What did we learn from the experiment to turn streetlights into EV charging stations?

In recent years, an increasing number of individuals and businesses are considering switching from gasoline-powered vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs) to reduce their environmental impact. However, obstacles to the switch to EVs include a lack of EV charging stations in urban areas and the lack of a garage at home where an EV charging station can be installed. To address this issue, a study was conducted in

https://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/JUPDDM.UPENG-5865

Lighting the way for electric vehicles by using streetlamps as chargers | Penn State Engineering
https://news.engr.psu.edu/2025/hu-xianbao-streetlight-ev-chargers.aspx

Using Street Lamps as EV Chargers - Tech Briefs
https://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/54104-using-street-lamps-as-ev-chargers

The lack of publicly accessible EV charging stations is one of the barriers to widespread adoption of EVs. To address this issue, a Pennsylvania State University research team has developed a framework to develop, analyze, and evaluate ways to use streetlights as a low-cost, equitable means of charging EVs.

'The motivation for this research is the fact that many apartment and housing complex residents, especially in urban and inner-city areas, do not have garages and therefore do not have access to dedicated home EV charging stations,' said Xianbiao Hu, co-author of the paper and associate professor of civil and environmental engineering.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the research team partnered with the Kansas City City government, the nonprofit Metro Energy Center , local utility companies, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to retrofit existing streetlights into charging stations for electric vehicles.

Hu explains why he chose streetlights: 'Fortunately, streetlight poles are already powered and owned by local governments, making it relatively easy to install EV charging stations on them. 'Also, streetlight poles are often located near on-street parking lots or in high-traffic areas, making them ideal locations for both local residents and tourists.'

To determine charging demand, the research team trained an AI model using data such as land use, charging station density, nearby popular spots, and traffic volume. They then selected 23 streetlights in Kansas City, taking fairness into consideration, installed EV charging stations, and collected data from each station for a year.

In an interview with technology media Tech Briefs, Hu said, 'There were many challenges to overcome, but I think the biggest challenge for me was predicting charging demand. Our goal is to invest in the right places, install chargers in the right places, and then hopefully people will use them and use them in the way that we expect them to. I think that was the most difficult part.'

Below is an EV charging station that was actually installed by renovating a street light.

The results showed that retrofitting streetlights into EV charging stations was significantly cheaper to install than conventional charging stations, likely because the streetlights already had power, eliminating the need to build new infrastructure.

Furthermore, the retrofitted streetlight charging stations were shown to charge EVs at significantly faster rates than other charging stations, which the research team believes is because, unlike traditional charging stations where multiple vehicles are clustered together, multiple vehicles are less likely to be charging at the same time.

'Using streetlights for EV charging offers an innovative and equitable approach to expanding charging infrastructure and promoting sustainable electrification,' said Yuyan Pan, a postdoctoral researcher and lead author of the paper.