Haines Borough Energy Sustainability Commission

This strange looking object is an LED (light emitting diode) streetlight. The Haines Borough is considering testing 8 of these lights. They are the "energy sippers" of lighting technology.

Compared to conventional high pressure sodium (HPS) streetlights, LEDs consume anywhere from 60-78% less. LEDs also last longer. The estimated life of an LED is 100,000 hours compared to 20,000 hours for a HPS bulb. Even better, the colder it gets, the longer LEDs last. Finally, something for Alaska!

Haines has 250-watt high pressure sodium (HPS) streetlights and 100-watt HPS streetlights. The 114 250-watt streetlights used 142,842 KWH. And the 210 100-watt streetlights used 107,940 KWH.Together, these streetlights used 250,782 KWH (kilowatt-hours) of electricity in 2008.

The annual electricity bill for Haines streetlights is at least $36,000.00 (assuming today's cost of electricity, subsidized by the PCE Credit, at $.1436/ KWH). And that doesn''t account for the cost of replacement HPS bulbs. A 250-watt HPS fixture draws 300-watts. The equivalent LED fixture draws 104-watts.

LED streetlights equivalent to the 250-watt HPS lights will reduce energy consumption at least 65%, reducing KWH by 92,847 or from 142,842 KWH to 49,994 KWH. In dollars and cents, that's an estimated reduction from $20,512.00 to $7,179.00.

LED streetlights equivalent to 100-watt HPS will reduce energy consumption an estimated 78%, reducing the 100-watt KWH usage from 107,940 to 23,746 KWH, and the cost from $15,500.00 to $3,410.00.

There is lots to learn about LED streetlights. Check out the documents and the links to the left.

Come and see the two LED streetlights loaned to the Haines Borough by the City of Fairbanks. The will be on display with a high pressure sodium streetlight at the Energy Fair, February 28, 10 AM - 3PM, Haines K-12 School.

• LED Basics {PDF}
• Outdoor Area Lighting {PDF 628 KB}
• LED 101
• LED Streetlight Installations
• Frequently Asked Questions
• US Dept. of Energy: Solid State Lighting Web Site

High-pressure sodium (left) and LED (right) street lights. The DOE study found that LED luminaries provide much more uniform illuminance and have a much lower lumen depreciation rate over life than the HPS lamps (Photo: LEDs Magazine)