Street light controller

Street light controllers are smarter versions of the mechanical or electronic timers previously used for street light ON-OFF operation. They come with energy conservation options like twilight saving, staggering or dimming. Also many street light controllers come with an astronomical clock for a particular location or a Global Positioning System (GPS) connection to give the best ON-OFF time and energy saving.

Accessories

Some intelligent street light controllers also come with Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Radio frequency (RF) or General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) communication, user adjusted according to latitude and longitude(low cost type), for better street light management and maintenance. Many street light controllers also come with traffic sensors to manage the lux level of the lamp according to the traffic and to save energy by decreasing lux when there is no traffic. America, Canada, India and many other countries have started introducing street light controllers to their road lighting for energy conservation, street light management and maintenance purpose.

It helps to reduce carbon foot print and saves the environment. In commercial view it also helps to earn carbon credit for monitory benefit.

Economics

Street light controllers can be expensive in comparison with normal timers, and can cost between $100 and $2500, but most of them return the investment between 6 months and 2 years. As the equipment's lifetime is 7 to 10 years it saves energy and cost for some years.