Street lights may be fairly efficient, but I've often wondered how much energy is used to light streets throughout the night, even when traffic is minimal. Two ideas to address the cost of street lights:
1. Install motion detectors on street lights. As a car passes the motion detector, street lights up to 100 yards/meters are activated. They are activated for enough time to allow the car to pass through the area at a comfortable rate of speed (relative to the speed limit) and then deactivate until the next vehicle passes through.
2. Rig street lights with some form of green energy capture system (solar or wind). If during the day, street lights act as an energy source to the local power usage, this may help to off-set their power consumption during the night.
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These ideas have been suggested before and discussed here, here and here.
Thank you for the references. Maybe the time has come for this idea. Given the large stimulus the Fed Govt is considering, maybe this is something that should be included. This certainly would meet the criteria of being an investment in the country's infrastructure and would work towards the goal of reducing our energy consumption.
Motion detectors for street lights is just a plain awful idea for the people who live near them. The blinking would drive them up the wall in short order.
I'm sure doing this would save a fortune in electricity, but street lights are also used for pedestrian safety. I'm sure young women walking home at night in complete darkness wouldn't like it.