A study on energy saving and light pollution of LED advertising signs

Lighting advertising signs not only play an important role in outdoor lighting environment in Taiwan, but also become the main factor of energy consumption in urban areas at night. Light-emitting diode (LED) has been gradually used in advertising signs due to its advantages. However, in order to be conspicuous and legible in the daytime, signs that are excessively bright may result in considerable light pollution and energy waste at nighttime. Therefore, this research aims to measure the luminance of LED signs and traditional internally lighted signs, and analyze the light trespass from each signage. Based on the research results, the energy consumption from a LED full color screen is 12 times more than a traditional internally lighted sign per day. Statistically, all kinds of LED signs are much higher than traditional internally lighted signs in the percentage of excessive brightness and average luminance value. As for the light trespass, since the vertical illuminance on facade facing the signs increases with the increase of the sign area or the decrease of the distance between the sign and the facade, the vertical illuminance on facade facing the signs would exceed the limit of CIE even if the luminance of the signs achieves the standard of CIE in terms of the general conditions in Taiwan. This happens to LED full color screens in particular and thus results in considerable obtrusive light. To sum up, in order to reduce unnecessary energy consumption and improve the nighttime lighting quality for outdoor environment, this research recommends the luminance limitation for light dimming of LED advertising signs should refer to the zoning, time period, and sign area.