The Pennsylvania State University research team has developed an innovative system for converting urban streetlights into charging stations for electric vehicles. This breakthrough seeks to solve a growing problem: the lack of accessible charging points in urban environments, where residents often lack garages or private stations.
Pilot implementation in Kansas City
In collaboration with Kansas City, Metro Energy Center, utilities and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 23 charging units were installed on streetlight poles in Missouri.
Over a year, the researchers collected data on usage, efficiency and geographic distribution to feed artificial intelligence models artificial intelligence focused on demand forecasting.
Benefits of urban street lights vs. traditional stations
Unlike commercial stations, these streetlight-mounted units offer a faster and more cost-effective solution. By taking advantage of existing municipal power lines, they avoid grid saturation and allow for shorter charging times.
The researchers developed an analysis framework based on three pillars: demand, technical feasibility and social benefits. This framework allows other cities to replicate the model by considering factors such as land use, traffic volume and points of interest.
Equity criteria were also incorporated to ensure that benefits reach diverse communities, including historically underserved neighborhoods.
Future projections
The next step of the project includes integrating socioeconomic and meteorological data to improve the accuracy of predictive models. This will facilitate a more efficient expansion of the urban charging network and will consolidate streetlights as a key option in the electrification of transport.
This approach makes street lighting a strategic tool for cities seeking to promote sustainable mobility without investing heavily in new infrastructure.
The results of this research were published in the Journal of Urban Planning and Development a trade journal of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Source: Interest Ingengineering
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