Osram has developed an LED module to enable rapid upgrading of historic street luminaires. The decorative street lighting (DSL) module can be used for a wide variety of luminaires, independent of the original manufacturer. The module is prepared upon request so that fitting is as simple as replacing lamps or sockets.

Osram claims that, compared with mercury-vapor-discharge lamps, the DSL cuts energy consumption of luminaires by at least 60 per cent. Upgrading is less than half the cost of a new LED installation.

Standardized LED-based replacement modules are available for many luminaire models with modern designs, but this is not the case for non-standard heritage luminaires.

Street lighting application

Osram offers a service that begins with the lighting owner – such as a local authority or city council – sending a luminaire to Osram. A construction kit, consisting of an LED module and mounting plate, is adapted by Osram specifically for the luminaire in question. Then, an employee from the town's works department is able to install the module with the minimum of effort.

The second photo at right shows a luminaire containing the DSL module in Wipperfürth, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, which consumes up to 60% less energy than when fitted with the original mercury vapour discharge lamps.

As well as offering improved energy efficiency and durability, the modules, which are fitted with Osram’s Oslon SSL LEDs, provide high levels of color rendering. The DSL also enables more targeted control of light compared to classic lighting, for example by choosing the correct number of LEDs in order to reduce light spill in certain circumstances.

Osram also notes that the integration of modern control units with intelligent light management can ensure further energy savings. For example, the company’s AstroDIM system enables luminaires to be dimmed completely self-sufficiently without use of a corresponding control line. In this way, between midnight and the early morning hours, lighting can be adapted to lower volumes of traffic to achieve supplementary energy savings.