Republic of the Philippines

Batangas State University

College of Engineering, Architecture and Fine Arts
Electrical Engineering Department

Activity No. 4
Street Lighting Survey

Submitted By:
Aguillon, Alexis
Bautista, Jessa L.
Cantos, Lhe-Ann A.
Matira, Yvonne Pauline
Silva, Neil Kevin T.
EE – 5104

Submitted To:
Engr. Ricmart V. Garbin
Instructor

December 05, 2019

I. Introduction

Streetlights play a significant role to light up the roads and sidewalk during
the night and dawn. It benefits almost all motorists and pedestrians in leading to
their destinations whereas street lamps help lessen vehicular and non-vehicular
accidents. These lamps also avoid people from tripping to posts and falling to
open manhole. Criminal cases could also be solved or diminished on well-lighted
streets with monitoring program. Based on Useful Community Development, the
purpose of street lighting is to assist drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists in finding
their way in the dark. Many neighborhood groups believe that extra illumination
helps prevent crime and business district lighting also may help create a pleasant
environment. This lighting does not actually intend on showing the way directly
ahead of any vehicle – it is the function of automobile lights. It basically
illuminates adjoining areas to alert to the approaching possible hazards. Various
types of fixtures can be found in present streetlights which may include mercury
vapor, sodium vapor or high pressure sodium, LED and metal halide.

On a report of Road Safety Toolkit, a street light or street lamp is a raised

source of light often mounted on a lamp column or pole either on the side of the
road or within the median, or suspended on a wire above the road to provide
illumination. Street lighting can provide safety benefits at midblock and
intersection locations and can also improve safety for pedestrians, particularly at
crossing points. Streetlights at midblock section rises the safety making the road
visible to people by emphasizing the road features such as road alignment,
kerbs, footpaths, street furniture, surface condition, other road users and objects.
Lampposts that provide lighting at intersection areas decreases the risk of night
time crashes by highlighting the intersection itself. It also aids navigation and
helps drivers to see the intersecting road, turning vehicles, traffic queues and any
other road users. Lastly, pedestrian crossing is one of the areas that need to be
illuminated properly since it will help people who are using the crossing to be
visible to the approaching motorists. Additionally, it offers people to locate safe
crossing points and to detect potential night-time hazards.

According to Solar Philippines, streetlights are not only a vital necessity

for security and safety in a community but also provide a sense of well-being and
progress. As streetlights consume so much energy that eats much of the budget
of the community, there is a growing demand for the usage of energy-efficient
lamps and to harness solar energy to power the streetlights. Energy efficiency
however not only has to consider illumination brightness and power consumption
but also optical safety appropriate for people. As a sign of progress, it is clearly
evident that streetlights on urban area are of great brightness and appropriate
illumination compared to those on rural area.

Pole height is dramatically important in the light distribution; thus, it is well-

engineered which posts are typically mounted higher in higher-speed roads and
are relatively giving constant light to promote safety for drivers. As for
pedestrians, extra dark spots along the way contributed by tree shadows, large
shrubbery, odd angles of the streets, parking patterns and others must be
illuminated.

On a report of Rochdale Borough Council, the urgent street lighting

problems are columns or posts knocked down, doors off equipment, exposed
electrical wires, damage or defect resulting in a risk to public safety and lighting
apparatus, more than 3 consecutive street lights out and damage to a lighting
column, illuminated traffic sign or bollard after a road traffic accident. These
problems must be addressed immediately to avoid any future and possible
accidents accompanied by these issues.

In this activity, the group surveyed the present conditions of the street
lighting in Brgy.10, Batangas City, Batangas which includes the state of its
luminaires, base, support and the distances of each pole. The street lighting plan
acquired in the City Engineers’ Office and computation of monthly consumption
and bill are portrayed in this activity. Several pictures relevant to the description
of the existing street lighting system in the said barangay are also explained.

II. Description About Roadway Lighting

a. Light Sources of Roadway Lightings

A street light, light pole, lamppost, street lamp, light standard or lamp

standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or path. When
urban electric power distribution became ubiquitous in developed countries in the
20th century, lights for urban streets followed, or sometimes led.

For roadway or highway, lightings are commonly provided at

interchanges, rest areas, tunnels and parking lots. The most commonly used
lightings are High Pressure Sodium (HPS), Metal Halide (MH), Light Emitting
Diode (LED), Light Emitting Plasma (LEP) and Induction Lighting.
 High Pressure Sodium (HPS). HPS lamps were introduced in the 1960s. It
is commonly consist of four basic components, including a sealed, translucent,
ceramic arc tube, main electrodes, an outer bulb, and a base (Halonen et al.,
2010, USDOE, 2010).  An HPS lamp requires an inductive ballast to regulate the
arc current flow to deliver the proper voltage arc.

Figure 2.1 High Pressure Sodium Lamps

High Pressure Sodium Vapor (HPS) lights, similar to LPS lights, are a
specific type of gas-discharge light (also known as a High Intensity Discharge,
HID or arc light). The principal difference between low- and high-pressure
sodium lights is the operating pressure inside the lamp. As indicated by the
name, “high” pressure sodium vapor lights operate at a higher internal pressure.
The arc tube is made of aluminum oxide and the sodium metal is combined with
several other elements like Mercury which counter-balances the yellow glow with
some white to light blue emissions.

Metal Halide (MH). MH lamps are also a member of HID lamp family. MH
lamps can offer an excellent combination of quality and performance. MH lamps
not only present more natural blue-white light compared to HPS lamps, but also
provide increased efficacy compared to MV lamps. A standard MH lamp consists
of four basic components, including quartz arc tube, main electrodes, outer bulb,
and base.
 Figure 2.2 Metal Halide Lamp

A metal-halide lamp is an electrical lamp that produces light by an electric

arc through a gaseous mixture of vaporized mercury and metal
halides (compounds of metals with bromine or iodine). It is a type of high-
intensity discharge (HID) gas discharge lamp.

Light Emitting Diode (LED). LED lighting is a type of solid-state lighting. It

is a semiconductor base device that produces light when an electrical current
pass through it. Multiple LEDs can be combined into LED arrays. LED lamp, as
defined by IES (2008), is an LED device with an integrated driver and a
standardized base that is designed to connect to the branch circuit via a
standardized lamp holder/socket. An LED is a two-lead semiconductor light
source. It is a p–n junction diode that emits light when activated (HMC, 2005).
When a suitable voltage is applied to the leads, electrons are able to recombine
with electron holes within the device, releasing energy in the form of photons.
LEDs are typically small (less than 1 mm2) and integrated optical components
may be used to shape the radiation pattern (Moreno and Sun, 2008). A basic
LED luminaire consists of optical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal
components (Halonen et al., 2010, Philips, 2017). When an electron meets a
hole, the electron falls into a lower energy state and releases a particle known as
a photon, which is where the visible light comes from. A heat sink is needed to
draw the heat away from the LED array. The heat sink is typically integrated into
the outer housing of the fixture to maximize heat dissipation. With the
advancements in optics and semi-conducting technologies, LED technologies
have become more reliable, and the prices of LED luminaires have continuously
declined. As a result, LED lighting applications have become more financially
attainable.
 Figure 2.3 Light Emitting Diode Lamp

 LED highway luminaires can provide high energy cost savings, little to no
maintenance, lighting control, and less light pollution. The benefits of LEDs are
something to consider when choosing a roadway lighting solution. Eaton is on
the forefront of LED roadway lighting solutions offering many new and retrofit
options.

Light Emitting Plasma (LEP). Plasma, also known as lighting emitting

Plasma (LEP), is an ionized gas with equal number of positive and negative
charges. Plasma lamps are electrodeless lamps, meaning there are no electrical
connections inside of the bulb, which use radio frequency (RF) waves to excite
Plasma within the bulb. A plasma lamp is usually a clear glass sphere filled with
a mixture of various gases, such as neon, argon, xenon and krypton, at nearly
atmospheric pressure. They are driven by high-frequency alternating current.
The drive circuit is essentially a specialized power inverter. The radio-frequency
energy from the transformer is transmitted into the gas within the globe through
an electrode at its center. The radio-frequency energy is admitted into the larger
space by capacitive coupling right through the glass. Plasma filaments extend
from the inner electrode to the outer glass insulator, giving the appearance of
moving tendrils of colored light within the volume of the globe (Plasma globe,
2018).
 Figure 2.4 Light Emitting Plasma Lamp

Plasma lamps are a type of electrode less gas-discharge lamp energized

by radio frequency (RF) power. They are distinct from the novelty plasma
lamps that were popular in the 1980s. The internal-electrode less lamp was
invented by Nikola Tesla after his experimentation with high-
frequency currents in evacuated glass tubes for the purposes of lighting and the
study of high voltage phenomena. The first practical plasma lamps were
the sulfur lamps manufactured by Fusion Lighting. This lamp suffered a number
of practical problems and did not prosper commercially. Plasma lamps with an
internal phosphor coating are called external electrode fluorescent lamps (EEFL);
these external electrodes or terminal conductors provide the radio frequency
electric field.

Induction Lighting. Induction lamps are another form of an electrode-less

lamp. An induction lamp consists of three major components, including ballast
(known as HF generator), power coupler, and lamp bulb (ETC, 2017). The ballast
contains an oscillator and preconditioning and filtering circuits. It first converts AC
to DC, and then DC to AC. The power coupler contains an antenna which is
made of a primary induction coil and ferrite core. It transfers energy from the
ballast to the discharge inside the lamp bulb. The lamp bulb is a sealed glass
bulb containing a low pressure inert gaswith a small amount of mercury vapor.
When an induction lamp is powered, the ballast generates HF current. The HF
current is sent through the electromagnet and a strong magnetic field is
produced. The energy is transferred from the magnet to the mercury in the tube
via the antenna and excites the mercury atoms. The mercury vapor
emits ultraviolet light which is changed into visible light by the phosphor
coating on the inside of the glass.
 Figure 2.5 Induction Lighting

An Induction Lamp is surprisingly similar to a fluorescent lamp. It contains

mercury in a gas fill inside the bulb, which becomes excited when electricity is
applied. The gas then emits UV radiation that in turn is converted into visible
white light by the phosphor coating on the bulb.

b. Roadway Lighting Equipment

i. Standard Luminaire Types

A luminaire is defined as “a complete lighting unit consisting of a

lamp or lamps together with the parts designed to distribute the light, to
position and protect the lamps and ballast (where applicable), and to
connect the lamps to the power supply.” Since luminaires (lighting fixtures)
were not previously defined before the 2002 NEC, this new definition is
meant to cover all aspects of a lighting unit, including the lamps that
actually provide the illumination, as well as internal and external parts
necessary for the proper operation of the unit.

The luminaire components consist of a housing of the ballast and

optical assembly. The optical assembly components consist of the lamp,
reflector and refractor. The lamp produces the light output for the
luminaire. The reflector is mounted above the lamp inside the optical
assembly. It reflects or redirects the light. The refractor is mounted below
the lamp and in some luminaries encloses the lamp cavity. The refractor is
made of a transparent, clear material, glass or a strong plastic material. It
has a large number of prisms and is enclosed or open at the bottom. The
following illustration shows the components of a typical luminaire.
 Figure 2.6 A Typical Luminaire

d. Luminaire Support System

Street lighting provides a number of important benefits. It can be used to

promote security in urban areas and to increase the quality of life by artificially
extending the hours in which it is light so that activity can take place. Street
lighting also improves safety for drivers, riders, and pedestrians.

Some street lights or roadway lighting have different types of luminaires

support system. Round roadway streetlight poles are installed with a streetlight
luminaire support bracket per SCL 5705.2. Support brackets have a 2-ft rise to
achieve the desired luminaire mounting height. SCL Stock No. 573984 is used to
support cobra-head style, residential streetlight luminaires. SCL Stock No.
573986 is used to support cobra-head style, arterial streetlight luminaires. Round
roadway streetlight poles are installed onto 4-bolt, 11-1/2-inch bolt circle
streetlight pole foundations, SCL Stock No. 568027. Round roadway streetlight
poles shall be designed and fabricated to conform to the requirements of
AASHTO Standard Specifications for Structural Supports for Highway Signs,
Luminaires, and Traffic Signals. Round roadway streetlight poles shall consist of
an aluminium shaft welded to an aluminium alloy base and be complete with
pressure-mounted nut cover discs. Our Utility concrete poles are manufactured
to carry the load. The poles have a round symmetrical cross section and are
available in above grade heights from 25' to 70'. They are manufactured with a
standard mold finish, but etched decor finishes are available upon request.
These poles also have a provision for grounding and hollow raceways for internal
wiring and components.
 Figure 2.7 Examples of Roadway / Street Light

Figure 2.8 Street light

There are photo cells that turn the street light on and off, depending on
how dark it is. Sometimes they are a small round disc; sometimes they are a little
wand. But they are always mysterious (until now).
 Figure 2.9 Luminaires Structure

Streetlights are carefully planned. Streetlight issues include light pollution

of the night sky and interference with night vision of drivers. A sudden inability
to perceive lighting and distance at night due to street lighting is because of the
accommodation reflex of the human eye as cars move from a darkened area to
an area illuminated by a streetlight. The pupils of the eye cannot adjust fast
enough moving from dark to light and back again, causing issues. Light
pollution is considered an environmental issue of street lighting. It includes
excessive light bleeding onto private property, blinding glare and over
illumination of areas and buildings. There is also the issue of unwanted voltage
where a streetlight can project stray voltage spikes and injure those nearby.
This is rare but possible, especially during electrical storms. To deal with the
issues of night vision, light pollution and voltage accidents, only a certain
number of street lights are installed within a given area, and they are designed
for low-light exposure to drivers. Some lights are fitted with an alarm notifying
nearby individuals of dangerous voltage issues until they are repaired.

i. Mast arms

Round roadway streetlight poles shall be designed and fabricated to

conform to the requirements of AASHTO Standard Specifications for Structural
Supports for Highway Signs, Luminaires, and Traffic Signals. Round roadway
streetlight poles shall consist of an aluminium shaft welded to an aluminium alloy
base and be complete with pressure-mounted nut cover discs. A luminaire shaft
extension is installed atop the signal pole shaft. Luminaires mounted on the shaft
extension tenons are typically 40 feet above the roadway.
 Figure 2.10 Type PA Mast Arms

ii. Poles

There are two types of poles used for conventional lighting: non-
breakaway and breakaway. Non-breakaway poles are rigidly mounted, usually
remaining upright when hit by a vehicle. Breakaway poles are designed so that
the base will shear easily on impact. The table below briefly explains the
advantages and disadvantages of both types when struck by an errant vehicle.

Because of their respective advantages and disadvantages, both types

of poles have appropriate uses. However, unless special circumstances exist,
breakaway poles are preferred over the non-breakaway type.

Luminaires mounted on traffic signal poles should be oriented

perpendicular to the centerline of the roadway being lighted.

For partial interchange lighting, the first light pole for merge and diverge
lanes should begin at the end of the weave area and continue to within 50 feet
of the painted gore, as shown in Figure 4.
 Figure 2.11 Typical placements for partial interchange lighting, 40 foot
luminaire poles at merge and diverge lanes.

Mounting height depends on the number of lanes to be lighted. The

designer must use the mounting height that allows for adequate illumination
levels. If proper lighting cannot be achieved with one pole, the designer should
consider using additional poles to provide proper coverage.

There are different types of poles like davit poles, tenon poles, bent
straw poles, truss arms poles, high mast luminaires. In the Philippines, the
electric distribution poles are the one use by the distribution utility for the
installing of luminaires of the roadway/street lighting. These poles can be
concrete or steel depending on the types of luminaires to be installed.

e. Light Bases or Foundation

Our precast concrete Pole Bases do the work for you. Manufactured
inside a climate controlled environment, ensures a consistent quality product.
They provide huge time savings, and can be installed quickly, opposed to cast in
place.

 Options - Available in various heights, cross sections and colours

 Appearance - Steel form finish, opposed to old form work

 Flexibility - Can be installed in any adverse weather condition

 Quality - No hot or cold weather concrete curing concerns

 Service – Finished product, includes the ducts and anchor bolts
 Figure 2.12 Types of pole bases

Foundation shall be augured and constructed against undisturbed soil.

Foundation shall be installed with bolt pattern oriented diamond-shape to the
curb. A groove at the top of the foundation shall be made for water drainage. The
groove shall run from the center to the low side of the foundation.

Figure 2.13 Requirements for Chief Seattle Streetlight Foundation, Plan View

II. Street/Roadway Lighting Survey

a. Description of the Area

The area is located at Barangay 10 Poblacion, Batangas City. As

observed, during nighttime, the place is dull despite the presence of
roadway lightings. There is no commercial establishment in the vicinity
thus lightings are needed for guiding the vehicles passing thru. All utility
vehicles are passing by this road since it is one of the main service roads
of the city. Most of the residential houses are built facing the other road of
the barangay – which is not our scope – keeping the area dim. Although, a
part of it is a restaurant which is well illuminated adding to the brightness
of the roadway. It is also where the solar roadway lights are installed. But
often times, the light from the vehicles and the dim post light are the main
sources of the roadway light, particularly nighttime.

During daytime, it is illuminated by natural light. With this, we have

observed that the area has many installed roadway lightings. Also, we
clearly see that there are many obstructions to the post, concluding the
dullness of the area during nighttime.
 b. Street Lighting Plans
The students were allowed by the Batangas City Engineer’s
Office to use the street light plan (see attached document) in
Barangay 10, Batangas City, Batangas. The distances of the pole
from another were modified according the actual measurement
done by the students. Included in the plan is the construction of the
base and foundation of the street lights.

c. . MONTHLY CONSUMPTION AND ELECTRIC BILL

The price of the electricity according to the barangay officials in Batangas

City is roughly 9.70 Php/kWh. The existing lamps installed in barangay 10 in
MERALCO posts are rated 70 watts, and there are 22 lamps of this type.
Therefore:

no . of lamps x watt rating of each lamp x hours of use

Daily Consumption=
1000

22 x 70 x 12
¿
1000

¿ 18.48 kWh

30 days
Monthly Bill=Price per kWh x daily kWhConsumption x
month

Php kWh 30 days

¿ 9.70 x 18.48 x
kWh day month

¿ Php5377.68

d. PICTURE DURING DAY AND NIGHT

DAY
 Figure 3.1

In Figure 3.1, the lamp that is installed in the street light are different from
other street lights along the barangay.

Figure 3.2

In Figure 3.2, the pole where covered with vegetation and serves as
obstruction to the light that is coming from the street light.
 Figure 3.3

In figure 3.3, the lamp is in good condition along with the remaining street
light are in good condition in term of physical apperance

NIGHT

Figure 3.4 Figure 3.5

 Figure 3.6 Figure 3.7

Figure 3.8 Figure 3.9

In figures 3.3 to 3.9, the lamps are in good condition in terms of

illumination. The lamps are properly giving light in the street along the barangay.

Figure 3.10 Figure 3.11

Figure 3.12 Figure 3.13

In figures 3.10 to 3.13, the lamps of the street lights are busted. A portion
of the street lacks light because of the busted lamps.