19 years making a positive difference
More than ¼ of the LED luminaires installed in Portugal are ARQUILED luminaires. In almost two decades, we have helped bring street lighting into the 21st century; in the coming years, we will contribute to making cities and territories even more efficient, smart and sustainable.
ARQUILED is celebrating its 19th anniversary and on the threshold of almost two decades of history, we need to reflect on this journey.
In 2005, when the company started its activity, LED (Light Emitting Diode) technology was in its infancy and was a great novelty. It’s true that LEDs (red, green, yellow and infrared) had already existed since the 1960s, but only as signal lights, examples of which are the stand-by light on the television and the remote-control infrared. It wasn’t until 30 years later, in the 1990s, that the discover of white LED would revolutionize lighting.
Just over ten years later, in 2005, ARQUILED was born, one of the first companies totally dedicated to this new lighting technology. Pioneers, entrepreneurs and with an enormous innovative spirit, we achieved our initial momentum. And ten years later, with LED technology becoming more mature, we embraced the mission of energy efficiency, with a special focus on street lighting.
We have transformed street lighting in Portugal
Since then, we have installed around 800,000 LED street light luminaires across the country, which corresponds to approximately 25% of the installed infrastructure. We can proudly say that, to date, more than one in four LED luminaires installed in Portugal have been designed, engineered and produced by ARQUILED in Mora, Alentejo. And, naturally, we want this number to continue to grow.
In these ten years of street lighting, ARQUILED’s impact on the country has already been significant. Our luminaires have enabled municipalities to modernize their street lighting infrastructure, significantly reduce their energy costs, improve street lighting and enhance public safety. And due to the superior efficiency of LED technology, we have helped to avoid around 45,000 tons of CO2 per year – the equivalent of taking 11,000 commercial cars out of circulation.
The next decade will also be full of new challenges. If, on the one hand, by 2027 the entire street lighting should have been fully upgraded to LED technology, on the other, the progressive growth of networked luminaires with two-way remote management and integration with other municipal IoT services will boost decarbonization and energy efficiency and accelerate the path towards smarter cities and territories, already started by municipalities such as Tomar, Palmela and Portalegre, just to name a few.
The future is always uncertain, but we are as sure of one thing as we can be: ARQUILED will always be at the forefront of decarbonization and efficiency. So, here’s to the next 20 years.
Miguel Allen Lima
ARQUILED CEO
