Poor visibility at night creates inconvenience for urban residents. Artificial street lighting can provide comfortable conditions, modern lamps and fixtures must meet all the parameters of electrical safety and efficiency.

Types of street lighting

There are many types of lamps. Street general lighting differs depending on the purpose and requirements for lamps. The type of terrain where it is necessary to increase the illumination is the main indicator on which the type of illumination depends.

1. Lamps with reflectors are used to illuminate major highways. The direction of the light is concentrated on the road, the lamps themselves are located on high poles at a great distance from each other.
2. Secondary roads are illuminated with less powerful lamps, as well as lanterns with diffused light.
3. Pedestrian paths, park areas — places where it is advisable to use lighting devices in the form of lanterns on special supports.

Functional lighting

Functional street lighting is called upon to ensure safety for residents of the settlement at night, to create an expressive appearance of any significant object. For this type of illumination, special energy-efficient lamps are used, in which gas-discharge lamps with MGL and HPS markings are used. Street lighting for a country house, cottage or any cultural object can be provided with lanterns on a cast-iron base with a height of 0.9 to 3 m.

decorative lighting

The purpose of artificial lighting of squares and parks is to emphasize the features of landscape design elements, to highlight specific structures. The strength and uniformity of the light flux plays a secondary role in the decorative lighting of the territory. The supports on which the lamps and fixtures are located are selected aesthetically attractive, the style of city streets, parks, squares and walking boulevards depends on their appearance. Crowning luminaires, in which the lamp is mounted on the top of the support, are ideal for such purposes.

Marking lighting

In order to emphasize the terrain, outline the direction of movement, mark the paths, low lamps are used to provide street marking lighting. Solar panels and batteries can be used as a power source, which ensure the operation of the lamp at night. This type of lighting for cottages and streets includes lamps that cast light onto the surface of the earth, as if “drawing” a line, and special moisture-resistant light cables with shockproof properties.

security lighting

Many tasks are faced by specialists who install lighting for the protection of objects. Video surveillance systems operate at a certain level of illumination, for their smooth operation this parameter is an important condition. Special attention is paid to the design of security lighting for the street. Emergency lamps, activated by an alarm, are used together with the main ones. According to the standards, the illumination in the protected area should be from 2 to 5 lux, which is enough for the operation of the video monitoring system and some urgent repair work on the territory of the facility.

Street lighting options

A variety of light sources mounted on poles, supports and walls of buildings are used to improve visibility at night, they use lamps with directional or diffused light. Power sources in lamps intended for street lighting are used automatic, which operate on solar batteries. This battery option is convenient and economical, does not require additional maintenance and works flawlessly. Backlight can be used to illuminate:

• plants and trees;
• structures and buildings.

plant lighting

For the full development of plants, it is necessary to provide them with a long daylight hours, which is possible when using artificial lighting. With a lack of light, plants can lose leaves and die completely. Modern solar-powered street lighting can completely replace natural lighting, and helps create ideal conditions for the existence of plants and flowers. Fitolamps can regulate the intensity of lighting, which is necessary to control the development of trees and shrubs. There are several types of lamps for lighting plants:

1. Incandescent lamps — the cheapest option, poorly suited for lighting in the garden, consuming a lot of electricity.
2. Fluorescent lamps do not heat up, have good light output, low cost and energy consumption. Street phyto lighting of plants with their help copes well with its functions.
3. Energy-saving lamps have low power consumption and long service life. According to the light, they are divided into spreading «warm», «cold» and «day» spectrum.
4. Sodium lamps durable, economical, but have a high cost and special disposal conditions — they contain particles of mercury, sodium and xenon.
5. LED lamps effective in terms of lighting plants, they are highly environmentally friendly, they are safe and have low energy consumption.

architectural lighting

Lighting that focuses on the facades of buildings is designed to emphasize individual elements, hide imperfections, it can advantageously present the most unpresentable building and increase its market value. It is known about six methods of architectural application of LED street lighting fixtures.

1. Contour underlining the elements of the object, highlighting its contours, emphasizing balconies, roof line, windows. For such purposes, LED garlands and ribbons are suitable.
2. flooding lighting covers the entire area of ​​the building, highlights large buildings and landmarks well. Emphasizes all the shortcomings of buildings.
3. Background street lighting snatches individual objects from the darkness, drawing attention to them. Halogen lamps with diffused light are used for these purposes.
4. dynamic lighting is programmed depending on the season, in time with the music. Programmable RGB lamps are used.
5. accent lighting — differs in diffused light, favorably illuminates windows, columns or stucco moldings. Spotlights with LED lamps and a narrow beam are well suited for such lighting.

Requirements for street lighting

The main goal of any street lighting is to maintain the safety of all road users. The defining parameters for it are the uniformity of distribution and the level of brightness of the illuminated surface. Street lighting for summer cottages and gardens needs luminaires with modern lamps that have increased luminous efficiency and low power consumption. High service life for them is a defining parameter.

Street lighting fixtures

There are many options for luminaires that can be used to illuminate the street, their task is to perform both a decorative and lighting function to improve visibility on the site. According to the location, street lamps are divided into facade, which are installed directly on buildings, and landscape, used to illuminate the territory. According to the type of installation, the lamps are divided into:

• wall-mountedmounted on the facades of houses;
• suspendedwhich are hung on brackets under the roof or ceiling;
• floor lampsmounted on poles;
• embeddedmounted in the walls of buildings, garden paths, curbs and flower beds.

Street lighting lamps

Street lamps, indispensable in matters of lighting, differ from each other in many factors. Experts recommend the use of various lamps depending on the purpose, as the main element they can be used:

1. Halogen lamps that create the illusion of natural light.
2. gas-discharge lamps in which methane or hydrogen create a powerful electrical discharge.
3. Mercury lamps, the work of which is based on the characteristics of mercury. They heat up quickly and require special wiring.
4. LED lamps for street lighting are used everywhere, they are loved for their efficiency and resistance to mechanical damage.
5. Xenonoperating on the principle of an electric arc.
6. Fluorescent lamps that work without flickering and noise for a long time
7. induction – their work is based on the principle of gas ionization.

Street lighting poles

For outdoor lighting, poles are used, which are classified depending on the purpose and installation location. According to the type of manufacture, the supports are reinforced concrete, wooden and metal. Each type of support has its advantages and disadvantages, which type to choose is decided by experts depending on the parameters required for lighting a particular object. According to the location, the pillars are divided into several types:

1. Park poles are used to provide comfortable landscape lighting in a large area: in squares, parks, railway station areas.
2. Street poles with standard or custom designs are essential for illuminating pedestrian sidewalks and paths.
3. Special purpose poles installed near significant objects: hotels, shops, parking lots.
4. The main street lighting poles used to illuminate highways and highways, the main streets in the city.

Light sensor for street lighting

The device that is used to turn on and off the lamps on the street is a photo relay, a modern tool that reacts to changes associated with the operation of the light flux. Outdoor lighting sensors on the market are presented in an assortment, the most convenient are devices that work on the principle of changing the parameters of the photoresistance. There are two types of such devices:

1. Embeddedwhich are installed directly in the block that controls the lighting.
2. Remote, which is a stand-alone device. Such sensors must be protected from external factors and physical impact.

Installation of street lighting

Proper installation of fixtures for the organization of street lighting is of great importance. A project developed at the initial stage of preparation should take into account many factors: terrain features, the required level of illumination, equipment power, the number of supports, surge protection systems. When designing street lighting, two schemes are used:

• underground — with laying the cable in a trench dug according to the standards;
• aerial — in which the cable passes through supports with a mandatory grounding system.

Examples of street lighting

A wide range of products allows you to create extraordinary compositions on personal plots and around private houses. Consider a few examples of the use of street lamps and other lighting devices:

1. Simple lanterns on poles can not only illuminate the paths, but also decorate the site in an original way.



2. Street lighting on poles will help you enjoy the richness of the site even in the dark.



3. You can decorate the walls of the house with ordinary wall lamps.



4. You can illuminate the steps in an original way with the help of LED strip.