Wyndham Civic Centre lights up

Solar-powered LED lighting solution

Werribee City Council recently completed the upgrading of the lighting in the car parks and roadways of the Wyndham Civic Centre in Victoria. After careful consideration of the available energy-efficient lighting options, including T5 and CFL options, the council chose a Pecan Lighting Grid Tied Solar Public Lighting (GTSPL) system using Beta-LED LEDway luminaires. The supplier, Lateral Technology, worked with the council’s engineering consultants to provide technical and historical information on the system.

The Pecan Lighting LED GTSPL system provides an energy-neutral lighting solution that translates into a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of over 7 tonnes annually from the 44 x GTSPL poles in the project. The lighting design showed that the 23 W of LED in each luminaire produced more light, where it’s needed, than 42 W of CFL.

The Beta-LED LEDway luminaire is made from 20-25% (by weight) post-consumer recycled materials (aluminium castings and extrusions). Seventy percent (by weight) of LEDway components are aluminium castings and extrusions that are readily recyclable. They are RoHS and Dark Sky compliant. As the CREE LEDs in the LEDway produce no UV they do not attract bugs and other flying insects and contain no mercury.

As the lighting requirements vary throughout the civic centre, a number of different optical systems were used. Because the luminaire is available in five different optical systems - from street light to forward throw to symmetrical distribution - it was simple to pick the correct optic for each situation. Type IV forward throw optics were used in one car park section due to the size and shape of the area. The main car park used Type III street light optics to achieve lighting uniformities compliant with the code requirements and Type II street light optics were used throughout the roadways of the civic centre.

Pecan Lighting and Lateral Technology were able to provide a good outcome for the council by virtue of the combination of solar power and LED street lighting in the Pecan GTSPL system. The solution provides a long lamp life, glare-free white light for visual acuity, accurate optical control for maximum pole spacing, with excellent lighting uniformity and lighting distribution patterns to suit most lighting situations.

With the emergence of feed-in tariffs (FIT) there now exists a situation where, even under a nett FIT, the Pecan GTSPL systems can have the capability to generate revenue for the user.