Texel is the first Dutch island lit by intelligent, energy neutral street lights that only illuminates when and where it’s really necessary.
The intelligent street lighting network rolled out on Texel is one of the largest in Europe. It incorporates thousands of TVILIGHT wireless street lighting controllers (CitySense and SkyLite) that help Texel save energy and minimize light pollution. TVILIGHT and DYNNIQ helped Texel realise it’s ambition, so it could rediscover the beauty of natural night sky again.
“Smart streetlights help us achieve two major goals—become energy neutral and preserve nocturnal darkness. The old streetlights made watching the night sky difficult because of the giant cloud of orange light hanging over the island. Now, we can see the stars and the Milky Way,” Kikkert explains.
Night skies and solar energy
CitySense runs on a patented motion-sensing technology that allows the streetlights to automatically dim down or brighten up according to the real-time human presence. The combination of new LED streetlights and “light on demand” enables Texel not only to preserve the night sky but also to save two-thirds of the energy previously spent on outdoor lighting. Now, Texel powers the streetlights using only solar energy, which makes it the first Dutch municipality where public lighting is completely energy neutral.
Chintan Shah, CEO of Tvilight: “Texel demonstrates what other islands across the globe can achieve with intelligent street lighting. TVILIGHT helped transform Texel into a smart island where beautiful night sky can be enjoyed by everyone.”