Learning Track

Every guide in one flow: the network, luminaires, controllers, energy, solar, faults, maintenance, smart poles, SOPs, standards, and contracts. Start at the top, or jump to any module.

101 steps in 14 modules. Mark a guide complete when you finish it.

1. The network

What is on the street, how power reaches each lamp, and the lighting levels each road needs.

1. 1How a street light network worksFrom the transformer to the lamp.
2. 2Inside a lighting cabinetAn interactive diagram of a typical three-circuit cabinet.
3. 3How lights know when to switchTimers, photocells, and astronomical clocks.
4. 4Cables, voltage drop, and earthingWhat is under the road, and why it matters.
5. 5How much light a road needsLighting classes, lux, luminance, and uniformity.

2. Luminaires

What is inside an LED street light, how to read a datasheet, how long it lasts, and what it must comply with.

1. 6Parts of an LED luminaireFrom the housing to the socket on top.
2. 7Reading a luminaire datasheetThe values that matter, and typical figures.
3. 8Optics, glare, and spacingPut the light on the road, not in the driver's eyes.
4. 9Lifetime, lumen maintenance, and failuresWhat L80B10 means, and why the driver matters most.
5. 10Programmable driversFeatures you can set at the factory or in the field.
6. 11Light pollution and colourLess sky glow, less spill, and the right CCT.
7. 12Photometric files and lighting calculationsEULUMDAT, IES files, and how to compare offers.
8. 13Product complianceWhat a luminaire must meet before you install it.

3. Controllers

Why to connect street lights, and the sockets, dimming interfaces, and networks that make it work.

1. 14Why connect your lights?What a controller gives you, and when you do not need one.
2. 15Cabinet-level and lamp-level controlA controller in the cabinet, or a node on each light.
3. 16Controller sockets: NEMA and ZhagaAdd a node without opening the luminaire.
4. 17Dimming interfaces: DALI, D4i, and 0–10 VHow the node talks to the driver.
5. 18Networks: cellular, LoRaWAN, Wi-SUN, and othersHow the data gets from the street to the platform.
6. 19Interoperability: TALQ, uCIFI, and open APIsHow to avoid lock-in to one maker.
7. 20What a controller sendsThe readings and alarms behind every view.
8. 21Security of connected lightingA device that can switch a street can be attacked.
9. 22AI and MCPAsk about your network in plain language.

4. Energy and carbon

Know what a circuit should use, find where it uses more, save energy at quiet hours, and report the carbon.

1. 23Reading energy by circuitCompare what a circuit used with what it should use.
2. 24Day burningLights on in daylight cost money and nobody reports them.
3. 25Dimming schedulesLess light when the streets are quiet.
4. 26Adaptive lighting with sensorsLight up when someone is there.
5. 27Energy indicators: PDI and AECICompare designs with one number.
6. 28Power factor and harmonicsWhat the cabinet meter tells you about the drivers.
7. 29Proving energy savingsBaselines, adjustments, and measurement.
8. 30LED retrofit paybackA simple method to compare cost and saving.
9. 31Cost and carbonTurn kilowatt-hours into money and CO₂.
10. 32Carbon reportingHow street lighting enters a climate report.

5. Solar street lights

Off-grid and hybrid solar street lights: where they make sense, how to size them, and how to keep them working.

1. 33How a solar street light worksPanel, battery, controller, and lamp.
2. 34Where solar makes senseAnd where it does not.
3. 35Sizing a solar street lightEnergy, battery, and panel in three steps.
4. 36BatteriesThe part that decides cost and life.
5. 37Solar faults and monitoringMost failures show in the data first.
6. 38Maintaining solar lightsCleaning, checks, and battery planning.

6. Faults

Find the cause before the crew leaves the depot, so the right people take the right parts.

1. 39Cable fault or failed lamp?The pattern of dark lights tells you where to look.
2. 40Voltage outside the windowNormal supply limits, and what to do outside them.
3. 41When a controller stops reportingNo data is not the same as no light.
4. 42Finding a cable faultFrom "the cable is bad" to the point to dig.
5. 43Earth leakage and electrical safetyA live pole is the most dangerous fault on the network.
6. 44Theft and illegal connectionsSigns in the data before someone reports it.

7. Failure library

The failures crews see most often, each with the symptom, the cause, how to check, how to fix, and how to prevent it.

1. 45Water in the junction boxFuse blows or earth leakage trips after rain.
2. 46Driver failed after a surgeMany lights on one circuit fail after a storm.
3. 47Photocell failed "on"The light burns all day.
4. 48Contactor stuck or burntA circuit will not switch off, or will not switch on.
5. 49Lost neutralDrivers fail on one phase, lights flicker on others.
6. 50Cable cut by road worksA row of lights goes dark during the day's work.
7. 51Pole base corrosionThe pole looks fine, but the base is thin.
8. 52Node offlineThe light may work, but the data stopped.
9. 53Light flickers or cyclesOn and off every few minutes.
10. 54Part of the LED module is darkSome LEDs are out, the rest work.
11. 55Dirty or yellow coverThe light is on, but the road is too dark.
12. 56Wrong readings after installationNegative power or impossible power factor.
13. 57Solar light goes off before morningA little earlier every week.
14. 58Earth leakage device trips again and againWith no clear fault.
15. 59Cable or equipment theftA section goes dark at night with no fault before.

8. Maintenance

Turn every problem into a job, close it on time, prevent the next one, and recover fast after a storm.

1. 60Why use maintenance software?What goes wrong with paper, phone calls, and spreadsheets.
2. 61Work orders and SLAsThe life of a job, from report to close.
3. 62Night patrols and the share workingThe simplest measure of network health.
4. 63Preventive plansFix it before it fails.
5. 64Planned replacementSpot or group replacement.
6. 65Handling resident complaintsEvery report gets a number and an answer.
7. 66Maintenance KPIsSix numbers that show how well the crews perform.
8. 67SparesThe part must be on the shelf when the crew needs it.
9. 68Warranty claimsFailed parts under warranty are free parts.
10. 69Storm and emergency responseWhen hundreds of lights fail in one night.

9. Smart poles

What else a street light pole can carry, and what to check before you add it.

1. 70The pole as a platformWhat else a street light pole can carry.
2. 71Power for other devicesThe light circuit is off in the day.
3. 72Pole strength and spaceEach new device adds load.
4. 73Small cells and leasingPoles as a source of income.
5. 74Data, privacy, and ownershipMore devices means more data.
6. 75Managing shared poles in the asset registerOne pole, many attachments.

10. SOPs

Standard operating procedures for common street lighting jobs. Use them as templates and add your local rules and the maker’s instructions.

1. 76SOP: Safe isolation before electrical workMake it dead, keep it dead, prove it dead.
2. 77SOP: Traffic management at a work siteProtect the crew and the public.
3. 78SOP: Work at height from a MEWPBucket truck work at the top of a pole.
4. 79SOP: Replace a luminaire, driver, or nodeThe most common corrective job.
5. 80SOP: Night patrolFind dark lights before residents do.
6. 81SOP: Cabinet inspectionThe preventive visit to a cabinet or feeder pillar.
7. 82SOP: Make a damaged pole safeAfter a vehicle hit, a fall, or a report of a shock.
8. 83SOP: Mass outage after a stormRestore in the right order.
9. 84SOP: Clean and check a solar street lightThe routine visit that keeps solar lights working.
10. 85SOP: Commission a controller or nodeChecks to do before you trust the data.
11. 86SOP: Resolve and close a work orderThe record that makes every report useful.

11. Standards by region

The standards and rules for each region, then the international references that apply everywhere.

1. 87Standards and rules in EuropeEN standards, EU law, and national codes.
2. 88Standards and rules in the Middle EastAuthority manuals, utility regulations, and conformity schemes.
3. 89Standards and rules in South AsiaIndia first, with notes for neighbouring countries.
4. 90Standards and rules in the USAIES, ANSI, NEC, UL, and federal rules.
5. 91How to read standard numbersIEC, EN, ISO, CIE, and national versions.
6. 92International: road lightingReferences that apply in every region.
7. 93International: luminaires, LEDs, and driversSafety, performance, lifetime, and photometry.
8. 94International: controls and connectivitySockets, dimming, networks, interoperability.
9. 95International: management systemsMaintenance, assets, energy, quality, and security.

12. Contracts and tenders

Buy the right system, and write contracts that pay for lights that work.

1. 96Taking over an existing networkStart with a survey, not with a contract.
2. 97Writing a luminaire and controls tenderPoints that buyers often forget.
3. 98Performance-based maintenance contractsPay for lights that work, not for visits.
4. 99Energy savings contractsSavings pay for the upgrade.

13. Tender clause library

Specification clauses you can copy into a tender, with the reason for each one and how to check an offer against it.

1. 100Tender clause libraryCopy-ready specification clauses, each with the reason and how to verify it.

14. Glossary

The words you will see in tenders, datasheets, and this site, from all four regions.

1. 101GlossaryThe words in tenders, datasheets, and this site.