Pay-Per-Light, With Your Cellphone

Several towns in Germany have taken saving on energy bills a step further and turned out all the street lights. Residents were initially concerned about crime and personal safety, but a system was developed to allow them to turn the lights on by calling a number from their cell phones. Of course, the bigger the city, the more complicated the system. In Morgenröthe-Rautenkranz (pop. 900), one phone call turns on all the street lights, but in Dörentrup, citizens must plan their routes ahead of time. The BBC reports:

Although residents appear happy with the system in this BBC clip, the Dörentrup system requires users to register, and to enter a 6-digit number to identify the area which they want lit. Users must know the number of the area where they want light–either by looking the numbers up in an on-line database, or finding the numbers posted on the nearby streetlamp, probably a difficult task given that the streetlamps are not yet lit.

While most lights turn on for the price of a phone call, some towns have started charging for the light used. Under the Dial4Light system in Rahden, for example, 60 minutes of light cost $4.65 (3.50 Euros), and this business model is expected to spread to other towns and lighting systems. Aside from the fact that people may be willing to risk their safety to save money, the system raises practical questions as well. If criminals are already lurking in the dark, turning on the lights will simply alert them to your imminent presence. Towns and cities may want to consider alternatives cost-savings measures on lighting (perhaps motion-detectors or just dimming the lights) before signing on to the program. And hey… it may be only a matter of time before a Clapper-activated lighting system comes to a street near you…

[via Treehugger]