I was going to spend some time writing about the different kinds of street light fixtures I've seen in both Olongapo and at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone, but decided instead to point out one of the most common street light fixtures in Olongapo. Look at the picture on the left.
What you're looking at is a fluorescent light bulb attached to a cement post and protected from rain by a piece of corrugated tin roofing material. Unlike more modern societies, the majority of street lights in the Philippines are owned and operated by home and business owners. The Philippine Utility Department, responsible for electrical services in Olongapo, has nothing to do with these types of lights.
The Advent of Light Emitting Diodes (LED or LEDs)
While LEDs have been around longer than home computers, it wasn't until recent years that LEDs started to replace traditional light bulbs. They're now used in flashlights, solar garden lights and as LED home lighting fixtures.
One of the reasons LEDs are quickly becoming the favorites for lighting fixtures is because of their lower power consumption and because of how long they last as opposed to light bulbs of different kinds.
Reasonably Cheap Solar Power
Things like LED garden lighting are becoming more and more popular due to slowly decreasing costs of solar cells and the availability of cheap LEDs, which require far less electricity than fluorescent or incandescent bulbs.
Eventually, street lights everywhere (and not just in modern societies) will use arrays of LEDs to replace the bulbs currently in use. How long it takes for the people who make the lights to incorporate solar cells and batteries to replace standard electrical lines is the unknown factor in the equation.
Street Lights for Security
I have two posts and two street lights set up at the front of my house, as part of the front fence. One is at the main entrance to the compound and the other is at the far right corner of the property, next to the creek.
In the past, burglars have scaled the fence walls next to the creek to get onto my property. They've never succeeded in breaking in before being spotted, and having street lights that shine light onto specific areas of the property, as well as the street, is the primary reason.
The street lights are there for safety as well. There's a trail that comes out from next to the creek and onto the main street. Without a street light shining onto the trail, the chances of missing the trail and walking into the creek would be much greater. This trail is basically a shortcut from lower residences to the main street. With the trail, which is only from about 100 to 200 meters, people would have to walk more than a kilometer along two streets to get from point A to point B.
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