With the continuous improvement of various infrastructure, traditional facilities including lighting poles, traffic signal poles, traffic sign poles, road indicator signs, electronic surveillance poles and other types of poles will inevitably result in the phenomenon of numerous scattered poles along roads. On the premise of complying with industrial standards, functional requirements and safety specifications, streetlight poles feature extensive coverage, uniform distribution and reliable power supply routes. Following the general principle of “minimizing quantity and integrating facilities where feasible”, streetlight poles can be equipped with other smart facilities to form integrated smart poles. Meanwhile, the composite poles reserve mounting positions and communication interfaces for facilities such as vehicle-road coordination systems to realize intensive utilization of resources and reduce urban construction costs.
Relevant statistics show that street lighting, one of China’s urban public infrastructures, accounts for approximately 9%–10% of the country’s total power generation. The number of urban road lighting fixtures is projected to reach 39.234 million by 2025[2]. The construction of smart light poles enables the integration of diverse surrounding facilities by consolidating scattered disparate equipment onto integrated smart poles. On one hand, this improves the roadside landscape and prevents asynchronous and duplicated construction; on the other hand, it cuts investment and reduces maintenance resource inputs. It facilitates resource integration, intensive management and scalable systems, and carries great significance for energy conservation and carbon reduction.
Research data from Boston Consulting Group indicates that the application of artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by 2.6 to 5.3 billion tons before 2030, equivalent to roughly 5%–10% of total global emissions[2]. Smart light poles are equipped with dedicated power supply circuits and high-performance industrial-grade Ethernet switches, providing basic power and communication support for the expansion of various on-site intelligent devices, and serving as vital interactive terminals covering all urban public areas.Using lighting poles as carriers, smart light poles integrate multiple terminals for intelligent transportation facilities. They collect information relating to urban carbon footprint, carbon sinks and other fields, effectively advancing the in-depth integration of energy forms in relevant regions. Supported by computing, forecasting and assessment functions on the management platform, optimized scheduling and rapid response help raise management efficiency, greatly improve the energy efficiency of urban public facilities, and directly or indirectly lower carbon emissions from the energy sector.
