Issue link: https://te.mouser.com/i/1475713
mouser.com/te 19 Energy Consumption and Maintenance Incandescent, fluorescent, and halogen light bulbs and fixtures are standard in home and office settings, but conventional streetlights have historically featured low/high-pressure sodium or metal halide lamps. Both utilize toxic materials that require careful removal and disposal, such as mercury. Metal halide lamps have even been documented to explode under certain circumstances. LED lighting arrays for street illumination are as safe as LED light bulbs for your home and provide many of the same benefits, including longer lifetimes. LED streetlights are expected to function for ten to fifteen years. LED lighting arrays last two to four times longer than High Pressure Sodium (HPS) or Metal Halide (MH) lamps, meaning they won't have to be replaced as often as traditional streetlamps, potentially resulting in a worldwide reduction in resource and material consumption in the lighting industry. The projections regarding LED streetlight sustainability have not yet been confirmed because LED streetlight implementations worldwide are still so new that they have yet to require replacement. Although the materials used to make LED lighting arrays are rarer and more expensive than the raw materials used in other lighting technologies, their much longer projected lifetimes reduce overall material usage and cost over time. LED luminaires also don't burn out or go dark like sodium vapor lamps. An LED lighting array isn't considered in need of replacement until its light output is reduced by at least 30%. LED lighting operating at less than 70% capacity will still provide higher quality and more focused light than HPS or MH lamps, reducing maintenance and replacement frequency. Less maintenance and less frequent replacement mean fewer maintenance crews working, which leads to fewer maintenance vehicles on the road, further reducing the overall carbon footprint of street lighting. Reduction in energy consumption and air pollution are other significant potential advantages. Switching to LED street lighting worldwide would lower global carbon dioxide emissions by millions of metric tons and lessen the strain on the power grid. The significant cost reduction could have a consequential effect on the environment, as well. The money saved by city, state, and national governments could be redistributed to other environmentally friendly retrofits and upgrades. Switching over to LED lighting on streets, tunnels, and other public areas can have a much greater environmental impact than replacing incandescent light bulbs in private residences and commercial buildings. " "