; 22 dimming 2 (+28 scheduled in May)
Primary Features Demonstrated or
Investigated Operations and maintenance Operations
Operations and Maintenance; Data
Collection Operations and Maintenance
Operations and maintenance; Energy savings
High Priority Product specifications
RF Mesh network, frequency (avoid cell tower interference),
network security
N/A
Remote management system, failure notification, map driven applications, dimming, laptop- accessible control and monitoring
Wireless network, cost, maturity
RF mesh network with Ethernet backhaul; self-hosting capability; component certifications; network
security
Most useful features Failure detection, maintenance tickets, data reports
Luminaire Grouping, Remote Scheduling
Dimming, Remote Scheduling, Failure detection
Failure detection, maintenance tickets, data reports
Luminaire grouping, power metering, dimming, scheduling, astronomical clock,
failure detection, maintenance reports, data reports
Least useful features Did not specify Power Metering, Dimming, Failure
detection, data reports Luminaire Grouping, Data Reports Did not specify Traffic volume sensor System Operation and Functionality
5 3 5 4 4
Router failures delayed installation
5 1 4 5 5
Not tested with induction or LED Additional time and money to retrofit
3 2 5 5 4
Not overly difficult but training is
required Installation is simple and intuitive
5 1 5 4 3
Some issues with approximated street addressing of lights
Took 24 hours to configure lamp's location on the web page
Initial communication issues solved with switch to Windows 7 Energy and Maintenance
Considerations
5 NR 4 5 4
Still in early stages of the project
5 1 4 4 4
Data will improve management and decision making
1 2 5 1 4
Did not test energy benefits 40% when fully dimmed, but flat- rate billing structure is a barrier.
City does not plan to dim streetlights at this time
Hope to initially dim by 30% to account for lumen depreciation
1 1 5 4 4
No monetary benefits; high operations and maintenance
benefits
Never quantified any other benefits
5 3 5 5 5
Helpful E-mail or phone response within 24 hours Installation: How would you characterize
the installation process for the network controls?
System Compatibility: How would you characterize the network controls system’s compatibility with existing lighting circuits and
wiring?
Training Requirements: How would you characterize the level of training required to
prepare staff for installation?
Programming Process: How would you characterize the commissioning process
for the controls network?
Customer Support: How satisfied are you with the customer support from the streetlight network controls manufacturer / vendor?
Ease of Use: How would you characterize the network controls system’s ability to improve
streetlight operations and management practices?
Data and Reporting: How would you characterize the usefulness of the data and reporting capabilities of the controls
network?
Energy Savings: How would you characterize the energy benefits attributed
to the control system?
Non-Energy Benefits: How would you characterize the non-energy benefits
attributed to the control system?
Most Difficult Easiest 1 2 3 4 5
Very Low Very High 1 2 3 4 5
Table 4: Controls Demonstration Matrix II
Overview
Pilot Location Los Angeles, CA US Virgin Islands Kansas City, MO Kansas City, MO Kansas City, MO
Entity; Territory Size City of Los Angeles; 210,000 total fixtures
US Virgin Islands Water & Power Authority; 16,271 total fixtures
Technology ROAM CIMCON Sun-Tech Strategic Telemetry Airinet
Date of Install 2009 Feb-11
Number of Fixtures Controlled 40,000 600 15 15 15
Primary Features Demonstrated or Investigated
Operations and maintenance; Metering; Dimming
Operations and maintenance; Billing
High Priority Product specifications
RF mesh network w/ 2-way communication; self-hosting; GIS
compatible
Self hosting, open system architecture
Most useful features
Luminaire grouping, dimming, scheduling, astronomical clock,
failure detection, maintenance reports, data reports
Power metering, astronomical clock, sunrise/sunset trimming,
failure detection
Luminaire grouping, power metering, scheduling, failure detection, maintenance reports,
data reports
Luminaire grouping, power metering, scheduling, failure detection, maintenance reports,
data reports
Luminaire grouping, power metering, scheduling, failure detection, maintenance reports,
data reports
Least useful features Sunset/sunrise trimming Dimming, light output metering, lumen depreciation adjustment
Backup astronomical clock,
Sunrise/Sunset trimming Backup astronomical clock Did not specify System Operation and Functionality
5 5 4 4 5
Plug and Play
5 5 4 5 5
2 5 4 4 5
3 2 3 5 5
Vendor did this part Self-commissions using GPS
Energy and Maintenance Considerations
5 3 4 4 5
Should improve maintenance and
scheduling Highly recommended
5 3 5 5 5
Useful for comparing energy consumption of different fixtures
5 2 5 5 5
Will likely be larger once installation is fully complete
Dimming would provide roughly 20% additional energy savings
Dimming would provide roughly 20% additional energy savings
Dimming would provide roughly 20% additional energy savings
5 5 5 5 5
Ability to know which lights are malfunctioning is a benefit
4 3 5 4 5
Installation: How would you characterize the installation process for the network
controls?
City of Kansas City; 92,000 total fixtures
Open protocols; Zigbee/AMI compatibility; power monitoring, commissioning, owner hosting, no ongoing fees
Operations and Remote Controls, luminaire lifetime Feb-11
System Compatibility: How would you characterize the network controls system’s compatibility with existing lighting circuits and
wiring?
Training Requirements: How would you characterize the level of training required to
prepare staff for installation?
Programming Process: How would you characterize the commissioning process
for the controls network?
Ease of Use: How would you characterize the network controls system’s ability to improve
streetlight operations and management practices?
Data and Reporting: How would you characterize the usefulness of the data and reporting capabilities of the controls
network?
Energy Savings: How would you characterize the energy benefits attributed
to the control system?
Non-Energy Benefits: How would you characterize the non-energy benefits
attributed to the control system?
Most Difficult Easiest 1 2 3 4 5
Very Low Very High 1 2 3 4 5