BINDURA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION

FACULTY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION

DESIGNING AND CONSTRUCTION OF A SIMPLE

AUTOMATIC STREET LIGHTING CONTROL SYSTEM

BY

EMMANUEL MUCHENA (B1645593)

SUPERVISOR: DR E. MUCHUWENI

THIS RESEARCH WORK WAS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE

EDUCATION OF THE BINDURA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION IN PARTIAL

FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DIPLOMA IN SCIENCE EDUCATION,

BINDURA, ZIMBABWE

APRIL 2019
 RELEASE FORM

BINDURA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION

FACULTY OF SCIENCE EDUCATION

NAME OF AUTHOR: EMMANUEL MUCHENA

TITLE : DESIGNING AND CONSTRUCTION OF A SIMPLE AUTOMATIC

STREET LIGHTING SYSTEM

PROGRAM : DIPLOMA IN SCIENCE EDUCATION

YEAR GRANTED : 2019

Permission is hereby granted to Bindura university of Science education library to produce

copies of this and to lend or sell copies for private scholarly or scientific research purpose only.
The author reserves the publication rights and the research project extracts from it may not be
printed or otherwise reproduced without the author’s written permission.

Supervisor…………………………………………DATE……………………….

i
 DECLARATION

I, Emmanuel Muchena, declare that this research project for the diploma in science education at
Bindura University of science education is my own in design and execution. I further certify that
the document has not been presented for a diploma in science Education at this university or
other University faculty.

Name………………………………………………….

Signature ………………………………………………

Date:……………………………………………………

ii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

To my amiable supervisor Dr E. Muchuweni, I wish to acknowledge him for the assistance,

encouragement and fatherly assistance he gave to me, which contributed immensely to the
success of this research study.

Secondly, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my family members especially my parents

Mr. A Muchena and Mrs. M Vushe, Mr. and Mrs. Mavhondo for their love, care and support, as
well as my sisters for their encouragement and prayers, words are definitely not enough to
appreciate. Thank you for everything and the trust you have in me.

What can I do without my friends, thanks in a million for being a source of inspiration, my
friends Lloyd Moyosvi and Delight Mayebe; I thank them for their moral support and guidance
in editing my project. I cannot forget my mentor Mr. F Gonese, my workmates Blessed
Chiwashira, Philimon Rimau and Kelvin Mutero for information support and encouragement. I
wish to thank all those I haven’t mentioned by names who offered encouragement and assistance
enabling me to bring this work to fruition.

Finally, to my father in heaven, the creator of heaven and earth, the one who deserves all the
praise and glory, for the favor, protection and honor you have bestowed upon me at this point in
my life GOD. I bless your name, thank you.

iii
 DEDICATION

To my father Andrew Muchena and young brother Elisha Muchena, for their inspirational
support.

iv
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
RELEASE FORM ............................................................................................................................ i

DECLARATION ............................................................................................................................ ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................. iii

DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................... iv

LIST OF TABLES ....................................................................................................................... viii

LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... ix

ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... x

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1

1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background of the study ........................................................................................................... 1

1.2 Problem statement ..................................................................................................................... 2

1.3 Aims .......................................................................................................................................... 2

1.4 Objectives of the study.............................................................................................................. 2

1.5 Research questions .................................................................................................................... 2

1.6 Significanceof the study............................................................................................................ 3

1.7 Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 3

1.8 Delimitations ............................................................................................................................. 3

1.9 Assumptions.............................................................................................................................. 3

1.10 Definition of terms .................................................................................................................. 4

1.11 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 4

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................................ 5

2.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Street lights ............................................................................................................................... 6

2.2 Automatic Street Lighting Systems .......................................................................................... 7

v
2.2.1. Intelligent street lighting system using solar LED lamps ..................................................... 7

2.3 Light sensors ........................................................................................................................... 10

2.4 Control station/ microcontroller .............................................................................................. 11

2.5 Detection of obstacles using photoelectric sensor .................................................................. 12

2.6 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 13

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY .......................................................................... 14

3.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 14

3.1 Basic Principle of the system .................................................................................................. 14

3.2 Hardware design ..................................................................................................................... 14

3.3 Specification of components ................................................................................................... 15

3.3.1 LDR...................................................................................................................................... 15

3.3.2 Street Light (LED) ............................................................................................................... 16

3.3.3 Transistor ............................................................................................................................. 17

3.3.4 Resistor ................................................................................................................................ 17

3.4 Procedure of Collecting Data .................................................................................................. 18

3.4.1. How the Components Are Connected................................................................................. 19

3.5 How the Transistor and LDR used Work ............................................................................... 20

3.6 Advantages and Disadvantages of using anLDR .................................................................... 21

3.6.1 Advantages ........................................................................................................................... 21

3.6.2 Disadvantages ...................................................................................................................... 21

3.7 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 21

CHATER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .............................................................................. 22

4.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 22

4.1 Prototype of street light system............................................................................................... 22

4.2 How does the existing street lights?........................................................................................ 24

vi
4.3 How does new system work? .................................................................................................. 24

4.4 How does the resistance of an LDR vary with light intensity? ............................................... 24

4.5 How does an LDR improve the efficiency of lighting system? .............................................. 26

4.6 What are the advantages and disadvantages of current system?............................................. 26

4.6.1 Advantages of current system .............................................................................................. 27

4.6.2 Disadvantages of current system ......................................................................................... 27

4.7 Advantages of the designed system over the existing one. ..................................................... 27

4.8 Comparative analysis between old system and the new system. ............................................ 28

4.9 Summary ................................................................................................................................. 29

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................. 31

1.0 Introduction. ............................................................................................................................ 31

5.1 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 31

5.2 Recommendations ................................................................................................................... 32

REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................. 33

vii
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.1 Advantages of new system over the old system………………………………………28

Table 4.2 Comparative Analysis between Existing and Designed System……………………...29

viii
 LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 2.0 Sensors along with the street light pole………………………………………………...9

Fig. 2.1 Block diagram of solar street lighting system………………………………………….10

Fig. 2.2 Basic structure of an LDR……………………………………………………………...11

Fig. 2.3 Block diagram of street light system using photoelectric sensor………………………13

Fig. 3.0 Block Diagram for the System………………………………………………………....15

Fig. 3.1 Light Dependent Resistor………………………………………………………………16

Fig. 3.2 Light emitting diode (LED)…………………………………………………………….16

Fig. 3.3 NPN transistor and symbol of NPN transistor………………………………………….17

Fig. 3.4 Resistor and Its Symbol…………………………………………………………………18

Fig. 3.5 Circuit Diagram…………………………………………………………………………19

Fig. 3.6 Relationship between resistance of LDR and light intensity…………………………...20

Fig. 4.0 Model of Automatic Street Lighting……………………………………………………23

Fig. 4.1 Street Lights in OFF state due to absence of darkness………………………………….23

Fig. 4.2 Relationship between light intensity and resistance of the LDR………………………..25

Fig. 4.3 Resistance of the LDR in dark/ no light……………………………………………...…25

Fig. 4.4 Resistance of the LDR in Light…………………………………………………………26

ix
 ABSTRACT

Street lights are very necessary and they are the main demand in today’s lifetime of
transportation for safety functions and avoiding accidents throughout night. But in today’s busy
life nobody bothers to switch OFF/ON street lights when needed and this result in wastages of
electrical energy. That’s why the savings of lighting energy is high even with the current
technology. This project presents the design and construction of an automatic lighting control
system for streetlights. The automatic light control circuit requires no physical operation as it
operates automatically.Therefore automation is intended to reduce human effort with the help of
intelligent systems.This project work includes the study of energy saving system in various
applications. The design and simulation of Automatic Street light control system was done
magnificently. It automatically switches ON lights when the sunlight goes below the visible
region of our eyes. This is done by a sensor called Light Dependent Resistor (LDR) which senses
the light actually like our eyes and the transistor is used as a two way switch. The main
advantage of this system is energy saving and reduction in man power. Therefore, if such
systems are once implemented on a large scale (the whole country) can bring major reduction in
the power consumption produced by street lights. This initiative will help the government and
people to save electrical energy and meet the domestic and industrial needs. It only requires the
initial cost for designing and installation. Hence, this system is very much useful to the society
for reducing the usage of conventional energy source (generated by hydraulic power stations).

x
 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

This chapter will focus on the background of the study, statement of the problem, aims of the
study, objectives of the study, research questions, and significance of the study, limitations,
delimitations, assumptions and lastly definition of key terms.

1.1 Background of the study

The main consideration in the present field technologies is automation, power consumption and
cost effectiveness. Thereforeautomation is intended to reduce human effort with the help of
intelligent system such as automatic street lighting. Automatic street lighting control system is a
simple yet powerful concept in today’s life as they provide automatic ON/OFF of street lights
when needed. Due to busy lifestyle of humans switching of streets lights is not carried on time
therefore huge amount of electricity is wasted. Mustafa Saad Khlifa (2017) states that street
lights can account to 10-38% of total bill in typical cities worldwide. Therefore, there is need to
conserve electrical energy and use it efficiently.

The development of alternative lighting system with energy efficient will have a great impact on
Zimbabwe energy consumption. Most people are aware about energy consumption but however
less people are willing to serve that energy. Also due to their busy life style no one bothers to
switch ON/OFF the streets lights. Thus manual operations are not carried on time which results
in energy wastage.

The project aims to eliminate manual operations and design an energy efficient system which
automatically switches ON lights when the sun goes beyond the visible region. The lights again
will be OFF automatically when sunlight became visible to our eyes. This system will consist of
light dependent resistor (LDR) which is used to sense light or darkness. When darkness falls on
its surface its resistance will increase and it will send a signal, thus the lights will be ON during
hours of darkness. When light falls on its surface the resistance fall and lights will automatically

1
switched OFF. The transistor will be used as the switch, providing the required voltage for the
lamp to be ON.

1.2 Problem statement

The study aims at designing and constructing a simple automatic street lighting control system,
whereby streets lights are automatically switched ON during the night and OFF during the day.
This will save electrical energy, create good night environment for pedestrians and eliminating
manpower.

1.3 Aims

The goal of the work is to design and construct an automated lighting framework that uses
sensors (LDR) and controllers, and tostudy how resistance of LDR will vary with light intensity.
It also focuses on the following:

 Saving power and reduce financial wastages, and

 Eliminating manual operations which are prone to errors which results in energy
wastages.

1.4 Objectives of the study

 To design energyefficient street lighting control system.

 To compare the new lighting system with its existing counterparts.

 To investigate how the resistance varies with light intensity.

 To test and validate the designed system.

1.5 Research questions

 How does the LDR improve the efficiency of lighting system?

 What are the advantages and disadvantages of current system?

2
  How does the existing street lighting system work?

1.6 Significanceof the study

The main importance of the work is to save electrical energy by designing a system whereby
street lights will only be in theON state automatically when they are needed.Manualoperations
(human power) which are not carried out properly are being eliminated. It will also help the
public and government of Zimbabwein reduction of crime rates and vehicular accidents at night.
This will provide a safe night environment whereby people can feel to walk in hours of darkness.
Lastly, it will help physics learners at any level to understand about electronics.

1.7 Limitations

During the study, some factors were beyond the researchers’ control which may alter the results
of the study. It was difficult for the researcher to access all the existing street lights along
Mutoko town council and the time was not be enough since the researcher was on attachment.

1.8 Delimitations

However despite of other disturbances beyond the researcher’s control, there are some of the
things which the researcher have control over them. These include:

 The area of study- the researcher has limited the area of investigation; he investigated
street lights at Nyamuzuwe High School.

 Restriction – the researcher was not restricted to any street light along Mutokoor any
area.
 Variation between resistance and light intensity- the researcher will mainly focus on how
resistance varies with light intensity.

1.9 Assumptions

It is assumed that:

3
  Most of the current street lights operate manually.
 The manual operation wastes a lot of energy especially during bad weather where
switching ON/OFF are difficult.

1.10 Definition of terms

 Automation –capable of operating without external control or intervention.

 Construction – build or form by assembling parts.
 Consumption- use up.
 Design- a pattern as an element of a work of art or architecture.
 Intensity – time-averaged energy flux(radiant power received by unit area of surface)
 LDR- Light Dependent Resistor.
 Luminance - amount of light emitted from the sunlight.
 Resistance – the opposition of flow of current through conductor.
 System – a collection of organized things.

1.11 Summary

The project will elaborate the design and construction of anautomatic street lighting control
system. This system will completely eliminate manual operations by providing automatic
switching ON/OFF of street lights depending on environmental conditions. Thus if the sun goes
beyond the visible region it will automatically turn ON the lights, and turns OFF when the sun
becomes visible to our eyes. The implementation of this system will also reduce electrical energy
wastages since the existing operations consumes huge amount of energy. This might be due to
the fact that manual switching ON/OFF of lights is not done properly especially in bad weathers
like rain season they might spend ON during the day. Despitethat, intoday’s busy life no one
bothers to switch ON/OFF when required. However, the new system is energy efficient and will
provide a night safe environment for all road users including pedestrians.

4
 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction

Chapter two provides an extensive review of literature and research related to the automation of
street lights. Most approaches in literature involve the concept of switching ON the lamps during
the times of darkness and OFF during the day time. Some of them uses timer to control the
switching of lamps and some uses sensors.

Automatic street lighting system is a system whereby street lights are automatically switched
OFF when not necessary especially during the day and ON when needed especially during the
night without manual operations involved. At each lamp post there is a monitoring station placed
which consists of various basic components (i.e.), different types of sensors (LDR to sense light
levels, photoelectric sensor to sense for the presence of objects for example humans and
vehicles) and Microcontrollers where the sensed information is transmitted to, processed and
then remedial action is taken. During the day there is no requirement of street lights so the LDR
keeps the lights OFF until the light intensity is low. When light intensity is low the resistance of
the LDR increases then data is send to the control unit that the lights should be in the ON state,
and when light intensity is very high the resistance decreases and a command is send to the
control circuit that it should be in the OFF state and the streetlight turns OFF. This means that
the resistance of LDR is inversely proportional to the light falling on its surface thus the system
operates on varying light intensity. The switching operation of a streetlight is carried out by
ATmega8 microcontroller along with a relay driver circuit where the sensed data is processed.
The presence sensor (Photoelectric sensor) is used to sense the passage of objects (vehicles,
humans or animals). It turns ON the street light only if it identifies the passage of object. The
sensor should not be placed too low (to avoiding monitoring the small animals) nor too high
(can’t sense small objects or children) so the sensor should be placed at right place.

Due to the fact that in today’s life people are busy, manual operation of street lights is not done
at the right time.This leads to lot of energy wastage because lights keep glowing even when there
is absolutely no necessary of it. Here which means street lights tend to be ON continuously even

5
when there are no vehicles/ pedestrians present on the road. So as a result of this, there is lot of
energy wastage which is not at all a positive sign. Mustafa Saad Khlifa (2017) states that street
lights can account to 10-38% of total bill in typical cities worldwide. Therefore there is need to
conserve electrical energy and use it efficiently. Thus in this study, the aim is to make a smart
street light system which glows only when it is necessary and goes to OFF position when it is
not. The major objective is to build automatic system of street lighting which switch ON the light
when the vehicle or pedestrian enters the certain point of the road and make the light be in OFF
position when it is not required.

In this chapter the researcher is going to discuss about types of street lights and the types of
lamps used, sensors which include LDR (for change in light intensity), photoelectric sensor
(vehicle or motion detection) and microcontrollers.

2.1 Street lights

Many street lights today operate with the use of sensors such as the LDR) which activate the
lights when it gets dark. Some are solar powered which allows them to work on standalone poles
without the need for any energy source. Some cities uses timers for their street lights, this is in
case of older systems which have not been upgraded. There are two types of street lighting
systems namely conventional and automatic. Conventional street lighting system has no change
in it; lights will remain ON until any source switch OFF the lights. In an automatic street lighting
system, lights will be inthe ON state onlyif there is need of it. Automatic street lighting have
some further divisions which include systems which uses sensors, and those system controlled by
networks. These systems are successful in some cases and remain a failure in some cases.

Lights used for street lights are classified into many types as incandescent light, mercury vapor
light, metal halide light, high pressure sodium light, low pressure sodium light, fluorescent light,
induction light, compact fluorescent light and light emitting diode(LED) light. The most
common type of lamp used in street lighting before new technology was using high intensity
discharge lamps. This is because these lamps currently provide the highest lumens per watt.
However, it has been discovered that the color they emit is not the most conducive for night
lighting.

6
Whitaker (2007), states that white light has been shown to be the most beneficial in terms of
security as well as driver’s reaction time. Thus the emergence of white, ultra-bright and high
power LEDs brings the onset of new approach in street lighting technology.LED light is mainly
taken into consideration because it is very energy efficient and it has good life span. So LED is
best option and their key characteristic is that they are excellently reliable, instant turn ON,
dimability and good color rendering. Nuttal (2008), states that their efficiency is 90 lm/W.

2.2 Automatic Street Lighting Systems

An automatic control circuit of LED street lamp was firstly designed by Wang Yongqing (2009).
It has three operating modes which are light control, delay quenching and delay plus low power.
The system worked very well but however the system could not detect vehicles thus it does not
have vehicle detection mode to turn ON/OFF the lights during the night. This gives the system a
disadvantage since the lights were ON throughout the night.

Again in 2009, Miomir Kiostic recommended the use of dimming system for street lighting. He
stated that during late nights and early morning hours the number of vehicles is greatly reduced.
Therefore electrical energy can be saved with the use of dimming system and it will represent
financially justified investments. The system did work but however, with this system the power
still need to be supplied. The use of vehicle detection system where the lamp will be in the OFF
state if there is no vehicle passing through proved to be more efficient than this one since the
discharging of the batteries will be greatly reduced. Lights will turn ON only when the vehicle is
passing through.

2.2.1. Intelligent street lighting system using solar LED lamps

In the research article by Dr. Mamta Pandey and Shreyansh Pandey (2015), it is explained about
smart solar street light system. The main aim was saving power. Saving energy is the most
important factor. In the research study it is shown that most of the countries these days are aware
of regular street light system which is not environmental friendly as well as not budget friendly
too. For this work, LED lights are chosen over conventional lights because they do not emit any
carbon dioxide and arefriendly compared to the other lights.Also controlling light intensity is

7
easy with LED lights. As power saving is the main intention, solar energy is used as the power
source along with the battery. This way of power supply saves lot of energy as the energy comes
naturally through the sunlight and it is very ecofriendly. Solar panels are used here along with
DC batteries. The battery is charged from the solar panel so that it provided enough energy for
the street light to get ON. LDR is used to ON the light when it is night and OFF the light when it
is day light automatically and this reduce the manual operation.

Chetna Badgaiyan and Palak Sehgal (2015) in their article explained that to switch ON the light
automatically, there is also need for sensors. To have a good working automatic street light
system, monitoring station is planted near each light pole which consists of sunshine sensor,
presence sensor and an emergency switch.Here the main sensor is the presence sensor
(photoelectric sensor) which detects the movement of the road user so that the light will be ON
as per the requirement. The light sensor will measure the light intensity around the light pole so
that it can manage to ON the light fully or partially. The supervision module is used for the
measurement of fault detection in the system. The control unit is used to send all the data sent by
the sensors to the controller so that light will be ON and OFF accordingly. But the drawback can
be the power supply (solar) which may not work in all the situations if there is no proper
sunlight.

8
 Fig. 2.0 Sensors along with the street light pole
https://www.google.com/url?q=https://jsshixin.en.made-in-
china.com/product/fXVQghFJnScC/ChinaAutomatic-Outdoor-Solar-Light-Sensor-60W-SX-TYN-
LD42.html&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjL26OqsNThAhVuzlkw04yBD7aPqwKOGLSBnoR3RJ

Fig 2.0 shows the hardware used in the street light system to achieve automatic street light
system. The photoelectric sensor is used for the detection of vehicles or humans in order to
switch ON the light. Whenever there are humans or vehicles in the detection region of presence
sensor, the photoelectric sensor sends a command and the light will get ON and the light will go
to OFF position when the vehicle or human goes away from their region. The main power source
to this street light system is through a solar panel, which is mounted on the top of the pole so that
sunlightfalls directly on it. Also the LDR checks whether it is day or night so that it will switch
ON the light accordingly. If there is sufficient light, then no action is taken. If there is no
sufficient light, then the light will get ON. The setup is represented in figure 2.1.

9
 Fig. 2.1 Block diagram of solar street light system.

By implementing this way of street light system, we can save 80-90% of the energy
approximately. Mainly solar energy is preferred because it is most crucial and renewable source
of energy, that is the reason it helps even more for energy saving.

2.3 Light sensors

Electronic onto sensors are the devices that alter their electrical characteristics in the presence of
visible or invisible light. The best known devices of this type are LDRs, photo diodes and
phototransistors.

As its name suggests, an LDR depends on light for the variation of resistance. LDRs are very
useful especially in dark/ light sensors. They are made by depositing a film of cadmium sulphide
or cadmium selenide on a substrate of ceramic containing no or very few free electrons when not
illuminated. The longer the strip the more the value of resistance. When light falls on the strip,
the resistance decreases.In the absence of light the resistance can be in the order of 10 KΩ to 15
KΩ and is and is called the dark resistance.Depending on the exposure of light, the resistance can
fall down to value of 500 Ω. The power ratings are usually smaller and are in the range 50mW to
5 W. Though very sensitive to light, the switching time is very high and hence cannot be used for

10
high frequency applications. They are used in chopper amplifiers. LDRs are available as discs
0.5cm to 2.5cm. The resistance rises to several Mega ohms under dark condition. Some of its
features are:

 High reliability.
 Light weight.
 Wide spectral response.
 Wide ambient temperature range.

Fig. 2.2Basic structure of LDR.

https://www.google.com/search?q=structure+of+ldr&client=opera&hs=nyJ&source=lnms&tbm=
isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8__DNrMjhAhUHpYsKHdqWDioQ_AUIDigB&biw=886&bih=56
7#imgrc=S0TT6tBslsbfBM:

2.4 Control station/ microcontroller

A microcontroller is a small computer control system on a single chip. It has many electronic
circuits build into it which can decode written instructions and convert them into electrical
signals. It is used in motor vehicles, robots, and complex medical devices (etc). Peng Feng
(2011), Shi-cherg (2011) and Jose (2010) proved that the use of microcontrollers in controlling
Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) for photovoltaic lighting system can greatly improve
the charging and discharging cycle of the batteries.

11
Advantages of microcontrollers include:

 There is an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory(EEPRON) to store

data over a power off time.
 An internal oscillator and an internal power ON reset which makes the AVR (Alf and
Vegard's RISC processor) to work without any other components.

2.5 Detection of obstacles using photoelectric sensor

Mustafa et al (2013), in their research article, a project on automatic street light control system
using photoelectric sensor for detection was designed. The main intention behind designing the
system was save electrical energy as well as to reduce the human work. The photoelectric
sensors are place next to the road way. This whole system is controlled and operated using
microcontroller PIC16f877A. The photoelectric sensor works only during night times. If any
obstacle (humans, animals or vehicles) passes across the beam of the photoelectric sensor, then
the light will be ON. By using this principle, the street light system is designed smartly. The
LDR acts according to the day time and night time, so through that the light will be ON or OFF.
The photoelectric sensor works according to the presence of the object, by which it will be ON or
OFF. All these commands are send to the microcontroller through which it will turn ON and
OFF the light with the help of relay. The relay is used as a switch to turn ON and OFF the light
as per the requirement.

12
 Power supply (12V)

Photoelectric sensor LDR

Microcontroller

Switch

LED

Fig. 2.3Block diagram of street light system using photoelectric sensor.

2.6 Summary
In summation, the implementation of automatic street lighting system improves the lighting
mechanism of street lights. According to research, street lighting can account for10–38% of the
total energy bill in typical cities. So there is needed to utilize electrical energy very well to
reduce wastage of financial resources. That’s why various control strategies and methods in
controlling the street light system have been implemented. These include design and
implementation of CPLD (Complex Programmable Logic Device) based solar power saving
system, automatic traffic controller, and automatic street lighting system using sensors.The main
reason is to save electrical energy and eliminate manual operations.All intelligent street lighting
systemsin previous studies worked very well.

13
 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter describes the research design, techniques and methods that the researcher applied in
collecting data for the research. Thus it looks at how the gap in the existing system of streetlights
was bridged. It also outlinesthe research instruments, and data collection procedures, tools and
method that were used in the presentation and analysis of data.Justificationfor the choice of
research instruments and techniques was also givenin this chapter.

3.1 Basic Principle of the system

The system requires both hardware and software development. Hardware implementation
involves the LDR, breadboard, transistor, connecting wires and an LED. The street lighting
control system operates on 9 - 12 V DC supply. The LDR senses sunlight and if there is high
amount of light the resistance decreases. If there is lower amount of light, the resistance
increases thereby less current flows and this result in lower voltage less than 5V and the led will
light. During the day light, all lighting system is shut down. While, during the night the system
will start to work with several other sub conditions to be identified.

3.2 Hardware design

The hardware of the system basically consists of an LDR, LED, power supply, resistors and the
transistor which acts as the switch. There are five components in this project. The block diagram
of this system is shown in Fig. 3.0.

14
 Power supply (12V)

Resistor1 LDR Resistor 2

Transistor

LED

Fig. 3.0. Block Diagram for the System.

3.3 Specification of components

3.3.1 LDR

The LDR is a resistor and its resistance varies according to the amount of light falling on its
surface. When the LDR detect light its resistance will get decreased and if it detects darkness its
resistance will increase. LDRs are made by depositing a film of cadmium sulphide or cadmium
selenide on a substrate of ceramic containing no or very few free electrons when not illuminated.
The longer the strip, the more the value of resistance. Depending on the exposure of light the
resistance can fall down to value of 500 Ω. The power ratings are usually smaller and are in the
range 50mW to 5 W. Though very sensitive to light, the switching time is very high and hence
cannot be used for high frequency applications. They are used in chopper amplifiers. Light
dependent resistors are available as discs 0.5cm to 2.5cm. The resistance rises to several
MΩunder dark conditions. Fig. 3.1 below showsthe LDR.

15
 Fig. 3.1Light Dependent
Resistor.https://www.google.com/search?q=LDR&client=opera&hs=JEK&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa
=X&ved=0ahUKEwjv48-YsMjhAhWJxoUKHTswClMQ_AUIDigB&biw=886&bih=567

3.3.2 Street Light (LED)

A light-emitting diode (LED) is a two-lead semiconductor light source which is made up of

InGaN material. It is a pn-junction diode, which emits light when activated. When a suitable
voltage is applied to the leads of LED, electrons can recombine with electron holes within the
device, and release energy in the form of photons. The main advantages of using these are the
low energy consumption, longer lifetime, strong build, smaller size etc. The LED image is given
in Fig. 3.2.

Fig. 3.2. Light emitting diode (LED).

16
3.3.3 Transistor

A transistor is a device that regulates current or voltage flow and acts as a switch or gate for
electric signals.it is used in circuit to control a large amount of current or voltage with a small
amount of voltage or current. Transistor switches can be used for controlling high power devices
such as motors, solenoids or lamps, but they can also be used in digital electronics and logic gate
circuits. The NPN (BC 548) transistor image is shown in Fig. 3.3.

Fig. 3.3 NPN transistor and symbol of NPN transistor.

Keys
C- Collector
B- Base
E- Emitter

3.3.4 Resistor

A resistor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that implements electrical resistance as

a circuit element. Resistors act to reduce current flow, and, at the same time, act to lower voltage
levels within circuits. The current through a resistor is in direct proportion to the voltage across
the resistor's terminals. This relationship is represented by Ohm's law:

17
WhereI is the current through the conductor in units of amperes, V is the potential difference
measured across the conductor in units of volts, and R is the resistance of the conductor in units
of ohms (Ω).

Fig. 3.4. Resistor and Its Symbol.

https://www.google.com/search?q=resistors+and+its+symbol&client=opera&hs=ONd&source=l
nms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjJuKq3msjhAhUEJhoKHcKXBAYQ_AUIDigB&biw=8
86&bih=567#imgrc=MpgQbse-FonywM:

3.4 Procedure of Collecting Data

The following components are connected in circuit to investigate how the LDR automatically
switches ON/OFF the LED in connection with a transistor.
 LDR
 NPN transistor – BC 548
 Resistor 1-100 KΩ
 Resistor 2-330 Ω
 LED
 Breadboard
 9V Battery
 Connecting wires

18
3.4.1. How the Components Are Connected

The transistor was placed on the breadboard. The emitter was connected to the negative of the
battery. The base was connected to one terminal of the LDR. Resistor 2 (330 Ω) was connected
to base and positive terminal of battery. The collector was connected to the anode of the LED (+)
and from cathode (-) to resistor 1 (100 KΩ). Another end of R1 is connected to the positive
terminal of the battery. Another end of LDR is connected to the negative terminal of the battery.
Fig. 3.5 below shows how the components are connected.

Fig. 3.5. Circuit Diagram.

http://vtekelectronix.in/product/automatic-street-light/

19
3.5 How the Transistor and LDR used Work

For the LED to glow it requires voltage which is less than 5V. So how does the LDR and
transistor regulate the required voltage and what is the logic behind? The LDR gives less
resistance in high light intensity and gives high resistance in dark or in less light intensity. This
means that resistance is inversely proportional to light intensity as shown in Fig. 3.6.

Fig. 3.6 Relationship between resistance of LDR and light intensity.

https://www.google.com/search?q=LDR&client=opera&hs=JEK&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=
0ahUKEwjv48-YsMjhAhWJxoUKHTswClMQ_AUIDigB&biw=886&bih=567

Here the transistor is used as a two way switch. If voltage through base is greater than 5V it is

send through the emitter. If the voltage is less than 5V it is send through the collector. During the

night the LDR gives a high resistance as a result the voltage is less than 5V so the LED glows.

Again during the day the LDR gives low resistance thereby there is high voltage great than5V

which switches the current to the emitter.

20
3.6 Advantages and Disadvantages of using anLDR

3.6.1 Advantages

 LDRs are sensitive, inexpensive and readily available devices. They have good power
and voltage handling capabilities, similar to those of a conventional resistor.
 They are small enough to fit into virtually any electronic device and used all around the
world as a basis component in many electrical systems.

3.6.2 Disadvantages

 It is sensitive to ambient light and requires careful shielding.

 Can be more complicated to align detector pairs.

3.7 Summary

The hardware was implemented and the model performance was checked for two conditions
which are light and darkness. When light intensity increases, that is during the day the lights
automatically turns OFF. When there was darkness lights were automatically turned ON. An
LDR was a sensor used to sense for two main conditions which are light and darkness in working
the circuit. These two conditions have been satisfied and the circuit does the desired work
accordingly. The system worked with a 9V battery and uses the transistor as the switch. If
voltage through the base is greater than 5V it is send through the emitter and if less than 5V it is
send through the collector. So for the led to glows it requires voltage which is less than 5V.
During the night there was high resistance due to presence of darkness so the voltage was less
than 5V and the LED glows. The resistors used act to reduce current flow, and, at the same time,
act to lower voltage levels within circuits.

21
 CHATER 4: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.0 Introduction

This chapter presents and discusses the results pertaining the designing and construction of an
automatic street lighting system. The results will try to provide answers to the following sub
problems:

 How the existing system doesoperate?

 How does the new system wok?
 How does an LDR improve the efficiency of lighting system?
 How does the resistance of an LDR vary with light intensity?
 What are the advantages and disadvantages of new system?

4.1 Prototype of street light system

In this project the first thing to do, was to prepare the inputs and outputs of the system to control
the lights of the street. The prototype as shown in Fig. 4.0 has been implemented and it worked
as expected. The system automatically turns lights ON whenever the LDR sense darkness and
automatically switch OFF lights when there is enough light. The project proved to be very useful
and will fulfill all the present constraints if implemented on a large scale.

22
 Fig 4.0 Model of Automatic Street Lighting.

Fig 4.1 Street Lights in OFF state due to absence of darkness.

From Fig. 4.1 it can be seen that, all lighting columns are OFF, because there is sufficient light
unlike in Fig. 4.0 where there is insufficient light.

23
4.2 How does the existing street lights?

The existing street lights operate manually. There is a main switch where the lights are being
switched ON during the night and OFF during the day. Thus it becomes difficult to switch the
lights in time. Also if it’s raining it might be difficult to go and switch the lights.

4.3 How does new system work?

The designed system operates according to the amount of light falling on the surface of the LDR.
The LDR will have lower resistance with higher amount of light that is during the day it has
lower resistance and higher resistance during the night. The transistor is used as the switch. If
voltage through the base is greater than 5V it is send through the emitter and if less than 5V it is
send through the collector. So for the led to glows it requires voltage which is less than 5V. Since
during the day the LDR gives lower resistance, there is more current flowing, thereby the voltage
through the base is greater than 5V which switches the current to the emitter. This turns the lights
OFF. During the night the LDR gives a high resistance as a result less current flowing and the
voltage is less than 5V which switches the current to the collector. This makes the LED to glow.
So the system operates in a manner that during the day the lights will be in OFF state due to high
levels of light intensity. During the night the lights will be in ON state. Thus it operates
automatically, no manual operation is involved.

4.4 How does the resistance of an LDR vary with light intensity?

An LDR as its name suggest has resistance which depends on the amount of light falling on its
surface. When there is higher amount of light, the resistance decreases and when there is no light
or in darkness resistance increases. Fig. 4.2 shows the relationship between resistance and light
intensity.

24
 Fig. 4.2. Relationship between light intensity and resistance of LDR.
https://www.google.com/search?q=LDR&client=opera&hs=JEK&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=
X&ved=0ahUKEwjv48-YsMjhAhWJxoUKHTswClMQ_AUIDigB&biw=886&bih=567

From the Fig. 4.2 it is observed that resistance is inversely proportional to light intensity. That is
when light increases resistance decreases vice versa. The researcher also done the experiment to
verify that and observe the same results.

Fig. 4.3. Resistance of the LDR in dark/ no light.

25
 Fig. 4.4. Resistance of the LDR in light.

From Fig. 4.3 and 4.5, the researcher observed that in darkness resistance increases and in light it
falls.

4.5 How does an LDR improve the efficiency of lighting system?

These are photoconductive cells used in many different types of circuits and applications.
Applications include smoke detection, automatic lighting control, and batch counting and burglar
alarm systems. Due to its sensitivity to change in light intensity, the LDR improves the lighting
system in a manner that it allows lights to be switched ON only when there is need thus saving
electrical energy. Also the lights are being switched ON/OFF automatically so human effort is
reduced, thus eliminating manual operations which are a prone to errors and wastage of
resources.

4.6 What are the advantages and disadvantages of current system?

The automatic street lighting system, as the name indicates is automatic. This makes work easier
and no labor force required. The system has some merits and demerits.

26
4.6.1 Advantages of current system

 Street lights consume a lot of power in cities. Sometimes you will notice them lighting when
the sun rises. The designed system using an LDR works according to light intensity. Lights
are automatically turned ON if the ambient light is below a specific value. Therefore a lot of
electrical energy is saved since lights are being switched only when needed.
 Once street lights are placed there is no need to monitor them. They function on their own.
No manual operation involved.
 Whenever you want they can be changed from auto to manual easily.
 The system can be easily placed in areas which are not easily reachable like on top of
mountains and they function by themselves.
 They are reliable in bad weather for example when it starts to rain and get dark, lights will be
automatically ON. No one is required to come and switch them.
 Rechargeable batteries need to be replaced few times.

4.6.2 Disadvantages of current system

There are some disadvantages which are associated with automatic street lights.

 Automatic street light system requires a higher initial investment in comparison to

conventional street lights. Thus they are very expensive.
 Risk of theft of the automatic street light system is relatively higher since they are not
wired
 Automatic lighting can be affected by nearby lights from housing, industry and shopping.
 They are mostly being affected by weather (e.g.), snow, dust or moisture can accumulate
on the sensors

4.7 Advantages of the designed system over the existing one.

The systems have some advantages over the existing one which makes it suitable and efficient
for lighting mechanism. The table 4.1 gives advantages of the designed system.

27
 Table 4.1 Advantages of designed system over the old system.

New system Old system

Lights are automatically turned ON and Manual operation is involved to switch ON or OFF the

OFF depending on the amount of light lights. Lights remain ON/OFF if no one comes to

falling on LDR. switch.

Very reliable in bad weather for example It is difficult to find someone to switch ON/OFF the

when it is raining, when it gets dark lights in times of raining or bad weather like stormy.

lights will automatically turn ON.

Suitable for any environment or place for The system is not suitable for places like mountain tops

example on top of mountains. which are difficult to reach for the switching of lights

4.8 Comparative analysis between old system and the new system.

The prototype that had been constructed works according to our expectation. Table 4.2 shows a
comparative analysis between the conventional system and automatic system in terms of cost,
time and other relevant specification.

28
 Table 4.2 Comparative Analysis between Existing and Designed System.

Parameters Conventional System Automatic System

Overall Cost More costly Less

Time state of street light From sunset- sunrise Depending on the presence
of an object(sunset- sunrise)

Operation (switching) Manual operation Automatic operation

4.9 Summary

The hard work and the efforts done in this project were to reduce the side effects of the old
system where by street lights were being switched ON/OFF manually. The designed system
proved to be more efficient than the old system in terms of saving electrical energy and labor, it
also hassome advantages which includeno need for monitoring and their suitability in any place
even on top of mountains where it is difficult to reach. It only requires the initial cost for
designing and installation. Hence, this system is very much useful to the society for reducing the
wastage of electrical power. Therefore, if such systems are once implemented on a large scale
they can bring major reduction in the power consumption produced by street lights. This
initiative will help the government and people to save this energy and meet the domestic and
industrial needs. The other benefits of the system includes that it is a simple circuit, doesn’t
require constant observation of time and design flexibility. The study also shows that the
resistance of LDR is inversely proportional to light falling on its surface, (i.e.), if there is high

29
light intensity the resistance will be low, and the resistance increases when light intensity
decreases.

30
 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

1.0 Introduction.

This chapter presents the conclusionand recommendations.

5.1 Conclusions

The hardware designing was successfully done and it works as expected and proved to be very
useful. The system automatically turns ON lights whenever it gets dark and OFF when its day
time. The LDR sensor indicates whether its day or night time and the transistor as a switch. The
system does not consume huge amount of electricity, so electrical energy is conserved.
Automatic street lighting system consumes less energy compared to old system which operates
manually.

This project clearly demonstrates the working of transistor in saturation region and cut-off
region, how the LDR works as well as the uses of resistors. The relationship between light
intensity and resistance of LDR was clearly revealed. Thus this project can help students who
want to study electronics to understand some concepts easily.

It was clearly observed that the resistance of LDR is inversely proportional to light intensity.
That is when light increases resistance decreases and vice versa. This makes it suitable to be
applied in many different types of circuits. Applications include smoke detection, automatic
lighting control, and batch counting and burglar alarm systems. Therefore due to its sensitivity to
change in light intensity, LDR improves the lighting system in a manner that it allows lights to
be switched ON/OFF only when there is need of. When the amount of light falling on the LDR is
very high the resistance decreases therefore current through it increases.

The system automatically turns ON lights whenever darkness falls on the surface of an LDR and
OFF when there is light. Thus system completely eliminates manual operations. No man power
is needed. Once it is installed there is no need to monitor them as they operate automatically.
Manual control is prone to errors and leads to energy wastages and manually dimming during

31
mid-night is impracticable. Also, dynamically tracking the light level is manually impracticable.
Thus the current trend is the introduction of automation and remote management solutions to
control street lighting. Therefore the system operates automatically. The chances of wasting
electrical energy due to improper switching of lights are minimized

The system have many advantages, by using this automatic system for street light controlling ,we
can reduce energy consumption because the manually operated street lights are not switch OFF
properly even the sun light comes and not switched ON earlier before sunset, low cost
automated operation, low power consumption, very flexible, easy to manufacture. Also in sunny
and rainy days, ON and OFF time differ notice which is one of the major disadvantages of using
timer circuit or manual operation for switching the street light system, thus this system became
more effective.

5.2 Recommendations

We can save the energy for the future use and we can control the losses of the power by the
implementation of these automated systems. This project can be implemented at house for the
home lamp, garden lamps, gate lights or night lamp of the room since lights are being
automatically switched ON/OFF at the appropriate time. Finally this control circuit can be
commercialized and used in long roadways between the cities.

32
 REFERENCES

Chetna, B. and Palak, S. (2015). Smart Street Lighting System, ISSN, Volume 4 Issue 7.

Deepanshu, K., Bijo, M. T., Kritika, M. and Nitin, K. (2015). International Journal of Education

and Science Research. Volume-2, Issue-2.

Devi, D. A. and Kumar, A. (2012). Design and Implementation of CPLD based Solar Power

Saving System for Street Lights and Automatic Traffic Controller, International Journal of

Scientific and Research Publications, Vol. 2, Issue11.

Durga Sri B., Nirosha K., and Mamatha C. (2017). International Journal of Mechanical

Engineering and Technology (IJMET) Volume 8, Issue 8,), pp. 38–47, Article ID:

IJMET_08_08_005

http://vtekelectronix.in/product/automatic-street-light/

https://www.google.com/search?q=LDR&client=opera&hs=JEK&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=

X&ved=0ahUKEwjv48-YsMjhAhWJxoUKHTswClMQ_AUIDigB&biw=886&bih=567

https://www.google.com/search?q=LDR&client=opera&hs=JEK&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=

X&ved=0ahUKEwjv48-YsMjhAhWJxoUKHTswClMQ_AUIDigB&biw=886&bih=567

https://www.google.com/search?q=resistors+and+its+symbol&client=opera&hs=ONd&source=l

nms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjJuKq3msjhAhUEJhoKHcKXBAYQ_AUIDigB&biw=8

86&bih=567#imgrc=MpgQbse-FonywM:

33
https://www.google.com/search?q=structure+of+ldr&client=opera&hs=nyJ&source=lnms&tbm=

isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj8__DNrMjhAhUHpYsKHdqWDioQ_AUIDigB&biw=886&bih=5

67#imgrc=S0TT6tBslsbfBM:

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://jsshixin.en.made-in-

china.com/product/fXVQghFJnScC/China-Automatic-Outdoor-Solar-Light-Sensor-60W-SX-

TYN-LD-42-

.html&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwjL26OqsNThAhVuzlkKHY19DoEQwW4IFygAMAY&usg=AOv

Vaw04yBD7aPqwKOGLSBnoR3RJ

Mamta P. and Shreyansh M. (2015). Intelligent Street Lighting Using Automatic Solar LED,

IJSTE, and VOLUME 2 Issue 4.

Mohamaddoust, R., Haghighat, A. T., Sharif, M. J. M. and Capanni, N. A Novel Design of an

Automatic Lighting Control System for a Wireless Sensor Network with Increased Sensor

Lifetime and Reduced Sensor Numbers, Sensors, Vol. 11, PP. 8933-8952.

Mohelnikova, J. (2008, February) Electric Energy Savings and Light Guides, Energy&

Environment, 3rd IASME/WSEAS International Conference on, Cambridge, UK, , pp.470-474.

Mustaf, S., Farij, A., and Abdalroof, A. (2013). Automatic Street Light Control System Using

Microcontroller, International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications.

Popa, M. and Cepişcă, C. (2011, April). Energy Consumption Saving Solutions Based on

Intelligent Street Lighting Control System. U.P.B. Sci. Bull., Vol. 73, PP. 297-308.

34
Priyasree, R., Kauser, R., Vinitha, E and Gangatharan, N. (2012, April). Automatic Street Light

Intensity Control and Road Safety Module Using Embedded System, International Conference

on Computing and Control Engineering.

Rajput, K.Y., Khatav G., Pujari, M., Yadav, P. (2013, March). Intelligent Street Lighting System

Using Gsm, International Journal of Engineering Science Invention, Vol2, Issue 3, PP. 60-69.

Sudhakar K. S, Anil A. A., Ashok K. C. and Bhaskar S. S. Automatic Street Light Control

System, International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering, Vol. 3, May

(2013), PP. 188-189

Wazed M. A., Nafis N., Islam M. T. and Sayem A. S. M. Design and Fabrication of Automatic

Street Light Control System, Engineering e-Transaction, Vol. 5, No. 1, June (2010), pp. 27-34.

Wilmshurst, L. Jasio T., Ibrahim D., Morton J., Bates M., and Hellebuyck C. (2008). PIC

Microcontrollers: know it all, Publishing Elsevier Science.

Yongqing, W., H. Chuncheng, Z. Suoliang, H. Yali and W. Hong, (2009). Design of solar LED

street lamp automatic control circuit, in Proc. Int. Conf. Energy Environment Technol., 1: 90-93.

35
36