Philips Lumileds announced the first street lights in Osaka, Japan has been lit by its LUXEON power LEDs, This reflects the emergence of solid-state lighting as an energy-efficient alternative to street lamps using standard light sources.

The fixtures, developed by Osaka-based Three Force, are contributing to an overall savings of 88% in electricity bills over the older high-pressure mercury lamps used elsewhere in the region. Mr Kazuaki Ueshima, CEO & president, Three Force noted that their new street lamps in Osaka are saving a tremendous amount of energy and pedestrians really enjoy the quality of light that they get from the LUXEON LEDs.

Each of the LED-based street lamps installed at a park on the Kizu River utilizes 36 cool white LUXEON LEDs. The LED array generates 30 lux at a pole height of 4.5 meters, comparable to the brightness of mercury lamps, while using just 25 W of power per fixture. Future Lighting Solutions worked with Three Force to ensure that system design and bin selection enabled Three Force to meet the solution specifications.

In addition to energy savings, LUXEON LEDs offer a 60,000-hour lifetime that is 5 to 10 times longer than mercury vapor, mercury-free construction, and the ability to achieve uniform light distribution with minimal glare in street lamp applications because of the greater control over light direction made possible by LUXEON’s small form factor. Light can be precisely targeted through LED placement and optics optimization.

This initial installation in Osaka Prefecture is part of an emerging movement to bring LED illumination to streets and sidewalks, according to Norihide Yamada, General Manager, Japan for Philips Lumileds. He said that they are seeing growing interest in solid-state street lamps from partners and cities around the globe and certainly here in Japan. Municipalities are familiar with the energy and maintenance benefits of LEDs, and street lighting promises to be the next big wave of LED adoption at the municipal level.