One of the features of HD-PLC is that things that could not connect to the network now can, as long the electric wires are connected. It was the ‘street lights’ that Topco Technologies Corp of Taiwan developed that proved this point with an actual product. What sort of high added value they have achieved with HD-PLC with the new street lights that seem to have nothing do with networks? We asked the Chairman of Topco.

Taipei-based Topco Technologies is a manufacturer and a distributor of semi-conductors, digital cameras, solar battery, etc. and it is also known for an agency of a Japanese chemical maker, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. Topco is making an effort to expand their business with the know-how of semiconductor manufacturing, and that is the lighting device that uses LED (light-emitting diode).

• Chairman of Topco Technologies Corp., C. C. Wang (left) and president Sunny Tsai (right)

• Chairman of Topco Technologies Corp., C. C. Wang (left) and the chairman of HD-PLC Alliance, Kobayashi (right) at TOPCO-sponsored ‘Energy-Conservation System Seminar’

LED lighting is thought to be environmentally friendly since they use much less power than fluorescent lights and do not use harmful materials such as mercury, and its application has started spreading in Japan. Topco began using LED as the light source for the street lights, and they saw HD-PLC to add higher value.

Obviously, street lights are connected to electric power lines. This means that streets can be connected to the network through electric power lines by using a HD-PLC adaptor. C.C.Wang, the chairman of the company, gave us three advantages that come with connecting street lights to the network.

The first advantage is low power consumption. LED can offer the same brightness with lower electric power than fluorescent lights and it is easy to adjust the brightness. As long as it is connected to the network using HD-PLC, the brightness can easily be fine tuned from a remote office. “It is possible to normally keep the light darker and then make it the brightest only when needed”, says Wang. This results in being able to keep power consumption between 60 and 90 watts with street lights using HD-PLC and LED, where as general power consumption of street lights is about 250 watts per hour. This is the advantage that benefits global environment.

The second advantage is its application for security purposes. Since the street lights can be connected to a high-speed network with HD-PLC, the footage taken by the video cameras suspended from the street lights can be seen at a remote location. It will be possible to check for suspicious people and to give an audio warning if a speaker is attached. “By combining a human detection sensor, it is possible to contact the police automatically when a suspicious person appears,” says Wang.