The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) issued guidelines on Thursday for general designs for solar-powered roadway lighting along national highways.
Secretary Manuel Bonoan issued the standard design drawings in Department Order (DO) No. 19, series of 2023, following the approval of the use of solar-powered street lights on public works projects.
The DPWH chief went on to say that DO 19 will be used as a reference by DPWH regional offices, district engineering offices, unified project management office clusters, and DPWH consultants when preparing design plans for road projects.
The guidelines include the following technical requirements: street lights must be uniform and free of dark bands or abrupt variations; lighting can be high-pressure sodium (HPS) or light-emitting diode (LED).
Furthermore, the color temperature can range from warm white to warm yellow, and the use of ultraviolet light is prohibited. It is suitable for outdoor use and rated as ingress protection (IP) 65 by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).
The DPWH stated that primary national roads may have single, axial, opposite, or staggered lighting arrangements; secondary roads may have single, opposite, or staggered lighting arrangements; and tertiary roads may have single or staggered lighting arrangements.
It also specifies lamp wattage, mounting height, spacing, and the use of pole arms based on the road classification, width, and number of lanes, as well as intersections and merging sections that require a higher level of illumination to ensure there are enough light sources on the traveled path.
