Lunar-Resonant Streetlights
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 08.10.07

People who live in cities are rarely aware of the natural cycles in the sky; even the moon, powerful enough to read by, is barely noticed. The Civil Twilight Design Collective won the Metropolis Next Generation Design Competition with this wonderful idea: "
Lunar resonant streetlights sense and respond to ambient moonlight, dimming and brightening each month as the moon cycles through its phases. Utilizing available moonlight, rather than overwhelming it, saves energy and mitigates light pollution, while facilitating the urban experience of one of the most fundamental and beautiful cycles of nature."
They note that streetlights account for 38% of all electricity used for lighting in the US, and that 2/3 of Americans can no longer see the stars. A combination of LEDs and lunar resonance could save 90% of this electricity, and kids could see stars again. ::Lunar Resonant Streetlights via ::PSFK



















I love this.
genius!
This is one of those "Holy crap! No DUH!" ideas that no one's ever thought of before, but now everyone is smacking their foreheads for not thinking of first.
This is absolutely insanely genius.
Why didn't *I* think of this first? :)
Ideas like these are the ones that are going to change the world.
The sky is pink where I live.
What about cloudy nights?
This seems a little crazy I like as much light as I can get on streets at night. I dont know how many of you drive at night but I like what light I can get. The leds would go a long way to help cup power cost and they wouldn't need replaced for years at a time.
I think this is a great idea, but I always assumed that this was already implemented. But I guess was wrong..!?
I mean, my $5 night light can sense the light level around the lamp and turn off/on automatically. Why can't the street light?
I'm not a tree-hugger, or 'green' except in the most liberal sense of the word, but I've thought about getting rid of streetlights permanently.
However, this beats my idea.
This is a great concept, but how come they don't have top shielding on these lights? Top shielding (keeping the light from escaping above the lamps...forcing it down in a cone like a broad spotlight) is an essential part of solving light pollution and would compliment this idea wonderfully. =]
on foggy night with a full moon and females wont be able to walk anywhere
The inherent flaw, or perhaps positive takeaway, in this idea (though I really like it anyway) is this: 2/3 of Americans can't see the stars because the street lights are too bright (same reason you can't see the stars when the sun is up).
If people are ok with dimming the lights when the moon is fractionally full, they should be OK with dimming them all the time. Having street lights that always emulate the light output of a full moon would save substantial electricity, but something tells me this isn't bright enough for most peoples' levels of comfort.
Wow, very cool. I hope they install that where I live soon.
One Man. One Year. $100,000 online. How's he doing it?
http://www.oneyeargoal.com
We put men on the moon and DUH on us for not following through with this SOONER!
Brilliant idea, raise awarness and let's get this going!!
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This is a fantastic idea! One of the reasons we like living in the country is so we can see the stars! This will give city dwellers a chance to be more connected to nature!
I not only think this would not be bright enough to make our streets safe, or feel safe to many, but at full moon brightness all the time throughout the city in all areas where you look up, it's not like you're going to see many stars, either. If you want to see stars in the sky, just get out of the city from time to time. Even to the edge of it via transit wouldn't be too bad in many cities, although maybe not the really large ones. Besides, how "romantic" or "nostalgic" is it to view the stars in the city with street lights on above you when you look up, even if dimmed ones? Good for energy, but I'm not sure practical.
Dumb idea when you think about it. Moonlight is natures light pollution. Now if the lights went off on moonless nights we really would be able to see the stars.
it is affected by the light it receives from the moon, i think. Just measure one intensity and emit another in regard of the first one.
"on foggy night with a full moon and females wont be able to walk anywhere"
RE: It's a light sensor, not a timer.
In regards to all the city comments, again, it's a LIGHT SENSOR. The lights would only dim as much as natural light is present. Therefore, it shouldn't be ANY darker than it currently is, even between buildings. If the moon light doesn't shine there, the lights won't go down.
It's really the same idea as opening your windows on a cool summer night. You make use of the naturally occuring cool air instead of ignoring it, allowing you to stop the AC for a bit.
The point here is that when street lights pump full blast, they ignore and negate the light source behind (above) them, being the moon.
Just how out of touch are we with the heavens:
Lunar resonant streetlights sense and respond to ambient moonlight, dimming and brightening each month as the moon cycles through its phases.
I think we would notice more if the lights changed nightly.
I wonder how well this would work if the night sky is orange...
How will this system work when the power company needs to burn off exrta power, currently they send out a ripple signal to turn on street lights, this is why you sometimes see lights on during to day.
I believe this is a wonderful idea. I live in a neighbourhood where my house has four street lights, one at each corner. They are positioned approximately 20 metres apart. Whilst it makes for a secure area, I complain all the time of light pollution.
Then I wondered, how is it that I can get motion detector security lights for my house that dim to about 20% output without motion and then light up to 100% with motion and the street lights don't. I thought surely there must be a better way to save us paying for all the energy wasted. However this idea above is genius. This, combined with some sort of motion activator would be brilliant.
Might even help to keep property taxes a little lower!
I love dark nights and I miss the stars.
Considering the huge cost savings in energy alone, you would think that cities would be jumping all over this.