Major Swiss Smart Lighting project paves a bright future for Novaccess

Approached a few months ago by the Head of the Public Lighting of Lausanne, the Y-Parc based Novaccess took up a major challenge to develop a centralized management platform able to control the Lausanne’s 14’000 streetlights. Since its foundation the startup has been concerned about two key aspects; the robustness of the communication network and the security needs related to the critical infrastructure. Giving priority to security aspects, the startup engaged the Swiss Innovation Agency CTI to work closely together.

Smart Lighting as the gateway to Smart Cities
For the startup, the lighting infrastructure will play a major role in tomorrow’s smart city applications. For this reason Novaccess developed a smart lighting application compatible with other smart city applications such as parking or waste management. The project uses a variety of communication technologies making the installation, commissioning and maintenance efficient and straightforward.

Since the project launched, Novaccess team led by Hervé Dedieu has been worked intensively with Lausanne’s lighting specialists. Together, they have developed specific outdoor lighting controllers that can be fixed on any streetlight in less than one minute using standardized plugs. By pressing and twisting the controller on top of the streetlight, users have the ability to control and monitor the amount of lighting hence decreasing energy consumption. In addition, the lighting controllers manage the power of LED lights and are able to report light or ballast failures.

The Novaccess infrastructure can be programmed from a central management system enabling use the right amount of energy at the right time. In the specific case of the city of Lausanne, whose 14’000 streetlights consist mostly of high-intensity discharge lamps, the startup assesses that by switching to LED lights, the city will save about 26% of its annual lighting bill. Furthermore, if the city couples Novaccess outdoor controllers to their LED streetlights, it will save 54% on their current bill. The network can also be used to control other applications and objects in the city.

Novaccess' technology already in use
Novaccess has successfully tested different phases of the technology for the project. Some parts of Lausanne are already using its smart lighting technology. The company is preparing to deploy and test the latest version of its platform on a very large area of the city. The actual industrialization and deployment of its solution will start in the first quarter of 2017 after intensive testing of the solution this winter.

Novaccess has already filed several patents for their outdoor lighting controllers.

Proof of concepts in UAE and Sweden
The smart lighting application, developed in Lausanne with the help of CTI, is one of the startup’s activities. So far, it has worked on different proof-of-concepts with a local partner in Dubai and with a fire safety distributor in Sweden. During the second half of 2016 the company will progressively transform from a R&D firm into an industrial SME. In 2017, the company will officially start participating in different markets.

Despite the enormous buzz behind the Internet of Things, the startup has learned that the IoT technology is more suited for early adopters and for SMEs that can conquer market shares by providing smart innovation. Novaccess also noticed that their early adopters are offering new services while optimizing business processes: a particularly attractive combination to convince final customers.

The IoT startup is today in discussion with a first class partner in the United Arab Emirates. This would be a great opportunity for the company since this partner is willing to expand its local market shares and conquer new markets abroad. The partnership would also enable Novaccess to access the UAE market, one of the most dynamic and demanding markets in terms of technology integration needs.