Dimmable street lighting application using a microcontroller

This article describes an energy saving system of road lighting suited for different lighting scenarios. The designed system is applied in a university campus for a 12-month period with a resulting 24,1 % electric energy saving. Within the system high pressure sodium (HPS) lamps are dimmed by programmed microcontroller cards at desired rates according to calendar and clock data in a 12-month period using a designed interface. In addition to energy saving, the designed system allows a remote accessed power analyzer to be used to follow up consumed energy data for the lighted area.