Installation of the new floodlights has begun and will be completed ahead of the start of the Premier League season in mid-August.

The LED system will drastically reduce energy use compared with conventional halide floodlights. While halide lights take a long time to warm up, the new LEDs can be instantly switched on and off which further adds to the energy savings.

The new LEDs also counteract the common issue of floodlight induced ‘flicker’ during television broadcasts, reducing St Mary’s flicker rate to 0.2%, well below the 6% required by Premier League regulations.

Southampton Football Club stadium facilities manager Mark Humby described it as, “a frantic but extremely interesting four months”, but said that collaboration with lighting providers Vision Accendo had made sure, “we reach all the technical criteria stipulated by the Premier League.”

The new technology keeps Southampton FC at the forefront of floodlight innovation. The club was also the first English football club to have permanent floodlighting installed in 1950 at its old ground, The Dell.

This move to LED floodlights is just one of a number recently undertaken by businesses and public bodies, with councils installing LED street lights and a programme in London aimed at replacing all street lights with LEDs by 2016.

Matt Field

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