SMARTUNNEL · The longest-life & energy-saving emergency LED lighting system for underground infrastructures

During rail and road tunnel construction/refurbishment, the initial investment required for lighting system installation, including emergency lighting systems (ELS) amounts to an average 6% of total tunnel construction cost. Current ELS power supply circuits force lights to remain on for long hours when not needed: when power is turned off manually, existing circuits keep ELS on (powered by batteries). This leads to needless energy consumption and fast battery deterioration. We, at Uni-light LED, have developed Smartunnel, a new smart LED ELS for tunnels under construction/refurbishment, which turns off when light is not needed. Our smart switch and intelligent control allow discrimination between unintentional power outage and intentional interruption, so that emergency lights are lit only under the first scenario. This prevents excessive battery exhaustion/recharging cycles thus making Smartunnel the longest-life ELS on the market (10 years, 80% reduction in battery waste). Smartunnel offers 20-30% increased energy efficiency leading to effective savings of €13,000/3km per year. Our flicker-free and electromagnetic interference-free lights improve visibility and reduce health issues, enhancing safety and security for tunnel workers. Conveniently, Smartunnel can use existing wiring installations to power emergency lights, curbing the cost of new wiring in existing tunnels. We already commercialise 7 lighting product types, based on our patented LED light Driver and Thermal Management Technology for illumination in agriculture, industry and on ships, thus far reaching 100 companies in the UK, Sweden, Germany and Austria. The success of our existing systems has funded Smartunnel development. Following the optimisation of our design into a pilot for phase 2 validation under real conditions. We aim to achieve a tunnelling construction market share of 21 % in Europe as well as 8 % in USA by 2024, creating at least 20 new jobs at Uni-light LED in the process.