Before

After

The city owns, operates, and maintains approximately 62,000 streetlights, with the majority being either low pressure or high pressure sodium lights. San José is blazing new ground being one of the first cities nationally to install smart, energy-efficient, streetlights. This innovative lighting plan is achieved by replacing the yellow sodium vapor lights with white light emitting diode (LED) lights, and an adaptive control system to provide energy efficient lighting.

Benefits
Smart LED streetlights enable the city to monitor energy consumption and provide the opportunity to dim lighting levels during late evenings. Other benefits of smart LED streetlights include:

• Reducing street light energy costs by 40% to 60% 
• Improving lighting quality and visibility and enhance street safety
• Ongoing maintenance savings by extending maintenance cycle for bulb replacement
• Real-time reporting of energy usage for energy billing and communicating non-operating streetlights for improved response
• Eliminating the use of hazardous materials contained in sodium vapor lamps
• Preserving the night sky in late evenings for astronomical research by Lick Observatory

Funding
Over the course of this year, approximately 2,100 streetlights in San José will be converted using $2.9 million in federal grant funds provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) programs. An additional 1,100 smart LED lights are planned as part of various public and private projects.