Back to the future; Philips equips three historic Italian towns with state-of-the-art connected LED street lighting

Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) the global leader in lighting has installed its Philips CityTouch remote street lighting management system across three historic towns in Italy to streamline monitoring and control of 7000 Philips LED connected street lights and enable energy savings of up to 80%.

The towns of Citta Sant’Angelo, Cison di Valmarino and Varmo are popular tourist destinations for their picturesque architecture, culinary traditions, history and now, also, for their state-of-the-art connected lighting systems. The three projects required a careful negotiation of ancient and modern design to complement the aesthetics of each town’s historic architecture, leaving the charm of the old town intact. The LED light fixtures also reduce light pollution making the night sky sparkle brighter while making the streets safer to navigate.

The Mayor of Città Sant’Angelo, a town of 15000 inhabitants in the Pescara province of Italy that counts among the “borghi piu belli d’italia” (the most beautiful towns of Italy) was looking for an efficient and elegant lighting solution to reduce the town’s energy bill. Philips retrofit LEDs were fitted into classical fixtures along pedestrian streets and across the city center, leaving the charm of the old town unchanged. The LED lighting combined with Philips’ CityTouch remote lighting management system to control and monitor all 3,600 fixtures on a single dashboard delivered 76% savings in energy consumption.

The town of Varmo in the Italian province of Udine replaced its 900 street lights with Philips CityTouch-ready LED fixtures - and benefitted almost instantly with 60% savings in energy consumption. Philips CityTouch-ready fixtures allow streetlights to be instantly connected to a remote lighting management system over wireless GPRS networks instead of local Radio Frequency (RF) networks. This enables swift and cost effective deployment of connected street lighting, reducing commissioning time from several weeks to a single day.

The town of Cison di Valmarino in the province of Treviso in northwestern Italy installed the Philips CityTouch system with 2,600 Philips LED fixtures, reducing energy consumption by 80%. The town also reduced its lighting maintenance costs by 10% thanks to early notifications on required maintenance of the LED lights.

Cristina Pin, Mayor of Cison di Valmarino, commented: “The Philips CityTouch system, adopted by the town of Cison di Valmarino, is a perfect example of how it is possible to do something tangible for the benefit of people and the environment. First and foremost, the project has increased people’s awareness of the need for good lighting. The new white lighting has also enhanced the mediaeval village and its unique landscape, creating a magical atmosphere.”