LED Street Light Selection Standards for 2025

With the deepening of the "dual carbon" goals and the acceleration of smart city construction, the LED street light market will reach a critical juncture of technological iteration and standard upgrades in 2025. Compared with traditional street lights, modern LED street lights have evolved from a single lighting tool into urban infrastructure integrating energy saving, intelligence, and sensing. However, the market is flooded with products of varying quality, and how to select "high luminous efficacy, long lifespan, and intelligence" LED street lights according to the latest standards has become a core challenge for municipal procurement and engineering construction. This article will provide you with a comprehensive guide to LED street light selection in 2025 from four dimensions: technical indicators, core components, intelligent systems, and certification compliance.

I. High Luminous Efficacy: An Energy Efficiency Revolution from "Meets Standards" to "Exceeding Efficiency"

Luminous efficacy is the core indicator for measuring the energy-saving capability of LED street lights. In 2025, the industry standard has entered the era of "over 150 lm/W". Compared with the mainstream 130 lm/W in 2020, the new generation of products can increase light output by more than 15% at the same power, significantly reducing energy consumption per unit illuminance. However, when purchasing, it's crucial to distinguish between "initial luminous efficacy" and "maintained luminous efficacy" to avoid falling into the trap of "false labeling."

1. Key Indicators: Luminous Efficacy, Color Rendering Index (CRI), and Color Temperature

According to the latest revised version of GB/T 31832-2025 LED Luminous Fixtures for Urban Road Lighting, the initial luminous efficacy of LED streetlights for main roads should be ≥150 lm/W, secondary roads ≥140 lm/W, and branch roads ≥130 lm/W. Simultaneously, it requires a maintained luminous efficacy of ≥90% for 5000 hours and ≥80% for 20000 hours. The CRI (Ra) must be ≥70 to ensure accurate color recognition for pedestrians and vehicles on the road. A color temperature of 3000K-5000K is recommended, with 3000K-4000K warm white light recommended for residential areas and 4000K-5000K cool white light recommended for main roads, balancing lighting comfort and visual clarity.

2. Light Source Technology: Choosing Between COB and Flip Chip Lighting

In 2025, mainstream light source technologies are divided into two types: COB (Chip-on-Board) and flip chip lighting. COB light sources, through multi-chip integration, offer good luminous flux uniformity and are suitable for large-area lighting scenarios, such as urban expressways. Flip chip lighting, on the other hand, uses wire-free connection technology, resulting in superior heat dissipation and a 20% reduction in light decay compared to traditional conventional chips. When purchasing, products using a combination of "flip chip + ceramic substrate" are preferred, as they offer superior luminous efficacy stability. For example, a certain brand of flip chip LED streetlights showed a light decay of only 7.2% after 20,000 hours in laboratory tests, far exceeding the industry average.

II. Long Lifespan: Dual Guarantee of Heat Dissipation and Core Components

The theoretical lifespan of LED streetlights can reach 50,000-100,000 hours, but in actual applications, lifespan varies significantly due to factors such as heat dissipation, power supply, and substrate. The selection criteria in 2025 emphasize "total life cycle cost," that is, extending lifespan and reducing replacement and maintenance costs by optimizing core components.

1. Heat Dissipation System: From "Passive" to "Active" Upgrade

Heat dissipation is a key factor determining the lifespan of LED streetlights. For every 10°C reduction in junction temperature, the lifespan can double. In 2025, mainstream heat dissipation technologies will exhibit two major trends: First, the use of pin-shaped heat sinks, which offer 30% higher heat dissipation efficiency than traditional plate heat sinks, reducing LED junction temperature by more than 15°C compared to ordinary heat sinks, while also reducing weight by 20%, thus lowering the load risk on the light pole; second, the introduction of microchannel active cooling technology in some high-end products, which removes heat through liquid circulation, suitable for high-power streetlights above 200W.

Regarding substrate selection, high thermal conductivity ceramic substrates (AlN) have a thermal conductivity ≥170 W/m·K, more than 50 times that of traditional aluminum substrates, but are more expensive. If the budget is limited, high thermal conductivity aluminum substrates with a thermal resistance ≤2.0°C/W can be selected. Their solderability must meet the international standard of no delamination or blistering at 260°C for 5 minutes to ensure long-term stable operation.

2. Power Supply and Driver: Stability First

The power supply is the "heart" of an LED street light. In 2025, selection should focus on "wide input voltage" and "high conversion efficiency." It is recommended to choose products with an input voltage range of AC 85V-265V to adapt to power grid fluctuations in different regions. The driver power supply conversion efficiency should be ≥92%, and the power factor (PF) ≥0.95 to reduce reactive power loss. Simultaneously, a power supply with triple protection functions (over-temperature, over-voltage, and over-current) can effectively prevent damage under extreme operating conditions.

III. Intelligent Dimming: Evolution from "Manual" to "AI Adaptive"

Intelligent dimming has become a standard feature of LED street lights in 2025, and its technological level directly affects energy-saving effects and management efficiency. Selection should be evaluated from three dimensions: "dimming accuracy, sensing capability, and communication protocol."

1. Dimming Technology: PWM and Constant Current Synergistic Optimization

The current optimal dimming solution is the synergistic application of PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) and constant current dimming. PWM dimming accuracy should reach 1%-100%, with an efficiency loss of ≤3%, ensuring energy-saving effects in low-brightness scenarios such as late nights. Constant current dimming requires a dedicated chip (such as an upgraded version of TI's LM3464) to stabilize the drive current, avoid flicker, and ensure lighting stability in critical areas such as traffic intersections. Products supporting more than 10 customizable time-segmented dimming strategies can better adapt to traffic flow patterns on different road sections.

2. Sensing and Communication: Deep Integration of IoT Technology

Smart streetlights should integrate light sensors, infrared pyroelectric sensors, and traffic flow monitoring modules to achieve dual dimming of "environmental adaptation + pedestrian and vehicle sensing." For example, the light sensor can automatically identify the dusk and dawn periods to avoid turning on the lights too early or too late; when the infrared sensor detects pedestrians or vehicles, it can increase the brightness from 30% to 100% within 0.5 seconds. Regarding communication protocols, products supporting LoRaWAN or NB-IoT are preferred, as their low power consumption and wide coverage characteristics are suitable for large-scale streetlight networking. They must also be compatible with city-level smart lighting management platforms to achieve remote control, data monitoring, and fault early warning.

IV. Certification and Compliance: The "Safety Lock" for Your Purchase

In 2025, the selection of LED streetlights requires strict verification of product certifications and compliance to avoid purchasing substandard products. Core certifications include:

• - CCC Certification: China's mandatory product certification, ensuring electrical safety performance;
• - CQC Energy Saving Certification: Energy-saving product certification, proving that the product meets national energy-saving standards;
• - IP66 Protection Rating: Ensures the streetlight is dustproof and waterproof, adaptable to harsh outdoor environments;
• - EMC Electromagnetic Compatibility Certification: Prevents interference with surrounding electronic equipment during streetlight operation.

In addition, manufacturers should be required to provide third-party testing reports, focusing on verifying the measured data of key indicators such as luminous efficacy, light decay, and heat dissipation performance to ensure consistency with advertised specifications.

V. Case Study: LED Streetlight Procurement Plan for a New City Main Road

In its 2025 procurement for a new city's main road lighting project, the following standards were specified: initial luminous efficacy ≥ 160 lm/W, light decay ≤ 15% over 20,000 hours, using a pin-shaped heat sink + flip-chip solution, supporting LoRaWAN communication and AI adaptive dimming, and possessing IP67 protection rating and CCC and CQC dual certifications. The winning product, in actual operation, reduced energy consumption per kilometer by 22% compared to traditional LED streetlights, with an estimated recovery of procurement costs in 5 years and a 40% reduction in maintenance costs over its entire lifecycle (10 years).

Conclusion: Choosing the Right Lighting for the Future Based on Standards

The procurement of LED streetlights in 2025 has entered a new era of "technology-driven + standard-led" development. A procurement model that simply pursues low prices is no longer sustainable. Municipal departments and contractors should establish a four-in-one evaluation system encompassing "luminous efficacy, lifespan, intelligence, and compliance," prioritizing products with leading technology and comprehensive certifications. Only by using the latest standards as the benchmark for selection can we meet the city's lighting needs while achieving the dual goals of energy conservation, consumption reduction, and intelligent management, thus laying a solid lighting foundation for the construction of smart cities.