Proposed the use of internally/self illuminated with LED street wayfinding signs to make them more readable, and travel safer. LED technology is making this application more feasible than fluorescent could with energy savings of about 50% or more, and external lighting of the signs might be avoided.
Increasing amounts of traffic and an aging population combine to make night travel more dangerous as drivers need to read signage and respond to it in a timely way, with intersections being particularly hazardous. Standard streetlighting often fails to adequately illuminate traffic, safety, stop, school, and street signs, and headlights on cars are being designed to keep their light below the horizontal plane.
While not a widespread practice at this time, this is a practice catching on in comunities with large populations of elderly drivers, and as the boomer generation enters that group it may become more in demand as a safety measure. LED technology has the means to make this practice useful and efficient, and if general streetlighting is not expected to illuminate the signage it might allow for some different distributions to be used with them. Internally lighting signs with LEDs improves their readability and safety for drivers in the area. The long life of LEDs over fluorescent lighting greatly reduces maintenance costs while energy use is also reduced. Solar power options might make some illumination possible where electricity service is not available.
Status:
Baseline Description: Self Illuminated Flourescent Street Sign Baseline Energy Use: 100 kWh per year per Street Sign
"Typical" Savings: 50% Savings Range: From 50% to 75%
GE Lighting claims energy savings of up to 75% when specifying LED instead of T12 fluorescent street sign lighting.
"Typical" Savings: 50%
Energy Use of an Emerging Technology is based upon the following algorithm. Baseline Energy Use - (Baseline Energy Use * Best Estimate of Energy Savings (either Typical savings OR the high range of savings.))
We were not able to find a national or state-wide count or inventory of road and street signs. We will determine energy savings per million signs that are equipped with LED instead of fluorescent lighting.
Regional Technical Potential of an Emerging Technology is calculated as follows: Baseline Energy Use * Estimate of Energy Savings (either Typical savings OR the high range of savings) * Technical Potential (potential number of units replaced by the Emerging Technology)
Simple payback, new construction (years): N/A
Simple payback, retrofit (years): N/A
Cost Effectiveness is calculated using baseline energy use, best estimate of typical energy savings, and first cost. It does not account for factors such as impacts on O&M costs (which could be significant if product life is greatly extended) or savings of non-electric fuels such as natural gas. Actual overall cost effectiveness could be significantly different based on these other factors.
David Green, 06/13/2005. Internally Illuminated Street-Name Signs: Embracing the Benefits of Light-Emitting Diode (LED) Technology International Municipal Signal Association Journal
City of Chesapeake , 10/31/2005. LED Back Lit Edge-Lit Internally Illuminated Street Name Sign City of Chesapeake
International Sign Association, 01/03/2008. Conspicuity and Readability Signline
FHWA, 11/01/2009. Intersection Safety Issue Brief: Older Road Users at Intersections Federal Highway Administration