SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ:ELON) today announced that its technology is experiencing rapid adoption in the China market for smart, networked street lighting systems. Recent deployments in China highlight the advantages of Echelon intelligent distributed control solutions using power line communications for reducing energy consumption and maintenance costs of municipal street lighting.
Studies have shown that as much as 40% of city energy budgets go towards lighting streets worldwide. Energy efficiency, carbon reduction, lower operating costs, city beautification, reliability, and a general push by state and local governments are all driving the decision to move to advanced control networking technology over lesser options.
“China is an ideal market for networked, smart street lights,” said Mr. Li Zhiqiang, president and CEO of Rongwen, one of the largest street lighting companies in China. “We installed over 16,000 lights equipped with Echelon PLC transceivers together with the Echelon energy control network platform in 2010 and believe that we have the opportunity to have nearly 500,000 installed by 2014. Echelon’s technology has enabled us to deliver a solution that reduces energy use by 55% and significantly lowers maintenance costs.”
“We are very excited to see the adoption of our intelligent distributed control systems for street lighting in China,” said Ron Sege, Echelon’s president and CEO. “The Chinese government is a global leader in improving energy efficiency and lowering carbon footprint, and saving energy used for lighting streets, while improving safety and appearances, is a great step in achieving these goals.”
Most projects have moved beyond a desire for an energy efficient lamp to a requirement for system-wide intelligence and control. Projects in Changan City, Qingdao, Jinan, in China, use a variety of lamp technologies, but all rely on Echelon’s control networking technology. Key benefits they are receiving include:
- Custom lighting and increased efficiency with dimming at the individual lamp
- Lower maintenance costs
- Optimized energy cost from remote monitoring of status and consumption data in real-time
- Increased customer satisfaction and performance with both remote control of individual lamps and lighting segments
- Responsiveness where it’s needed with real-time, local decision making and action based on optional networked sensors
- Investment protection through integrating with other city-wide enterprise applications
Rongwen has installed projects in Changan city and Da Ling Shan city in Guangdong province. The lighting solution includes Rongwen manufactured electronic ballasts networked with Echelon’s power line signaling technology for distributed control, high efficient high pressure sodium lamps, Echelon SmartServers for segment control and enterprise connectivity, and system software from French company Streetlight.vision. Rongwen acts as the ESCO (energy service company) to the local government. Rongwen expects to install 100,000 lights in 2011 in Guangzhou city and Shenzhen city.
Telchina, located in Jinan city, the capital of Shandong province, completed the company’s first street lighting project of 1,100 lights in Jinan city in Q3 of 2010. It will be followed by a further project of 30,000 lights in downtown of Jinan city. Telchina expects to expand their system to other cities in 2011 with installations totaling approximately 60,000 lights. The company’s solution includes Echelon power line based lamp controllers that work with both magnetic and electronic ballasts, Echelon SmartServer segment controllers, and Telchina Digital’s city management software platform. Elsewhere in China, Shanghai based Shanghai Hongyuan, the largest induction lamp manufacturer in China, is installing their first project of 450 lights (of a planned pilot for 2,000 lights). The project’s focus is on energy savings and remote management. Another 10 companies in China are working closely with Echelon to develop intelligent street lighting solutions targeting projects in 2011.
Echelon’s power line signaling technology and i.LON® SmartServer segment controllers for smart, distributed control of street lighting systems are becoming the de facto standard for managed street lighting systems worldwide. More information about networked street lighting systems can be found at http://www.echelon.com/solutions/streetlight/.
About Echelon Corporation
Echelon Corporation (NASDAQ:ELON) is leading the worldwide transformation of the electricity grid into a smart, communicating energy network, connecting utilities to their customers, enabling networking of everyday devices, and providing customers with energy aware homes and businesses that react to conditions on the grid.
Echelon's NES System – the control networking infrastructure for the smart grid – enables intelligent distributed control applications and devices that deliver maximum reliability, survivability and responsiveness. Through the Echelon Control System (ECoS) platform, the NES system enables any device, speaking any protocol, connected over any network to be integrated into local decision making and connected securely to enterprise IT systems through virtually any IP network. The NES System helps utilities compete more effectively, reduce operating costs, provide expanded services and help energy users manage and reduce overall energy use.
Echelon's LonWorks® Infrastructure products extend the smart grid in to smart buildings factories, homes and other systems, powering tens of millions of energy aware, everyday devices made by thousands of companies – connecting them to each other, to the electricity grid and to the Internet. LonWorks based products work together to monitor and save energy; lower costs; improve productivity; and enhance service, quality, safety, and convenience in utility, municipal, building, industrial, transportation, and home area networks.
More information about Echelon can be found at http://www.echelon.com.
Echelon, LonWorks, and the Echelon logo are registered trademarks of Echelon Corporation registered in the United States and other countries. Other product or service names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners.
This press release may contain statements relating to future plans, events or performance. Such statements may involve risks and uncertainties, including the risk associated with uncertainties pertaining to market acceptance of the Echelon power line based ballasts, the risk that the actual number of street lights deployed in China using Echelon’s technology in the future will not meet current expectations, risks pertaining the market acceptance and successful completion of Echelon based street lighting solutions, the risk that Echelon’s power line signaling technology and i.LON SmartServer segment controllers do not perform as designed or do not enable the expected energy reduction, maintenance cost savings or other benefits; and other risks identified in Echelon's SEC filings. Actual results, events and performance may differ materially. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. Echelon undertakes no obligation to release publicly the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.