The intelligent lighting columns from Alfred Priess A/S get even smarter

Company

Alfred Priess A/S , a Danish company specializing in solar-powered street lighting columns, has collaborated closely with EKTOS A/S since 2015 to develop intelligent control systems for its product line. The partnership has yielded increasingly sophisticated solutions for remote operation and improved reliability of Priess’s solar lighting installations.

Challenge

To support clients with installations in remote locations or with limited network access, Priess needed a way to monitor and control the street lighting columns without costly on-site visits or complex network configurations.

Traditional WiFi-based systems posed a challenge, as local firewalls often required IT administrators to grant access, creating delays.

Additionally, locations without WiFi coverage, such as highways or rural areas, made it difficult to manage individual units. Priess was also looking to create a cost-effective, scalable solution that didn’t require a separate SIM card for each lighting column—a significant issue for large installations with hundreds of units.

Solution

EKTOS and Priess tackled these obstacles by adding two key features to the latest controller version. First, they integrated a GSM module to expand connectivity options beyond WiFi, allowing remote management of street lighting columns in areas without reliable WiFi.

By creating a local mesh network among the lighting columns, the system now requires only one SIM card to control a network of units, significantly reducing operational costs.

Second, EKTOS implemented a software solution by Nabto, which streamlined remote access by bypassing firewall barriers.

As Nabto’s Sales Director, Karsten Viuf, explains, “Our solution sends a message to a local server on the Internet every 15 seconds, with details on the device’s IP address and socket number. When I want to connect, my phone or computer pairs with the device, similar to how a VPN functions.”

This allows Priess and their clients to control the lighting columns from their desktops or mobile devices without needing permissions from network administrators, simplifying support and reducing downtime.

The updated controller also incorporates advanced alert functionality, notifying Priess or their clients of potential issues, like low battery levels during cloudy weather, before they impact operations. This preemptive alert system helps keep the lighting columns consistently operational and ensures reliability in remote settings.

Results

Through these enhancements, Priess has transformed how clients can interact with their lighting installations. Remote access to each lighting column is now more seamless, even in difficult-to-reach locations.

Priess’s Product Manager, Ole Søndergård, highlights the significance of EKTOS’s role in this evolution, stating, “EKTOS has some super-skilled people in Ukraine who understand every little detail of our product, which means that they can evaluate what is possible to do. We have managed to develop incredibly reliable controllers, where power conversion, as well as advanced control and communication, work well across thousands of units we have sold.”

This solution allows Priess to confidently deploy reliable, remotely managed lighting installations across diverse geographies and environments.

Future Development

Looking forward, Priess and EKTOS are exploring further upgrades to the control systems, with an eye toward ongoing innovations in IoT technology.

Both companies remain committed to advancing the capabilities of Priess’s solar lighting columns to create more autonomous, responsive, and intelligent lighting solutions for their clients.

EKTOS continues to leverage the latest technology, positioning itself as a trusted partner in driving these IoT-based advancements.