Line Voltages for outdoor and street lighting in the USA

[MikeFL]

Dear Forum Members:

I'm a college engineering student looking for some information on line voltages for street lights and other outdoor lighting systems such as parking lot lighting, walkway lighting, etc.

We're doing a project where we successfully developed a prototype that operates on a 110V system. Now we need to cover the other voltages to prove our theory.

According to a Planner at our local electric utility (Florida Power & Light) the following voltages are the services they provide:
120/240V 1P,3P
120/208V 1P,3P
240/480V 1P
277/480V 3P

It looks like we need to develop at least two more, maybe three, prototypes at considerable effort and expense. We just want to make sure we are not wasting time and money here.

Our questions are:

Of the above voltages, are they all used for street lighting?
Do we really need to accomodate 208, 240 and 277?
We know we need a 110V system and a 480V system because that's what we find around town. How about those in the middle?

A Switch Mode Power Supply (SMPS) is not feasible because it adds cost, space, heat, power consumption, etc. to the device. Requirements on the project include the ability to adapt to all existing AC systems without being cost-prohibitive.

Thanks in advance. This looks like a great venue.

 

[iwire]

Our questions are:

Of the above voltages, are they all used for street lighting?

Yes, and others as well.

Do we really need to accommodate 208, 240 and 277?

Only if you want to sell your product.

Look at other manufactures similar products and notice how many voltages they will provide them in.

In general we want to run the fixtures at the highest available voltage for cost reasons.

We know we need a 110V system and a 480V system because that's what we find around town. How about those in the middle?

If 120 is available that usually means 208 or 240 is available and with the distances involved with outdoor lighting projects I will want to use the highest voltage available. If your product is only available in 120 volt I would pass it by and find a suitable product in the voltage I want.

In addition to that you take yourself out of retrofit projects if your product does not match the voltage of the fixture you are replacing.

Just as an example click this link to ballasts used by HID lighting.

http://www.advance.philips.com/ecatalog/hid_lookup.asp?S=core ~ coil

Once there use the drop down menu for voltage selection and notice how many are listed.

 

[RichB]

yes all the above--depends on what the POCO has available in the area

 

[Article 90.1]

Last street lighting project I was on I-287 in NJ when they added the HOV lanes in the late 90's, the service to the lights was 240/480 if I remember correctly. Yes, that is correct, 240 volts single phase.

 

[Electric-Light]

Multi-tapped ballasts are common and the voltages are 120, 208, 240, 277 and 480