Cree provides LEDs for major municipal street-lighting project in China

A major lighting project in the Beibei district of Chongqing involves more than 20,000 LED street lights, 1.9 million Cree LEDs, and an intelligent lighting-control system.
An installation of more than 20,000 LED street lights was recently completed in the Beibei district of Chongqing, China. The installation includes nearly 16 miles of highway, with LED-based luminaires installed along 119 streets and one tunnel.

LED street lights were engineered by Chongqing Silian Optoelectronics Science and Technology Corporation (Silian), a leading LED lighting company in China. The luminaires contain a total of 1.9 million XLamp XP-E and XP-G LEDs from Cree (Nasdaq:CREE).
The project, which is described as China’s “largest municipal intelligent lighting control project,” began in July 2011. Officials estimate the installation will result in annual maintenance and electricity savings of more than RMB 19.5 million (approximately USD 3 million) and 17.6 million kWh.

Cree is no stranger to large street-lighting projects in China: In October 2011, the LED maker announced that it had supplied more than one million LEDs for over 10,000 street lights installed byKingsun Optoelectronic Co. Ltd. in Shenzhen.

The Municipal Bureau of the Beibei district initiated the project to improve the living environment for local citizens and to meet China’s stringent roadway lighting requirements for light efficacy, brightness, luminance, heat dissipation and service lifespan.

The new LED lighting replaced antiquated sodium-vapor street lighting along the Yuwu Highway, extending from Chongqing to Wusheng.

Silian developed and manufactured the intelligent lighting control system, which features an advanced wireless network management system that detects lighting issues with sensors and can adjust the brightness of the LED street lights in accordance with vehicle and pedestrian traffic flow.

“We are very pleased with the performance of Cree’s XLamp LEDs in our luminaire systems,” said David Reid, chief operating officer of Silian. “Cree LEDs emit high-quality light with low heat dissipation that meets China’s lighting standards while saving the municipality millions of Renmenbi.”

“Cree LEDs are perfect for large-scale lighting projects such as the Beibei District installation,” said Tang Guoqing, senior advisor, Cree Hong Kong Limited. “Designed to last more than 50,000 hours, Cree XLamp LEDs offer the high efficiency and easy integration with intelligent lighting systems needed to reduce overall costs while providing beautiful light.”