Automated lights threaten to disrupt Wednesday’s total eclipse

Municipalities in Iceland’s capital region are preparing to switch off automated lighting systems to prevent streetlights from turning on as darkness falls during Wednesday’s total eclipse, mbl.is reports. However, technical difficulties and privately controlled lighting could still leave some areas brightly lit.

Reykjavík, Mosfellsbær and Kópavogur are among the municipalities that will disable automatic light sensors so streetlights do not switch on during the eclipse. Kristján Bjarki Jónasson, a project manager at the capital region marketing office, told Morgunblaðið that switching off the lights was the aim but would be technically complicated.

The municipalities do not control all the lights within their boundaries. Vegagerðin, the road administration, controls some lights, particularly along main roads. Emergency services, including the capital region police, have opposed switching off lights on those roads during the eclipse for safety reasons.

This means the best conditions for viewing the eclipse will be in residential neighbourhoods where municipalities can switch off all their own streetlights. But privately owned lighting remains a concern.

“We are not particularly concerned about publicly operated streetlights, but much more about the automated lighting systems found in almost every home,” Kristján said. These include garden lights, stairwell lights in apartment buildings, lighting at business premises and floodlights in car parks.

Because many of these systems are controlled by light sensors, they could switch on as darkness falls during the eclipse. Kristján highlighted the new residential district of Vellir in Hafnarfjörður, where almost every apartment stairwell is equipped with sensor-controlled lighting. Even if the streetlights remain off, he said, the entire neighbourhood could be illuminated unless residents switch off the lights in each building.

Kristján and the municipalities are therefore urging residents and businesses to check whether outdoor lights, car park lights, garden lights and stairwell lights are automated, and to switch them off if possible.