Sustainable innovation: A2A public lighting and the“ City Plug Lamp” project
Sustainable innovation: A2A public lighting and the“ City Plug Lamp” project
As environmental concerns and the demand for sustainable mobility escalate, cities around the world are looking for ways to promote the adoption of electric vehicles, the spread of which has highlighted the urgency of developing more easily accessible and widespread recharging infrastructures, essential to facilitate the energy transition to a low-carbon future. Emerging innovative solutions include lighting poles with integrated electric vehicle charging points, currently being tested in Europe and around the world. Traditionally associated with safety and visibility functions in urban areas, light poles, thanks to technological evolution, can now be transformed into real charging hubs for electric vehicles, combining energy efficiency and practicality. In the city of Brescia, Italy, A2A Illuminazione Pubblica – Gruppo AEB – in cooperation with the mobility company of the A2A Group, recently started a pilot project by installing 8 integrated City Plug Lamp poles in one of the busiest car parks of the city’ s metro system. These structures not only provide high-efficiency lighting thanks to 14 LED light centres, but also offer the possibility of lowpower charging of electric vehicles via 16 City Plug sockets, making charging accessible and convenient for users. The integration of the charging stations into the public lighting poles offers many undeniable advantages: 1. Optimisation of resources: by using existing poles, the need for new infrastructure is reduced, maximising urban space and minimising environmental impact as well as reducing the operating costs of local authorities.
2. Ease of use: recharging stations integrated in light poles are placed in strategic locations, such as public car parks and main roads, greatly improving usability for electric vehicle users.
3. Sustainability: many systems use renewable energy, such as solar power, to power the charging stations, thus contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions.
4. Environment: Creating a more accessible charging network can boost the adoption of electric vehicles, reducing reliance on fossil fuels and improving air quality in urban areas, making cities healthier and more liveable.
Future perspectives The implementation of these innovative solutions will require increasingly advanced technological approaches as charging stations will have to be compatible with different vehicle models and capable of handling different electrical loads. The use of IoT( Internet of Things) technologies will enable remote monitoring of station efficiency and predictive maintenance, thus ensuring an increasingly reliable service, while digital payment systems and mobile apps are already being implemented to facilitate the use and booking of recharges, making the whole process more user-friendly and accessible.
Conclusions The integration of charging stations for electric vehicles inside street lighting poles is an important step towards urban mobility that is not only more sustainable, but also innovative. These projects, which make use of advanced technologies and place a strong emphasis on improving accessibility, have the potential to transform our cities into greener and more pleasant places to live. However, a major challenge will be to ensure that these solutions are scalable and able to adapt to the changing needs of urban communities. Only in this way will we be able to help build a future characterised by a more responsible and conscious mobility.
LUCE 352 / COMPANIES REPORT 11