Who designs/makes the majority of any country's streetlights? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: ocset
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 15, 2018, 06:30:09 pm
content: Hi, Please advise who makes/designs the majority of your country's streetlights?(ie i am referring aswell to the LED driver, or induction lamp driver).Eg in UK, the majority of our streetlights are induction streetlights designed/made in China.Our led streetlights in the majority, use Phillips Xitanium LED drivers, which are designed in Netherlands.Please advise the situation in your country?

author: drussell
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 15, 2018, 06:42:49 pm
content: Hopefully none of the ones made by whatever company it is wheretreezworks.

author: ocset
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 15, 2018, 09:31:09 pm
content: Thanks, put it this way, do you know if your streetlights are made in China?In China, there is a massive city which specialises in designing/manufacturing streetlights...they sell literally to the whole world....do they sell to your country?....do you care?

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 15, 2018, 09:53:02 pm
content: Quote from: treez on September 15, 2018, 09:31:09 pmThere's no massive city. There are a number of street light manufacturers across China. They are in serious competition with each other, so margins are poor. This means they are always interested in any value they can add to their lights. Networking them is usually of interest, but some kind of value add will be at the heart of any conversation you have with them as a component vendor - the core issues of making a cheap efficient lamp mostly settled down some time ago. You might think you have a hard time competing with the Chinese suppliers, but they have even more serious troubles trying to survive in a commoditised market.

author: coppercone2
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2018, 01:39:25 am
content: actually I am curious about this.Who do you ask? How do you dig up who had the maintenance and installation contract? Is it always the local power company for street lighting? How do bureaucracies handle it? Is this even publicaly accessible information by law?

author: DC1MC
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2018, 05:45:12 am
content: In my birth country (and many other EU countries) the Parliament/Legislative adopts a law, usually synchronized with regional regulations (i.e. EU) defining the frame of the street signage and illumination.Then a government agency is tasked to manage it, this usually keeps the status quo and pays the main electricity provider in the region, because usually they are the ones that already have the previous contract and can claim that they have the requested necessary experience. Then the honey needs to be spread a little and locally sub-maintenance and installation contracts are given to small companies that actually are doing the work.In case of municipalities, they are having some kind of "administrative independence" and the cronyism and corruption is usually rampant, so there is a HUGE competition on who bribes more and higher-ups on the political ladder, for example one companies in the country decided to cut the middle man and hired the (then) student daughter of the sitting president with a salary three times bigger than of the prime minister, to "do something on the PC, 2h a day", nobody, including her, was able to tell what she was actually doing.Of course this company took all the contracts during the president term(s) and a while after.After such a long anecdote, where did the technical part come into discussion, NOWHERE, it doesn't matter, the most miserable cheap and CYA compliant junk is used, it just has to not get defective too much or kill people, because money are spend long ago on other things.The idea that a small, unconnected politically company, can compete on technical merit in this field is ridiculous.DC1MC

author: Towger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2018, 07:10:50 am
content: I think DC1MC has summed it up nicely.Certainly, if I was running a small street lighting company I would just be using off the shelf parts. If the cost of drivers is such an issue then Chinese rather than likes of Philips or Osram etc. Remember the Chinese can make quality stuff if you pay for it.Big Clive takes issue with led driver:https://youtu.be/aMXIJJepQto

author: mzzj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2018, 08:13:14 am
content: Quote from: treez on September 15, 2018, 09:31:09 pmIf the alternative is UK made streetlights from "your" company: CHINESE PLEASE!They actually have massive city full of competent* SMPS engineers that work for 1/5th salary compared to you.*) relatively speaking at least...

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2018, 09:02:12 am
content: Here in South Africa BEKA, with lamps, fixtures, photocontrols and ballasts sourced from all over. Bag turgi, Phillips, Osram and Royce Thompson are the most common, all in a box from BEKA, and with assorted types of fixture with a new plate covering the original one.

author: cs.dk
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 16, 2018, 10:12:23 am
content: I believe most of our relative new LED streetlights here in Denmark is made by Thorn lightning. I think the components inside are Philips. I actually got one here at my side.

author: ocset
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2018, 10:50:49 am
content: QuoteThanks, its interesting that the Mainland European countries dont buy from China...i wonder why?...i bet the Chinese would undercut Thorn and Philips.A German guy was on a thread earlier, saying that no buyer in Germany would even know where the stuff comes from, and that there is no such thing as "buying from only the EU".....but then i guess the Mainland EU adhere to trade import tariffs etc.I used to work for Zumtobel (actually Tridonic) ..that owns Thorn.....its Austrian as you know....i am surprised Thorn dont use Tridonic ballasts...though as i remember it, i dont think Tridonic did "outdoor ballasts"...certainly not to the spec of the philips xitanium.

author: cs.dk
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 16, 2018, 11:03:32 am
content: Quote from: treez on September 16, 2018, 10:50:49 amYou are right. I just opened the thing. It is Tridonic stuff in there.The Philips-name i remembered in there was a "LLC7300 - StarSense Wireless device" (It's two years since i cracked it open last time) - No idea what i can do though.The Tridonic branded stuff is made in Switcherland. The Thorn branded stuff is made in France.I can supply photos later.

author: Lord of nothing
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2018, 11:11:12 am
content: QuoteSure he is well known here.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 16, 2018, 12:42:46 pm
content: Quote from: treez on September 16, 2018, 10:50:49 amMost western lighting companies manufacture their LED lighting systems in China, and several do the majority of their design engineering there. They have all the economies of a Chinese company, with the extra cost savings their huge buying power brings.