Turn on the streetlights in one click: around ten French towns have already been seduced by the J'ignite ma rue application.
In Île-de-France, Longpont-sur-Orge (Essonne) was the first to take the plunge.
Since the end of 2021, the inhabitants of this municipality of 6,300 inhabitants have been able, on demand, to control the lights in the city center using their smartphone, which are off from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
The principle is very simple: once connected, the user is automatically geolocated.
All he has to do is press the digital bulb.
This sends information to the nearby electrical cabinet, which controls the streetlights in the area.
And there was light !
Energy consumption halved
“On average, we record two to three uses per night, indicates Alain Lamour, the mayor (DVG).
We wanted to turn off the city lights to save money but also to reduce our carbon footprint and allow nocturnal species like bats to find a more natural space.
This on-demand ignition system solves the problem of insecurity that some people may feel when they find themselves outside in the dark.
And it works.
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VIDEO.
In Longpont-sur-Orge, residents manage public lighting with one click
In one year, the town has halved its energy consumption by turning off the light for six hours a night.
The bill has only dropped by 25%.
“Like everyone else, we are facing the rise in the price of electricity”, comments the mayor who intends to generalize the system throughout his city.
“It took longer than expected because not all of our streetlights are equipped with LED bulbs.
For those, it's fast, they light up as quickly as they go out.
But we also have sodium lamps, which need a longer heating and cooling time.
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The municipality plans to eventually change them.
All electrical cabinets will be connected to the app by September.