Individual Control of Street Luminaries by Speed of

Change of Natural Light in the Evening and by

Calendars in the Morning
Angel Pachamanov, Dimitar Pavlov, Kiril Kassev, Kamelia Nikolova
Technical University of Sofia
Sofia, Bulgaria
pach@tu-sofia.bg, dpavlov@tu-sofia.bg, kmk@tu-sofia.bg, knikolova@tu-sofia.bg

Abstract— Time control of street lighting prevails as a example for Sofia AC* = AC + 20; for Veliko Tarnovo AC*
method for group on/off of luminaires powered by a single = AC + 11; for Pleven AC* = AC + 15, for Vidin AC* = AC
cassette. It avoids overconsumption of energy from earlier + 22, etc. This correction is implemented by the software and
switching on and later switching off of the lighting, which is is saved in non-volatile memory (EEPROM) of the
significant in case of contamination of the photodetector on microcontroller before its installation in the specific area.
condition of illuminance control. The report discusses the
possibilities of individual management of street lights, as an
alternative to group management. The aim is greater flexibility
in lighting control of different categories of streets, powered by
a common line, as well as eliminating the impact of pollution of
the photodetector on inaccurate on / off lighting, respectively,
preventing energy overconsumption.
2021 Sixth Junior Conference on Lighting (Lighting) | 978-1-6654-3792-9/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/LIGHTING49406.2021.9599034

Keywords— Control of street lighting and luminaries

I. INTRODUCTION
A. Control by clock and calendars of natural light
The control via electronic clocks (time management) is
performed by street cassettes and ensures switching on and off
of the street lighting systems (SLS) according to a pre-set
schedule. The controlled parameters, according [1] for the
different type of roads are shown in Table I. These electronic
systems have a built-in astronomical calendar for the times of
occurrence of certain levels of natural light for the place of
installation. For irresponsible streets, switching on and off is
in the minutes of civil twilight in the morning (MCT) and
evening (ECT) - position of the Sun, 6 degrees below the
horizon, when the planets and stars of the first magnitude
(brightest) become invisible in the morning (TWIL from) or
begin to see in the evening (TWIL to). These minutes are
determined by tabular calendars and are corrected with the
delay of sunrise and sunset relative to the settlement,
considered as the base. An example for the change of natural
light in the evening and in the morning in a spring day with
clear sky is shown on Fig. 1.
TABLE I. CONTROL OF STREET LIGHTING BY LUMINANCE AND NATURAL
ILLUMINANCE OF ROAD SURFACE [1]
Street category Lср, cd/m2 Ehor, lx
1. City highways 1,50 60
2. Main streets 1,00 40
3. Collection streets 0,50 20
4. Service streets 0,25 10
5. Parks and pedestrian areas 3 This eliminates the need for centralized management and
For the Republic of Bulgaria the astronomical calendar
(AC) of the onset of the civil twilight for the region of Shabla
is used as a base. At these times in conditions of clear sky the
natural light is about 1 lx in the morning and up to 5 lx in the
evening, Fig. 2. With the help of a constant, representing a
correction in minutes, the astronomical calendar (AC*) is
obtained for each settlement in the Republic of Bulgaria. For
Fig. 1. Change of natural light in the evening and in the morning in a spring
day with clear sky and values of the horizontal natural light at which the
lighting is turned on in the evening (Table 1) [1]
B. Direct control of natural illuminance
The lighting control takes into account the specific state
of the atmosphere and ensures more accurate switching on
and off of the SLS from the time management. The accuracy
of connection depends on the specific photosensor, the circuit
solution for the used photoconverter and the method and
place of installation of the device. A good achievement is
considered to be an accuracy of 3 lx, which can lead to 5
minutes of displacement relative to the actually required
switching value, Fig. 2.
The main problem in lighting control is the temperature
stability of the used photoconverter and the pollution of the
receiving surface of the photosensor. The latter leads to an
earlier switch-on in the evening and a later switch-off in the
morning. For this reason, in inapppropriate operation, the
control of a photorelay can be a cause of overconsumption of
electricity compared to the control by clocks and calendars of
natural light. Photorelay control is especially popular in the
United States - the photosensor is in a glass cup on each
luminary, Fig. 3, in order to self-clean from rain and
condensed on the glass morning dew.
facilitates the operation of street lighting. The reverse
connection logic is applied - the luminaire is supplied through
a normally closed contact (during the day the photorelay is on,
and in the evening - off). In case of possible contamination of
the photosensor, earlier illumination in the evening and later
extinguishing in the morning, it is visible to everyone, and in

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 case of damage to the photorelay, the luminaire illuminates
throughout the day. During the inspection in the day, the
operating personnel replace the faulty photorelay.
a)
b)
Fig. 2. Annual calendars with minutes for occurrence of 5 lx and morning
civil twilight (MCT, a) and evening civil twilight (ECT, b) [1,3]
Fig. 3. Control of luminaires with individual photorelays (USA) [5]
C. Time-limited illumination control
Light and time control is a combination in which a light
sensor is added to a controller with a program-implemented
real-time clock and built-in calendars for civil twilight. The
lights are switched on and off from the illumination signal, and
the clock does not allow this switching on to be 15-20 minutes
before the civil twilight in the evening (ECT). In the morning,
the clock switches off the lights up to 15-20 minutes after the
civil twilight (MCT), if it is not switched off by light signal.
Thus, the management, although not so precise, is provided in
time control.
II. ESSENTIAL PART
A. Individual lighting controller ELC-E-08
The controller shown in Fig. 4a was developed in 2008
according to the attached assignment and is intended for
installation on an electric pole. Its supply voltage is 198-264
Vac/50Hz, and the contact of the output relay switches
current up to 10A/230 Vac. The used box is with an Ingress
protection code IP54 and allows direct mounting on the
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electric pole. A single luminaire or lighting system (Fig. 4b)
is controlled by a cable 3x1.5 mm2 with a length of up to 1.5
m.
a) b)
Fig. 4. Controller ELC-E-08 for time and illumination control and (a) and
schemes (directly or via contactor) of external lighting (b) [5]
The photosensor is shielded against direct light from the
controlled luminaire. For accurate operation at a set natural
light threshold (3-70 lx), the value of the signal from the
photodetector is adjusted by temperature. Its measurement is
realized by a thermistor located near the photosensor
(resistor). Depending on the selected mode, the controller
controls street, advertising, architectural-artistic or security
lighting in two modes:
• Full-night mode (FNM) of the lighting operation - the relay
is switched on from sunset to sunrise;
• Midnight mode (MNM) of the lighting operation -
according to the month, the relay is switched on from 2 to 4
hours after dark and from 1 to 2 hours before dawn, Table II.
Assignment for the development of a photorelay: a)
installation of the luminaire - on a pole of distribution
network; b) power supply of the luminaire - with cable 3x1.5
mm2; c) installation of the photorelay - on a pole, under the
luminaire; d) connection to the luminaire - with cable 3x1.5
mm2; e) self-diagnostics - if the photorelay is defective, the
luminaire remains lit.
B. ELC-E-08 controller variants: ELC-E-21 and ELC-D-21
Controller ELC-E-21 has the circuit solution of ELC-E-
08, but with software that performs self-tuning of the clock
with duration of the night. The switching on of the luminaire
is based on the speed of change of the illumination in the
evening (dE/dt), and its switching off - on the occurrence of
civil twilight in the morning. This avoids the effect of
photosensor contamination on the switching accuracy [4,9].
According to records, in non-volatile memory of the duration
of the night, for 5-10 days back is determined the average
value of the duration of the night, which determines the month
and day of the year, for which the exclusion is at civil twilight
in the morning, Fig. 5.
Fig. 5. Midnight mode of operation of the photorelay. When the main
lighting is switched off, a light source for general orientation, 10-20% of the
main lighting, is switched on through an alternative contact.
 Controller ELC-E-21 performs the same modes of
operation as controller ELC-E-08 (Fig. 6): a) Full-night mode
(FNM) - the luminaire is turned on from dark to dawn; b)
midnight mode (MNM) - according to the month, the
luminaire is on from 2 to 4 hours after dark and from 1 to 2
hours before dawn, Table II.

TABLE II. MIDNIGHT CONTROL MODE WITH CONTROLLER ELC-E-08

Average Duration of Duration of
Month duration of work work after work before
at night, minutes dusk, minutes dawn, minutes
January 859 258 86
February 784 235 78 a) b)
March 706 212 71
Fig. 8. Wiring diagrams for a single luminaire to the ELC-E-21 (a)
April 619 186 62
controller for midnight operation (in the case of a non-dimmable driver) and
May 533 160 53
to the ELC-D-21 (b) for control and dimming (in the case of a dimmable
June 466 140 47 driver)
July 450 135 45
August 499 150 50
September 579 174 58
October 666 200 67
November 747 224 75
December 808 242 81
The ELC-D-21 variant of the controller software works
on the same principle, but a subroutine for dimming has been
added instead of the midnight mode. The hardware provides
a 10V PWM output for a luminaire with a driver that has a
10V PWM dimming input [8]. In this way the modes shown
in Fig. 5 are realized. For convenience in programming of the
modes, the beginning of the day is considered to be 12 noon,
Fig. 7. Positive and negative control logic is possible with a) b)
both controllers - with the negative control, the luminaire is Fig. 9. Connection of controller ELC-E-21 to a single luminaire without
supplied through a normally closed contact and in case of dimming - with evening and night mode (48 + 12 W) for streets of light class
damage to the photorelay luminaire remains lit until the M5 (a) and to a single luminaire with evening and night mode (24 + 6 W) for
streets light class M6 (b)
photorelay is replaced.
Since dimmable luminaires are about twice as expensive,
in some cases it is more profitable to supply the luminaires in
two groups with two drivers, Fig. 8 and Fig. 9 - supplied by
companies that assemble LED luminaires with LED modules
and drivers imported from a major manufacturer. Then in the
evening after dark the first group of LEDs works with 4/5 of
the total power, and at night (after 24 hours) - the second
group with power of 1/5 of the total (through contact of an
individual controller). This power is sufficient for light
a) b) guidance and orientation at low traffic of vehicles and
Fig. 6. Controllers ELC-E-08/21 (a) and ELC-D-21 (b), 67x67 mm pedestrians in the small hours of the night [6,7]. The main
group of LEDs are selected with a warm tone (CCT 3500-
4500 K), and the second - with a cold tone (type "moonlight"
- CCT over 6000K).

Fig. 7. Duration of the night and calendars in relation to 12 o'clock for civil
twilight in the morning (GPS-920 min. In relation to 12 o'clock) and in the
evening (GPV-300 min. In relation to 12 o'clock) )
III. CONCLUSIONS
The individual control of street luminaires allows greater
flexibility in choosing the modes of operation of street
lighting, especially in small settlements. For example, lighting
on central streets can operate on a schedule commensurate
with the intensity of traffic through them at different times of
the night, while in service streets, individual controllers to the
luminaires provide “orientation and light guidance” mode
(illumination equal to twice the value of full moon
illumination). This achieves significant energy savings,
especially in sparsely populated regions, where the
recommended value of energy for street lighting (average 51
kWh / inhabitant / year for the EC) is impossible to achieve
without limiting the intensity of street lamps.

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 The switching on of the street lights at the speed of change
of the brightness in the evening eliminates the influence of the
pollution of the photosensor, which in the classic devices is a
reason for energy consumption due to earlier switching on.
Switching off in the morning in the calendar is an advantage
of the individual control of the luminaire, as it does not allow
longer operation of the lighting in case of contamination of the
photosensor.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors express their gratitude to the management of
Zlataritsa Municipality for the opportunity to apply the
considered controllers in a project for reconstruction of the
street lighting systems of the settlements of the municipality.
REFERENCES
[1] N. Vassilev, A. Pachamanov and others. Report under contract №1430-
1/1990 from the branch plan of NIS at TU-Sofia for 1990
"Determination of optimal regime for management of street lighting in
the city of Sofia"
Authorized licensed use limited to: UNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA SALESIANA. Downloaded on January 11,2023 at 03:26:10 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
[2] A. Pachamanov. Regarding the modes of operation of street lighting.
Magazine "Energy", No. 3-4 / 1992, pp.30-33
[3] A. Pachamanov. Controller for control of street lighting systems by
lighting and time. XII National Lighting Conference 2004, June 15–17,
Varna 2004
[4] A. Pachamanov, R. Pachamanov. Method for control of artificial
lighting in buildings. Patent from August 2008 on the application for
invention № 106331 / 21.01.2002
[5] A. Pachamanov. Energy saving and lighting equipment (energy
efficient lighting). Publishing house Avangard-Prima, Sofia 2007,
ISBN 978-954-323-251-2
[6] EN 13201-1:2016 Road lighting - Part 1: Selection of lighting classes
[7] EN 13201-5:2016 Road lighting - Part 5: Energy performance
indicators
[8] http://www.meanwell-bg.com/files/Models/HLG-150H-spec.pdf
Constant current level adjustable through output cable with 1~10Vdc
or 10V PWM signal or resistance EU green public procurement criteria
for road lighting and traffic signals (EU GPPC RLTS, 2018)
[9] A. Pachamanov, D. Pavlov, K. Kasev, Device for individual control
and dimming of LED luminaires, Application for utility model,
incoming number: BG / U / 2021/5305 Date of application: 24.05.2021