Smart Roadway Lighting Control: Economical Municipal Lighting for Smart Cities

For municipalities looking to modernize their streetlighting and build a foundation for smart city initiatives, Tondo’s Edge IQ smart roadway lighting controls, managed through Tondo’s Cloud IQ platform, offers a compelling solution. This isn’t just an upgrade: Smart Roadway lighting is a transformative technology that delivers economic benefits, operational efficiencies, robust cybersecurity, competitive advantages, and strategic smart city enablement.

Lowering Streetlight Operating Costs and Maximizing ROI

For cities’ budget-conscious environments, every dollar counts. Tondo can enable municipalities reduce the operating costs of municipal lighting by 67% and reduce the GHG footprint of streetlighting by 38%, with smart lighting project cost-recovery in 3.4 years. 

The following figures are based on a model using the City of San Jose’s roadway classifications and an average 65.0W for LED luminaires. These assumptions, specific to this project example, include a transition from existing dusk-to-dawn operation to standards-based lighting levels based on ANSI/IES RP-8-22, and the transition from SCE’s LS-2 unmetered rate plan to SCE’s LS-3 metered rate plan.

In this project example of 10,000 LED streetlights in Southern California:

• Metered Electricity Savings: Tondo’s Cabinet IQ provides billing-grade energy metering at the utility service point to enable customers on unmetered rate plans to transition to metered electricity for a 30% reduction in streetlight operating expenses.
• Over-Lamping Correction: Light fixtures rarely match the light output required for specific roadways, with most fixtures deployed at 100% of their rated output (over-lamping). With Tondo, each fixture model and specification can be adjusted to match lighting engineer recommendations and save an estimated 4.2% in excess energy costs.
• Standards-Based Dimming Savings: Dusk-to-dawn streetlighting delivers excessive light levels to the roadway – far in excess of established North American standards and creating increased glare for roadway users. Tondo’s Edge IQ dimming controls and Cloud IQ management software using Tondo’s AI, enables cities to deliver safer, ANSI/IES RP-8-22 and FHWA compliant lighting levels and a 20% lower cost of streetlight operating expenses.
• Maintenance Savings: By applying over-lamping corrections and corrections to for standards-based lighting levels according to roadway classifications, LED fixtures operate at reduced temperatures, extending the life of fixture components by up to
• Operational Efficiency Savings: Tondo’s integration of AI-driven controls streamline the management of complex lighting environments, with real-time energy analytics and alerts to electrical service, wiring, and light fixture anomalies for a 33% gain in operational efficiencies that represents 4.1% operating expense benefit.
• Carbon Offset Savings: By reducing energy consumption 63%, municipalities can also benefit from a reduced cost of purchasing carbon credit offsets to get to net-zero targets, representing a 0.7% budget savings.

Project Costs Considered: Initial investment includes costs for Edge IQ controllers, Cabinet IQ advanced service point metering and analytics, Cloud IQ management software licenses, and estimated project installation costs by licensed contractors.

Ongoing Costs Considered: Recurring annual SaaS costs for Tondo’s Cloud IQ central management software.

In this example, a Tondo Smart Lighting project has a break-even point at 3.45 years.

Accelerating LED Retrofit Project Value

While upgrading to LED luminaires offers immediate energy savings and reduces maintenance, pairing it with Tondo Smart Lighting takes those benefits to the next level, significantly increasing ROI and accelerating payback. Here’s a comparison based on an analysis of 10,000 LED streetlights in Southern California:

• The Business Case for LED Retrofit: Cities are very familiar with the business case for LED streetlighting. Replacing traditional fixtures with LEDs reduces energy consumption and extends lamp life to reduce maintenance costs. An LED retrofit project for converting 10,000 fixtures, in this example, has a project cost of $5.1M and an annual savings of $665,000, resulting in a payback period of 7.7 years. This payback is based on an annual electricity expense reduction of $275,000, annual maintenance savings of $382,000, and carbon offset credit savings of $7,000.
• Tondo Smart Lighting: In this project example, the combined Smart Lighting + LED Retrofit project has a project cost of $7.3M and provides combined annual savings of $1.5M, resulting in a shorter payback period of 5.4 years. This represents a 30% acceleration of the combined project payback period compared to LED retrofit alone.
• Smart City Enablement: LED retrofits provide lower cost lighting with improved visibility. Tondo Smart Lighting reduces operating costs while also serving as a platform for smart city applications, enabling the deployment of a variety of sensors, smart meters, traffic cameras, and device controls. Tondo systems seamlessly integrate lighting and smart city use-cases, enabling cities to reduce Smart City enablement costs by up to 80%.
• Environmental Impact: Both LED retrofits and Tondo Smart Lighting reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions. Tondo Smart Lighting enhances these benefits through optimized lighting and reduced energy waste. In this project example, a city would reduce their CO² footprint by 536 tonnes annually.

While LED retrofits provide obvious value, Tondo Smart Lighting unlocks additional economic and environmental value, significantly increasing ROI and accelerating payback by optimizing lighting performance and enabling smart city capabilities.

The Power of Dimming and Extended LED Fixture Lifespan

One of the most compelling benefits of Tondo Smart Lighting is the significant reduction in maintenance costs. These savings are not just incremental; they represent a fundamental shift in how municipalities manage their lighting assets.

• Extended LED Lifespan: Tondo Smart Lighting significantly extends LED fixture lifecycles. Pre-dimming, the average LED lifespan is 14.6 years for a fixture rated at 60,000 hours. With Tondo’s Smart Lighting control, LED lamp lifespan extends to 34.1 years. By dimming the lights, the LED junction and driver component operating temperatures are reduced, decreasing thermal stress and slowing lamp degradation (sources: OSRAM, Tan, Kai Zhe & Lee, See-Keong & Low, Heng Chin. (2021)).
• Reduced Failure Rates: The effect of longer fixture lifecycles reduces fixture maintenance costs with fewer maintenance events. With Tondo’s Smart Dimming, cities will experience considerably reduced fixture failure rates compared to dusk-to-dawn operations.

Environmental Benefits: A Greener Footprint

Beyond the economic advantages, Tondo’s Edge IQ and Cloud IQ smart lighting control contributes significantly to environmental sustainability:

In this project example of 10,000 LED streetlights in Southern California:

• Reduced GHG Emissions: A Tondo Smart Lighting project anticipates a reduction of 297.9 tonnes of GHG emissions annually.
• Night-Time Sky Glow Reduction: Smart lighting can help reduce night-time sky glow through implementation of standards-based lighting levels throughout the city.

Operational Efficiencies: Streamlining Management and Maintenance

Tondo simplifies lighting management, freeing up valuable staff time and resources:

• Real-Time Monitoring: Cloud IQ central management system (CMS) tracks the status of connected luminaires, providing insights into energy consumption, faults, and performance.
• Remote Management: Edge IQ connects fixtures to a broader wireless network, allowing centralized management.
• Automated Security Updates: Edge IQ devices receive secure, over-the-air (OTA) firmware and security updates, with no user intervention.

Cybersecurity: Protecting Critical Infrastructure

In an era of increasing cyber threats, security is paramount. Tondo’s Edge IQ offers a robust cybersecurity model:

• Hardware Cryptographic Security: Equipped with both a cryptographic accelerator and hardware security module (HSM) for secure, encrypted communication. Cybersecurity is suitable for connected critical infrastructure.
• Fully Managed Security: Tondo manages all connectivity, encryption, and access control. There is no customer involvement in network or key management. Tondo manages all aspects of the technology platform for its customers including cellular data plans, eliminating the IT management burden on their organization.
• Private Network Communication: Cloud IQ and Edge IQ communicate exclusively over a private, encrypted network, reducing external attack surfaces.
• Anomaly Detection: AI-powered monitoring detects unusual patterns or unauthorized access attempts.

Tondo’s Unique Advantages

Tondo’s solutions provide municipalities with:

• AI-Powered Innovation: Tondo’s AI solutions are developed entirely in-house, ensuring that every aspect of Cloud IQ’s intelligence, automation, and analytics is purpose-built for both smart lighting and smart city applications.
• Advanced Cybersecurity: Tondo’s use of hardware-based cybersecurity provides protection necessary for cities’ connected critical infrastructure.
• Scalability: Support for millions of luminaires and sensors within a single network. The number of connected devices per network is unlimited. Tondo’s solutions are fully scalable, making them suitable for projects of any size.
• Open Standards: Leveraging open lighting control standards like 0-10V, DALI D4i and Zhaga ensures compatibility across luminaires, avoiding vendor lock-in, reduced purchasing power, and higher costs.
• Future-Proofing: Tondo’s AI roadmap includes next-generation applications that further expand the impact of AI-powered automation.

Smart City Enablement: Building a Foundation for the Future

Edge IQ, when paired with the Cloud IQ platform, is more than just a lighting controller; it’s a key enabler of smart city initiatives:

• Smart City Integration: Smart lighting serves as a backbone for deploying sensors that monitor pedestrian and cyclist traffic, air quality, noise, flood levels, and more. Tondo’s smart streetlighting provides the backbone for smart city networks, enabling the deployment of sensors and IoT devices across urban infrastructure.
• Wireless Sensor Control: Low-power Bluetooth Mesh provides for wireless sensor connectivity and the flexibility of using long-life battery-powered sensors where direct power connections are not available.

Cabinet IQ: Enhancing Your Smart Lighting Ecosystem

While Edge IQ and Cloud IQ provide a complete smart lighting solution, Tondo’s optional Cabinet IQ offers advanced energy management and infrastructure monitoring capabilities, complementing the on-fixture controls. Cabinet IQ can be added to any Tondo Edge IQ control network or as a stand-alone solution:

• Advanced energy quality monitoring.
• Billing-grade time-of-use per-circuit smart electricity metering.
• Enable a wide range of relay, digital, and analog control use-cases.
• Detect electricity theft, wire theft, and wiring-related faults.
• Act as a comprehensive infrastructure control hub that supports the evolving needs of municipalities, utilities, and smart city networks.

Conclusion

Tondo’s Edge IQ controller, managed by Cloud IQ, offers a comprehensive solution for municipalities seeking to upgrade their streetlighting infrastructure. By delivering economic benefits, operational efficiencies, robust cybersecurity, competitive advantages, and smart city enablement capabilities, Edge IQ empowers municipalities to create safer, more sustainable, and more connected communities. Embrace the future of smart lighting with Tondo Edge IQ.