Itochu announces rollout of first smart street lighting business

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Itochu Corp announced Monday that it will roll out its smart street lighting business using state-of-the-art technology, as part of its energy management business initiatives.

Currently, the majority of streetlights, outdoor security lights, park lights, and so forth in widespread use in Japan can only be switched on and off using a timer or illuminance sensor. Illumination cannot be finely adjusted to the surrounding environment, weather, or seasons, and so such lights remain switched on continuously with a fixed illuminance.

Further, since a timer or illuminance sensor is required to switch the lights on and off, and a late stage of the lamp life time may result in the lights being left on even during the daytime, which is an issue that needs to be resolved. Recently in particular, as part of the current energy saving measures, initiatives to thin street lighting have been proposed. However, there are those who question this approach from the perspective of safety and security.

Meanwhile, street lighting is mainly operated, maintained, and controlled by municipalities, and the replacement of lamps mostly happens as a result of reporting by local residents. The matter of how to improve operations from a safety and security perspective during the time until the lamps are replaced is an issue.

In addition, since the life expectancy of lamps for street lighting cannot be ascertained in advance, preventive replacement at the right time cannot be carried out. The replacement of lamps is therefore inefficient, resulting in increased costs, which is also an issue.