Intelligent planning for street lighting renovation

Thanks to the MAPEC research project (Automated Method for Planning a Municipality's Lighting) developed by the HES-SO Valais-Wallis Institute of Management Information Systems in Sierre, in collaboration with Navitas Consilium and Tamdis, it will be possible to achieve a better energy transition for public lighting. Over a period of one and a half years, the project will result in a decision-making tool enabling municipalities and network managers to control investments in their public lighting networks.

The cost of lighting in a municipality is one of the main items of municipal expenditure. In the case of the town of Sion, the largest municipality in the Valais, street lighting is even the biggest expense. This includes not only the price of energy, but also investment and operating costs. Thanks to intelligent planning, based on data and computer simulation, it will be possible to improve the energy efficiency of public lighting and optimize investment and operating costs.

Data-driven spatial analysis and computer simulation

Developed by the Easilab team at the Institut informatique de gestion of the HES-SO Valais-Wallis, the MAPEC project will facilitate the technical-economic analysis of the public lighting network by identifying priorities for intervention and using artificial intelligence. It will thus be possible to identify which lighting points in the public lighting network need to be upgraded, typically because they are obsolete or need to be brought into line with current standards.

On this basis, MAPEC offers the possibility of simulating more or less advanced renovation scenarios, depending on the availability of a lighting concept and the integration of dimming management, in order to analyze the effects on energy consumption. The results of the technical simulation are then used to optimize investments, taking into account the budgetary constraints of local authorities.

Results applied to two companies

This Innosuisse-funded project aims to provide implementation partners Navitas Consilium and Tamdis with a powerful analysis and planning method to better meet the needs of their customers who own or manage public lighting networks, thanks to a multi-year, sector-based intervention plan, adapted to financial constraints and accompanied by energy consumption control targets.

As a partner in the project, providing reference data, the City of Monthey is active in the deployment of intelligent lighting solutions. Other regions are now invited to express their interest in benefiting from a MAPEC approach to street lighting renewal planning, and thus benefit from advantageous pilot conditions.

Source: HES-SO Valais-Wallis