Traditionally mercury vapour lamps were the most commonly used option for most local government street lighting. While these lamps have proved reliable for street lighting in the past, it was recognised that there are a number of alternative technologies that meet the new Australian Standards, but with reduced energy requirements and associated greenhouse gas emissions.

A two-year project was conducted in conjunction with the Sustainable Energy Development Office, WA Local Government Association, Western Power and the three councils covering the areas in which the trials have taken place - Town of Mosman Park, City of Subiaco and City of Swan.

The objectives of the project were to determine whether the new and upgraded street lighting meets the relevant Australian Standards in terms of light output and that the lighting meets or exceeds the world’s best practice in terms of energy efficiency. Of course, set up and running costs are a major consideration as well, so the trial examined the cost effectiveness of the three key lamp technologies to ensure that the new lights can be supplied in a way that’s cost effective to both local governments and service providers.

As the three lamp technologies used in the trial – fluorescent, metal halide and high pressure sodium - were already in use in a number of streets in the three suburbs included in the project, it was a matter of recording data on how they operated over an extended period: in this case, two years. The data collected from the study allowed project coordinators to compare each lamp’s effectiveness. The information will now be used to help the project’s partners and other local governments to make more informed choices when it comes to selecting street lighting technology.

The end result of this trial will be street lighting that is better - better for the general public, better for the councils that install them and better for the environment.

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