About solar lighting 3 May 2023
Public lighting represents a real energy challenge for territories. In France, 41% of the electricity consumption of local authorities is linked to its operation. Faced with today’s economic and environmental challenges, it is therefore essential to rethink and optimize its use.
More and more cities and municipalities are looking to modernize their public lighting systems to make them more energy efficient and environmentally friendly. Solar street lighting is a sustainable and effective solution to these challenges. The good news is that financing no longer must be an obstacle for local governments, thanks in particular to the Fonds d’accélération de la transition écologique dans les territoires, known as the “Fonds Vert”.
The aim of this scheme is to help finance projects to renovate obsolete lighting systems, giving priority to intelligent, energy-saving and biodiversity-friendly solutions. Solar street lighting is eligible.
The Fonds Vert is a financing mechanism designed to support local authorities in their ecological transition. With 2 billion euros, this fund aims to support environmentally friendly projects, including those for public lighting that respect the environment and biodiversity. Solar lighting solutions, eligible for this financial tool, have their place.
To benefit from the Fonds Vert for the renovation of public lighting, municipalities must submit a solar street lighting project that meets the eligibility criteria. The grant is for projects that involve the complete replacement of an obsolete lighting fleet or light source retrofit systems.
The application process generally involves several steps, including project presentation, assessment of relevance and validation by the relevant authorities.
The Fonds Vert finances different types of projects related to public lighting:
● Grants for territorial diagnostic studies to develop strategies for night-time extinction and/or the creation of a black grid.
● Grants for engineering and preliminary studies for the sizing of the lighting stock, to go beyond the technical requirements of the December 27, 2018, order.
● Investment grants for the renewal of old lighting systems.
The Fonds Vert can also finance engineering services to facilitate the implementation of projects and help communities develop projects with a strong environmental ambition.
However, some operations are not eligible for the Fonds Vert, such as simple compliance with a regulatory obligation or the lighting of unlit buildings or natural sites.
To benefit from this state aid, it is essential that projects contribute to energy sobriety, the protection of biodiversity and the reduction of light pollution, in particular by meeting the following criteria:
– accelerated renovation of public lighting that is more than 25 years old or replacement of lighting that can be shown to be obsolete due to climatic conditions
– reduction in the number of light points and reduction in the installed lighting power (a maximum of 20 lux in built-up areas and outside built-up areas, 15 lux for protected areas)
– switching off public lighting in the middle of the night or detecting presence
– use of lighting systems powered by renewable energies such as solar energy and/or with a life expectancy greater than or equal to 75,000 hours (calculated at 25°C)
– colour temperature of the luminaires less than or equal to 2700 K in built-up areas and outside built-up areas, and 2400 K in protected areas to preserve biodiversity
The amount of the grant awarded will consider the ecological impact of the project, the financial capacity of the communities and the socio-economic fragility of the territory.
The projects can be proposed in built-up areas or outside built-up areas to help create a black screen for nocturnal fauna.
With their lighting system powered by clean, free and renewable energy, Sunna Design’s solar streetlights are a solution in line with the Green Fund’s renovation objectives.
Equipped with cutting-edge technology, these intelligent streetlights store solar energy and deliver the right amount of light, saving energy, reducing light pollution, and protecting the surrounding biodiversity. Unequalled reliability and life span, motion detector, adapted color temperature, are some of the features and guarantees that meet the requirements of the Fonds d’accélération de la transition écologique dans les territoires.
The Fonds Vert is available to municipalities and territories located in metropolitan France and in the French overseas territories, as these areas are also confronted with the problems of light pollution and energy loss related to the obsolescence of lighting systems.
The overseas communities (COM) can benefit from this state aid for ecological transition, regardless of their own competencies. The criteria presented in the specifications can be adapted according to the specificities of each COM.
The Fonds Vert measure is aimed primarily at municipalities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants and their public establishments for inter-municipal cooperation (EPCI). For ultra-marine communes, priority is given to communes with fewer than 20,000 inhabitants.
To benefit from this grant, eligible project leaders (local authorities or energy associations representing a local authority) must submit their grant application before the project in question begins. Applications must be submitted on the demarches-simplifiees.fr platform.
Finally, the execution of the project cannot begin before the application is submitted on the demarches-simplifiees.fr platform, except in cases of proven urgency.
Details of the eligibility criteria can be found on the page: https://aides-territoires.beta.gouv.fr/aides/7d35-renover-les-parcs-de-luminaires-declairage-pu/.
