Municipality of Kardjali – street lighting – One of the first larger projects for energy-efficient reconstruction of the street lighting. The project was implemented by a team managed by Associate Professor Platikanov, by order of the municipality of Kardjali. The reconstruction was made after a procedure under the Public Procurement Act with subcontractor “El Izgrajdane” Kardjali. The lighting fixtures installed for street lighting were only of the Eurostreet family, produced by GE Italy. The project also included reconstruction of the street lighting of the Municipality of Kardjali and the appurtenant villages, putting into operation the newly-installed energy-saving lighting fixtures, and also developing a maintenance and control system for a period of 15 years. The objectives of this project were to improve the quality of street lighting in Kardjali in conformity to the Bulgarian State Standards and the European street lighting regulations, enhancement of the energy efficiency, reduction of the power consumption, traffic safety of both vehicles and pedestrians. And not last, it was important to create a comfortable and aesthetic night atmosphere in the city. The application of the European regulations for street categorization allows their precise definition, which reduces the necessary power capacity installed and the annual consumption of electric power. The 400W, 250W and 125W mercury lamps were replaced by 150W, 100W, 70W, 50W high-pressure sodium lamps. The total number of the previous lights in Kardjali was 2 717, of which 665 park lights. The total power installed was 771 646 W (the power capacity of the startup control devices is also included). As a result of the prepared and implemented project and the calculations with energy-efficient lights made, the savings from installed power capacity for Arterial Streets category are 164 395 W, for category Collector Streets – 87 187 W and for Service Streets – 256 560 W. The new modernized lighting uses 2 672 lights. The new installed power capacity of the street lighting is 263 504 W, i.e. 508 142 W less than the existing one. This is a reduction of the power capacity installed with 65,85% or 2,93 times. In the villages appurtenant to the Municipality of Kardjali were installed 2 800 lights of 250W input power, and it is planned that they will be entirely and directly replaced with new 70-W HPS lamp lighting fixtures. These summary energy and technical indices prove the feasibility and the energy efficiency of the developed and implemented project. The result of the street lighting reconstruction and the implementation of the control and maintenance system is the development of a new contemporary concept for street lighting systems. Creation of visual comfort for the population, reduction of traffic accidents and vandalism. The 2002 expenditures of the municipality of Kardjali for electric power and maintenance of the system were 412 000 leva, subject to 35-40% operation of the street lighting; today, with 97% operating lights, the expenditures for electric power and maintenance in the settlements, which were 100% covered by the reconstruction, are only 195 000 leva. The cash savings realized by the Municipality of Kardjali are in the amount of 217 000 leva for a period of one year subject to 4012 hours operation of the systems.
