Street lighting solutions and and street lamps using advanced solar technology.

More and more LED street lighting are in use now, and LED technology is also developing fast. But the standards of solar street lights and LED lighting remain imperfect. Many people are trying to do some for this problem. Elmira officials continue to move forward with plans to change street and park lighting in the city to more efficient light-emitting diodes, better known as LEDs.

City Council members will vote on setting standards for LED light fixtures when they meet at 7 p.m. Monday on the second floor of City Hall.

The city has tried multiple kinds of LED fixtures since it began researching them in May 2009, said Andy Avery, director of public works for Elmira and Chemung County.

"With LEDs, it's like anything else. You have cheap LEDs, you have quality LEDs and you have expensive LEDs. There are a lot of variables," he said after Thursday's council workshop. "After doing the research, we came across what we thought was going to be the best LED."

The city has begun switching from standard mercury vapor, high-pressure sodium and metal halide fixtures to LED fixtures at a few test sites, such as Main Street near Wisner Park and on the Lake Street Bridge.

Three grants totaling almost $500,000 are being sought through the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority that would enable the installation of LEDs along Clemens Center Parkway, in city parks, at the city Department of Public Works facility and some other areas downtown, Avery said.

Officials hope to learn in June whether the application is successful.

Compared with standard street lights that may need to be replaced every year or two, LEDs can last five to 10 years and have a five-year warranty, Avery said. That represents huge maintenance savings, as well as cost savings from using less electricity.

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