Technological University (Banmaw)

Department of Electrical Power Engineering

Street Lighting Design: Layout & Calculations

Presenting by
Mg Zay Yar Min Pi
VI.BE.EP-4
 Aims and Objectives

The main aims and objectives are-

• Reducing the risk of night-time accidents
• Assisting in the protection of buildings/property
(discouraging vandalism)
• Discouraging crime
• Creating a secure environment for habitation
• Perfect visual sensation for safety
• Illuminated environment for quick movement of the vehicles
• Clear view of objects for comfortable movement of the road
users.
 Introduction

Street lighting design is the design of

street lighting such that people can safely
continue their travels on the road. Street
lighting schemes never brings the same
appearance of daylight, but provide
sufficient light for people to see important
objects required for traversing the road.
 Basic Features of Street Light Luminaires

The basic features of a street lighting luminaires are:

• Roadway luminaires are mounted horizontally and thus have
fixed vertical aiming.
• Roadway lighting luminaires have particular intensity
distributions which are desired to light long narrow horizontal
stripes on one side of the luminaire, while minimizing the
intensities on the other side of the luminaire.
• The intensity distributions up and down the narrow strip are
generally the same.
• Any fixed aimed luminaire which does not have this type of
intensity distribution is called an area luminaire.
 Which Lamps are Used in Street Lighting?

Various types of lamps are used in street lighting

luminaires. They are-
• High pressure sodium lamp
• Metal Halide Lamps
• Low pressure sodium lamps
• Incandescent Lamp (not recommended)
• LED
• CFL (used in Lanes or streets only not widely)
 Main Factors in the Street Lighting Design Scheme

Luminance Level Should be Proper

Luminance always influences the contrast sensitivity of
the obstructions with respect to the back ground. If the
street is brighter, then darker surroundings makes the
car driver adapted, unless the driver will be unable to
perceive the objects in the surroundings. As per CIE,
5m away from the road on both sides will be lit by
Illuminance level at least 50% of that on the road.
Main Factors in the Street Lighting Design Scheme
Luminance Uniformity must be Achieved
To provide visual comfort to the viewer’s eyes, enough
luminous uniformity is needed. Luminous uniformity
means the ratio between minimum luminance level to
average luminance level, i.e.

It is termed as longitudinal uniformity ratio as it is

measured along the line passing through the viewers
position in the middle of the traffic facing the traffic flow.
Main Factors in the Street Lighting Design Scheme

Degree of Glare Llimitation is always taken into Design Scheme

Glare means visual discomfort due to high luminance. There are two types of glare created by
the street light luminaires, first type is disability glare and second type is discomfort glare.
Disability glare is not a strong factor, rather discomfort glare is a common factor due to
unplanned street lighting scheme.

Lamp Spectra for Visual Sharpness depends on the Proper Luminaries

It is very much essential to make an object as per its size and dimension.

Effectiveness of Visual Guidance is also an important factor

It helps a viewer to guess how far another object is from his position
Types of Road to Implement Various Street Lighting Design
Schemes

As per CIE 12 roads are broadly classified into five types.

Type A of Street Lighting Design

• Heavy and high speed traffic.

• The roads are separated with the separators.

• No crossing is allowed.

• Controlled access

• As the example: express ways.

 Type B of Street Lighting Design

• Heavy and high speed traffic.

• Separate road for slow traffic movement or pedestrians.

• As the example: Trunk road.

 Type C of Street Lighting Design

• Heavy mixed traffic with moderate speed.

• Rural and urban roads.

• As the examples: Ring Road or Radial Road.

 Type D of Street Lighting Design

• Slow traffic and pedestrians’ purpose.

• Road in the city or shopping center.

• As the example: Shopping streets.

 Type E of Street Lighting Design

• Mixed Traffic with limited speed.

• Connector road between residential areas.

• As the example: Local street.

 Street Light Luminaire

• Initially on the surface of the road, point specific Illuminance values

are collected.
Then intensity I is calculated from the equation of the Illuminance,

Where, EP is the Illuminance at point P on the road and h is the vertical

height from the point P to the luminaire.
 C-ɣ table

The format of C-ɣ table is shown below. In this below chart C’ is the
position of maximum intensity on the table.
 Three basic planes of the road
• Plane 1: C-0o to C-180o along the road.

• Plane 2: C-90o to C-270o across the road.

• Plane 3: Principle Plane, through the point of maximum intensity of the light, i.e.
C’ to C’ + 180o
The two main terms related to the street light
luminaire
1. Spread angle: it is the angle of the luminaire to direct the luminous
flux across the road.

2. Throw angle: it is the angle of the luminaire to direct the luminous

flux along the road.
Pole Arrangement Schemes in Street Lighting Design

Single Sided
When the width (W) of the road is nearly equal to the pole height (H), i.e. W = H then the poles are
arranged in one side only. Generally pole height is available of 10 meter.
The span between two poles is equal to the road width.
 Double Sided

When the width (W) of the road is nearly double the pole height (H), i.e. W = 2H then the poles are
arranged along both sides in opposite to each other manner.
The span between two poles may not be equal to the road width.
 Staggered Sided or Zigzag Pattern

When the width (W) of the road is nearly 1.5 times of the pole height (H), i.e. W =
1.5 H then the poles are arranged in both sides in zigzag manner.
The span between two poles may not be equal to the road width.
 Central Verge Position

When the width (W) of the road is much greater than the pole height (H), i.e. W>>H then the poles
are arranged in the central verge of the road. The luminaires are made to face towards both the road
surfaces from the central verge.
The span between two poles may not equal to the road width.
 What are the Street Light Design Parameters?

Street light design parameter is measured or evaluated or simulated over the span of
the road.
1. Average maintained luminance level in Lux

2. Over all uniformity (U0)of Illuminance

for entire area (span × width) of the road

3. Longitudinal Uniformity

is measured along the length of the road (centre length by default)

4.Transverse uniformity

is measured across the road along a line passing through the nadir point.
5. Disability glare is expressed in threshold increment.
6. Discomfort Glare is expressed in glare control mark.
7. Unit Power Density is measured for unit length.
Where,

Where no. of the luminaire (n) = 1 for single sided pole arrangement
= 2 for double sided pole arrangement
= 2 for staggered sides pole arrangement.
 How to Compute Average Illuminance on the Road Surface?

Average Illuminance is calculated by Lumen method, where maintenance factor

(MF) and coefficient of utilization (COU) are taken into account.

Where,
ΦL = Lumen of the Luminaire,

Aeff = effective road surface area under Illumination = Span × Width = S × W

N = Number of luminaire
Again,
N = 1 for single sided street lighting design and
N = 2 for double and staggered sided street lighting design,
n = number of lamps used in single luminaire = 1 for street lighting.
Coefficient of Utilization (COU) is the ratio of utilized lumen to the installed lumen. And it is obtained from
the COU graph recommended by CIE.
 Point Specific Luminance (L) on the Road Surface

It is related to the point specific Illuminance (E).

It is expressed as, L = q × E,
Where, q is the luminance coefficient in

and it is dependent on two angles β and ɣ.

β is the angle between plane of light incidence (plane 1) and plane observation
(plane 2).
Ɣ is the angle of incidence in plane 1.
So now,
As r and q both are the function of two angles β and ɣ, we should write the equation
as
 How to Compute Point Specific Illuminance from Iso-Lux
Diagram of the Street Light?

Iso-Lux diagram is the Illuminance distribution of the street light luminaire on the
street or road surface. The point of maximum Illuminance is called Nadir Point. The
Illuminance level of other points are given in percentage value with respect to the
Emax of Nadir point. Suppose, Emax at nadir is 100 Lux, and at other point

Illuminance is 73 Lux, then this point is marked as 73% of E max. Thus all points with

73% of Emax are joint together to get Iso-Lux diagram for 73% of E max. All Iso-Lux
curves are drawn in this way. Making the nadir point center, two axes along and
across the road is drawn.
the Iso-Lux diagram
As per the above sample diagram of Iso-Lux, we have to divide
dimension of two axes to term with respect to the luminaire height (h).
Suppose at point P, we have to calculate Illuminance, and we have already the luminaire Iso-Lux
diagram.
Now we find out the co-ordinate of this point P with respect to the luminaire position. Suppose this
point P is at h distance from luminaire 1 and at 2h distance from luminaire 2 and at 0.8h distance
from the road side of luminaires 1 and 2.
Now we have to calculate Illuminance at point P for each luminaire one by one from the Iso-Lux
diagram.
Let, Illuminance contribution of luminaire 1 at point P is EP,1 = x1%,

Illuminance contribution of luminaire 2 is at point P is EP,2 = x2%,

Illuminance contribution of luminaire 3 is at point P is EP,3 = x3%,

So, ultimate Illuminance at the point P is
Again Emax is calculated from CIE recommended equation, i.e.

The value of Φ is already provided by the luminaire manufacturer. So we

can get the value of Emax and hence EP at the point P.
 Glare in Street Lighting
Glare is the visual dis-confortability of human eyes due to improper
level of luminance distribution of the luminaire to view an object. Glare
can be classified into two types,

1. Disability Glare
2. Discomfort Glare
 Disability Glare
Disability glare makes human eyes disable to see any object for a little while. For an example, when
we look at any bright source for a few seconds and then we look at any object with low brightness,
we become unable to see this object properly, rather we see black spot for some times. This is one
type of momentarily blindness.

Disability glare is measured at threshold increment value. With the aid of the luminous distribution
of a luminaire and using the nomogram the threshold increment of a luminaire installation can be
determined.
The nomogram is a graphical representation of the formula for the equivalent veiling luminance;

threshold increment value is represented by TI and calculated in percentage.

It is defined as
Where, LV is veiling luminance and Lavg is the average luminance of the

object or road surface. Where, LV is veiling luminance and Lavg is the

average luminance of the object or road surface.
 Discomfort Glare
It is denoted by glare control mark (G). For street lighting, the discomfort glare control mark is given by:

Where,

SLI = Specific Luminaire Index,

Lavg = average road surface luminance (cd/m2)

h’ = reduced mounting height (m).

p = number of luminaires per kilometer.

SLI is calculated in terms of logarithmic value.