In a joint research project between Darmstadt Technical University, the City of Darmstadt, the power authority HSE and Siteco Lighting, a new type of LED road luminaire is being tested and compared to conventional lamp technologies.

Four measurement sectors have been set up in the Grillparzerstrasse, a residential road in the Arheilgen district of Darmstadt, each with luminaires featuring different technologies, ranging from road luminaires with conventional lamp types (HQI and SON) to modern DL10 LED luminaires from Siteco.

The aim of the Darmstadt project includes the comparison of conventional lamp technology with LED technology, taking into account the subjective impressions of residents and road users, and also incorporating the perception of brightness and colour contrast that is so important for traffic safety. The project is intended to give results from which recommendations may be derived for local authorities for the coming years.

According to the opinion of the lighting industry, LEDs will have established themselves up until 2020. Siteco in this respect sees much potential for LEDs especially in the outdoor lighting sector. “In addition to lower levels of energy consumption and ease of maintenance, a primary advantage is the thermal management that is comparatively easy to implement because of low ambient temperature in outdoor applications,” explained Michael Härtl, Research and Development Manager at Siteco Lighting, the company that developed and manufactured the LED luminaire deployed in Darmstadt.

“With the DL 10, we have developed the first LED outdoor luminaire that achieves both illumination for roads and squares meeting current standards and featuring a pleasant white light colour, and also effective, coloured accent lighting.”

Prof. Dr. Tran Quoc Khanh from the Department of Lighting Technology at the Darmstadt Technical University and manager of the project, explains the background: “We are convinced that LED is the lighting technology of the future for public road lighting as well: compared to current lighting technology, LEDs feature distinctive economic and ecological advantages. In this pilot project and for the first time in Europe, LED luminaires are compared in terms of measurement and test persons with luminaires having conventional technology under real conditions.”