Improving safety and sustainability in rural Lithuania with smart city lighting

Alytus district municipality recently implemented smart city lighting in Pupasodis village, bringing modern adaptive technology to a rural community. The project demonstrates how intelligent lighting solutions can improve safety, reduce energy consumption, and enhance quality of life in smaller municipalities across Lithuania.

 

Location:

Pupasodis village, Alytus district

 

Hardware:

 

Software:

Urban lighting management platform HORIZON

 

 

The challenge

Rural communities throughout Lithuania face unique challenges when it comes to public lighting infrastructure. Pupasodis village, like many smaller settlements, needed to balance several competing priorities:

  • Ensuring resident safety during dark winter months when daylight is limited
  • Managing tight municipal budgets with high energy costs from traditional lighting
  • Maintaining infrastructure that often required manual intervention and on-site adjustments
  • Reducing the environmental footprint while improving service quality
  • Meeting modern expectations for public services despite limited resources

Traditional street lighting systems offered little flexibility and created ongoing financial strain through excessive energy consumption. The municipality recognized that upgrading to smart technology could address these challenges while demonstrating a responsible outlook on public resources.

 

The solution: community-focused smart city lighting

Alytus district municipality partnered with Lusety to implement a comprehensive smart lighting system in Pupasodis:

  • Individual luminaire controllers to enable precise management of each light fixture across the village
  • Motion sensors to detect pedestrian and vehicle activity and automatically adjust brightness levels in real-time to match actual usage patterns
  • HORIZON lighting management platform to provide municipality staff with centralized oversight and remote control capabilities.

This intelligent infrastructure transformed how the village approaches public lighting, creating a responsive system that serves residents efficiently.

 

Results & benefits

Adaptive lighting for community safety

Lighting automatically brightens when residents, vehicles, or pedestrians are detected, ensuring clear visibility when needed. During quiet periods, lights dim to save energy while maintaining baseline illumination for orientation and security.

Dramatic energy cost reduction – 76%

The adaptive lighting feature significantly reduced electricity consumption compared to the previous always-on configuration, freeing up municipal budget for other community needs and services.

Remote management

Through HORIZON, municipality staff can monitor and control the entire village lighting system remotely, thus eliminating costly service trips and enabling immediate response to any issues.

Customizable illumination schedules

The system automatically adjusts to any changes, with dimming profiles optimized for long winter nights and shorter summer darkness periods, ensuring appropriate lighting year-round.

Reduced maintenance burden

Real-time monitoring alerts municipality staff to any issues before they become serious problems, while remote diagnostics reduce the need for physical site visits.

Scalable rural model

The project demonstrates that advanced lighting technology is viable and beneficial for smaller communities, not just urban centers.

 

Looking ahead

The success of this project in Pupasodis shows that smart lighting is not just for major cities. Rural communities can equally benefit from adaptive technology and remote management capabilities. By reducing energy costs while improving safety and service quality, Alytus district municipality has created a model that other Lithuanian municipalities can follow.

As rural areas across Lithuania modernize their infrastructure, projects like this prove that small communities deserve access to the same advanced technologies available in urban centers. The combination of energy efficiency, improved safety, and reduced operational burden makes smart lighting an investment that pays dividends for years to come.

This installation represents a commitment to sustainable development and demonstrates that innovation can reach every corner of Lithuania, ensuring all residents—regardless of where they live—benefit from modern, efficient public services.