The street lighting of the future made in Spain

Article published in the E&E supplement of the national newspaper Cinco Días, 18/04/2016, page 13

PAMPLONA —15/06/2016—We make contact with ATP Lighting, a Spanish company located near Pamplona, the world leader in manufacturing street lighting and urban furniture of the highest quality from technical engineering polymers. Since its founding, in 1969, its vocation has been to develop the most advanced and durable products in its sector, and for that purpose, the enterprise has focused on identifying the main problems of outdoor lighting and solving them in an ingenious way through an intense effort in R&D. Anti-electrocution lamp posts, immune to corrosion street lights and urban furniture and LED lighting solutions with international patents are some of the letters of introduction of this company that nowadays exports to over 50 countries. His innovative vision gives us an important clue about the future of street lighting.

A lamp post killing a person or a dog by electrocution, or a coastal municipality spending thousands of euros on maintaining its exterior lighting system are inconceivable realities to ATP. Therefore, this company based in Navarra and with international reach defines itself as a team of professionals specialized in finding solutions to the problems they detect in the products of the competition, in order to offer to the customers innovative options to improve what already exists in the market. "Through observation, we discovered, for example, that we had to manufacture with new materials so we can create safer and more durable products. This research led to the development of technical engineering polymers and thermo-polymers exclusively formulated by us. Today, making our products with these raw materials, we have managed to solve both electrical hazards and the damage caused by rust in metals,"explain to us Guillermo Redrado, COO of ATP Lighting.

In addition to widely exceed the maximum requirements in the most stringent regulations, ATP performs rigorous quality controls to ensure the strength, efficiency and functionality of their street lights and items of urban furniture. "The more than 45-year history of ATP have allowed our company to perfect their materials and processes to such an extent that we are able to grant a complete warranty of 10 years, five times higher than what is usual in the sector," says Redrado.

ATP, as a manufacturer, believes that public lighting of the future must provide added value. "It has to be totally safe for people and represent an important source of savings for municipalities -points out Redrado-, but we also know that it is able to supply a great amount of data that can contribute to improving the living standards of people. In fact, in the field of smart cities, there is still much to develop, and we are certain that exterior lighting will have a leading role in this new era".

Solutions to the major problems of external lighting

If anything characterizes ATP, as well as innovation, is the excellence of their product and the development of definitive solutions to the major problems of external lighting, which are mainly two: lack of safety (risk of electrocution), and maintenance (because of deterioration originated by vandalism and oxidation).

"Our products, -says the interviewee- are immune to corrosion, vandal-proof, anti-electrocution, completely hermetic and 100 % recyclable. They also ensure maximum performance, high light efficiency, considerable energy savings and optimum uniformity, since each case is independently studied with a detailed lighting project. To this, we must add unmatched durability and a great esthetic presence. Part of the mentioned virtues derive from the use of our unique polymers, which amplify resistance to vandalism and external agents to unreachable limits for the materials commonly used in the sector. This means that they perfectly withstand the action of the most aggressive elements: intense sun, extreme humidity, saltpeter, highly contaminated or toxic environments and even tropical storms". That is why ATP street lighting and street furniture are maintenance free, and the reason why they are considered the toughest in the world.

As for vandalism, ATP products pass collision tests exceeding 50 joules, more than the double of the international standard established by the IK regulation, in which the greatest impact (IK10) reaches 20 joules. The company has given the name of IK10+ to this unique level of toughness. It also contributes to the durability and smooth functioning of the street lights their full sealing: all of them are classified as IP66, which guarantees absolute protection of electronic components and internal elements of the set against liquids and solid particles. Such sealing is not limited to the optical compartment but extends to the entire covering of the set including the access panel on the pole, which goes beyond the requirements of the standards. IP66+ is the term chosen by ATP to name this characteristic. Both IP66+ and IK10+ are common to all their catalog of street lighting and urban furniture, with no exception.

Respect for the environment is another of the main priorities of the company, as evidenced by their 100 % recyclable products –through sustainable processes which involve the minimum energy spending– and the total elimination of light pollution in many of their sets. In recognition of these efforts to create durable items and to develop their business in the most environmentally friendly manner, ATP has recently been awarded the ISSOP seal, given by the Feniss foundation to companies that manufacture their products without planned obsolescence and with materials and procedures respectful with the environment. And this is something extraordinary in the sector since ATP is the only corporation of public lighting and street furniture in the world that has received this prize.

Revolutionary LED lighting solutions

ATP's commitment to excellence keeps the company at the forefront of innovation and technology. Proof of this are their LED lighting solutions. "In ATP –explains the COO– we found two major problems associated with the LED that our engineers have solved in a masterly way. One has been the dazzling related to this light source. Pedestrians often complain that the LED is annoying to eyesight, and we have worked this out with the revolutionary Comfort Diffuser®. Created to ensure visual ease without sacrificing performance, this diffuser has allowed, for the first time in the history of LED, obtaining street lights which are comfortable to the eye while maintaining exceptional efficiency and even improving light uniformity. The second problem in which we have worked very hard is the efficient management of the heat generated by the LED. To fix this, we have devised the Laminar Heatsink®. This system, designed and patented internationally by ATP, achieves a level of dissipation that outperforms any existing method and prolongs the LED lifespan by 46 %. Both technologies are available for the entire LED catalog by ATP and constitute the essence of the new luminaire Aire®, the latest release of the company".