POWER ENGINEERING AND LIGHTING TECHNIQUE
Małgorzata Zalesińska
Light pollution and its negative effects on humans and the environment
Light pollution is the disruption of the environment through the excessive and inappropriate use of electric light at night. Electric lighting, especially outdoor lighting that is poorly designed and improperly operated, has a negative impact on the entire ecosystem. It disrupts the natural diurnal cycle of both humans, animals and plants. It makes it difficult and sometimes even impossible to observe the night sky. It results in far-reaching climatic and economic consequences. Currently, there are no legal regulations to limit light pollution. The requirements and recommendations of Polish standards for limiting light pollution are not mandatory.
Przemysław Tabaka, Sylwester Kołomański
Impact of modernisation of outdoor lighting on the potential increase in night sky brightness
One of the adverse effects of external lighting is the increase in the brightness of the night sky. This phenomenon causes serious difficulties in conducting astronomical observations. Furthermore, it negatively affects how society as a whole perceives the night sky, which is a cultural heritage of humanity. The process of progressively replacing discharge lamps in outdoor lighting with LED sources may have a significant impact on this phenomenon. In order to assess it quantitatively, an analysis of the impact of LED sources on the perceived brightness of the night sky was conducted. The results indicate that most LED sources lead to increase of a perceived brightness of the sky compared to sodium lamps. An exception is LED sources with CCT < 3000 K, which allow the night sky to be preserved in a state no worse than the current one.
Krzysztof Wandachowicz
Guidelines of the Ministry of Infrastructure on road lighting
The article describes the requirements for road lighting. Selected provisions of the PN-EN 13201:2016 Road lighting standard and the guidelines of the Ministry of Infrastructure were presented.
More in the issue: 5/2024 Energetyka.
