Photometrics AI is a software platform that optimizes public lighting performance through networked lighting controls. It determines the optimal operating parameters for each luminaire based on real-world geography, lighting standards, and configurable priorities, delivering approximately 35% energy savings without any hardware installation or field activity.
Cities and utilities own street lighting. ESCOs, manufacturers, and lighting controls firms help them manage it. Photometrics AI is for anyone in that ecosystem who looks at millions of networked streetlights and sees unrealized potential. Not just poles and watts, but a strategic infrastructure asset that could be delivering safety, energy savings, environmental protection, and grid stability tonight. If you’re satisfied running your lights the same way they ran in 1950, we’re probably not for you. But if you believe street lighting should be as intelligent as every other system on the grid, we should talk.
Street lighting is one of the largest untapped strategic assets a city owns, and almost nobody is using it. Most cities have networked controls on their lights but treat them like glorified on/off switches. The lights don’t respond to weather, traffic, safety incidents, migratory bird seasons, grid emergencies, or community events. They burn the same watts at 3 AM on a quiet Tuesday as they do during a Friday night festival. Photometrics AI is the software layer that closes that gap. It connects to existing networked lighting controls via API and makes the entire system intelligent, automatically adjusting every luminaire based on real conditions to deliver energy savings, transportation safety, dark sky protection, climate progress, and grid stability. No new hardware. Deploys in weeks.
Photometrics AI uses four integrated components: (1) Target Lighting Layers that specify desired illumination levels for each zone, (2) an AI-powered optimization engine that calculates the ideal dimming level for each luminaire, (3) dynamic scheduling that handles priorities like emergencies and events, and (4) API integration with your existing networked lighting controls. The system accounts for overlapping beam spreads, real-world geometry, and lighting standards to find the optimal configuration.
A Target Lighting Layer (TLL) is a GIS-based raster map that specifies the desired horizontal illuminance (in lux) for every location in a coverage area. For example: crosswalks might be set to 20 lux, streets to 7-11 lux, sidewalks to 2 lux, and building footprints to 0 lux. Different TLLs can be created for different conditions: Halloween, late night, migratory bird protection, or demand response events. The TLL concept is protected by US Patent 9894736B2.
Networked lighting controls are systems that allow remote management of streetlights via wireless communication. They provide capabilities like on/off control, dimming, utility-grade metering, and health monitoring. Photometrics AI works with existing NLC systems. We add the photometric intelligence while your NLC provides the communication infrastructure. We’re currently integrated with 2 major lighting control platforms.
Photometrics AI designs and optimizes every light individually based on real-world geography, overlapping beam spreads, and lighting standards. Some locations get more light than they have today; others get less. The result is that every location gets exactly the light it needs. Averaged across the entire system, that precision uses approximately 35% less energy than the current approach. The savings come not from simply dimming everything down, but from eliminating the waste built into traditional designs that treat every block the same.
No. Photometrics AI is software-only. There is no hardware to purchase, no retrofits required, and no field activity needed. The platform works with your existing networked lighting control system via API. This means faster deployment, lower costs, and no disruption to your community.
Implementation typically takes weeks, not years. Unlike LED retrofit projects that require physical installation, Photometrics AI can be deployed as soon as we have access to your asset data and NLC API. For a 2,000-light system, optimization processing takes just 3-5 minutes.
Photometrics AI optimizes to meet ANSI/IES RP-8 (US roadway lighting), CIE 115 (international), and AS/NZS 1158 (Australia/New Zealand). Our typical compliance rate is 91-97% of calculation points meeting or exceeding standards, often better than traditional ’typical layout’ designs that ignore real-world conditions. Learn more about the standards-practice gap.
Unlike capital projects with payback periods, Photometrics AI uses a subscription model ($3-12/light/year) that costs less than the value delivered ($61.27/light/year) from day one. This means ROI is immediate; you’re net positive from month one, not waiting years to break even. The 5-20× return ratio depends on your pricing tier: at $3/light you get 20× return, at $12/light you get 5× return. Compare this to LED retrofits, which require upfront capital expenditure and typically have 3-5 year payback periods before generating positive returns.
Photometrics AI is a product of EvariLABS LLC. The company was founded by Ari Isaak, GISP, CFLC, who has 25 years of experience in GIS and 17 years focused on public lighting and has worked on some of the nation’s most complex street lighting projects including Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston, and Honolulu.
Photometrics AI holds two patents: US Patent 9894736B2 (granted 2018) covering Target Lighting Layers, and patent application 18/660,680 covering our AI training data methodology. Our proprietary labeled training dataset represents years of development that cannot be easily replicated.
BirdCast provides real-time migration forecasts from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Over half of annual bird migration occurs on just 10% of nights, and migration altitude decreases during early morning hours, increasing collision risk. Photometrics AI integrates BirdCast data to automatically dim lights in low-speed, low-crime areas during high-migration nights, protecting wildlife without compromising safety.
Photometrics AI reduces streetlight energy costs by 35% through software-only optimization, with no hardware changes required. If you already have networked lighting controls installed, you can connect Photometrics AI via API to optimize dimming schedules based on real-world geometry, overlapping beam spreads, and lighting standards. The system calculates the optimal output for each luminaire individually, delivering energy savings without any physical retrofits, field crews, or equipment purchases.
Lighting owners can expect approximately $51.09 per streetlight per year in quantifiable value from Photometrics AI. This includes $30.44 in asset management value (extended luminaire life, reduced maintenance) and $20.65 in quality-of-life improvements (safety, environmental protection). With pricing from $3-12 per light per year and value delivered immediately, that’s 5-20× ROI from day one. For a system with 10,000 streetlights, that’s over $510,000 in annual value.
Yes. Photometrics AI integrates with existing networked lighting control platforms via API. We currently integrate with 2 major networked lighting control firms. Their controllers provide the communication infrastructure while Photometrics AI adds the photometric intelligence and optimization algorithms. You can add Photometrics AI to your existing NLC investment without replacing anything.
Keep them. Photometrics AI does not replace your NLC or any of its capabilities. Outage management, camera integration, tilt sensors, environmental monitors, EV charging, 5G nodes: those all continue to work exactly as they do today. Photometrics AI adds one thing your NLC cannot do on its own: determine the optimal photometric output for every luminaire based on real-world geography and lighting standards. Your NLC is the communication layer. We are the intelligence layer. The two work together.
LED retrofits require capital expenditure, physical installation, field crews, and typically 3-5 years for payback. Photometrics AI is software-only: no hardware purchases, no installation, no field activity, and immediate positive ROI (value exceeds cost from day one). LED retrofits optimize the fixture; Photometrics AI optimizes the system. The two approaches are complementary: even cities with new LED fixtures benefit from dimming optimization because traditional ’typical layout’ designs often overlight by 20-40% to ensure compliance.
Yes. Photometrics AI optimizes your street lighting infrastructure to meet IES/ANSI RP-8 and other lighting standards. Because it evaluates every light individually, it meets lighting standards better than traditional lighting designs. The system prioritizes safety: crosswalks, bike lanes, and high-traffic areas maintain full illumination while lower-priority zones can be dimmed more aggressively outside of rush hours. The result is smarter lighting that meets standards everywhere while eliminating unnecessary waste.
Our eyes are remarkably good at using whatever light is available. Human eyes cannot perceive brightness changes under 20% in real time, which means significant dimming headroom exists without any visible impact to residents. Our eyes also adapt continuously to ambient conditions: in lower light, pupils dilate and rod cells take over, maintaining spatial awareness and motion detection even at illumination levels well below what most streetlights produce. Overlit environments can actually work against vision by creating harsh contrasts between bright spots and deep shadows, making it harder to see into darker areas. Properly optimized lighting reduces that contrast, lets your eyes do what they evolved to do, and uses less energy in the process.
Photometrics AI is currently deployed in the Memphis suburbs with over 8,500 streetlights under active optimization. The system has demonstrated real-world energy savings while maintaining lighting standards compliance. Next deployments are planned for Nashville and Chattanooga, Tennessee. Our goal is to expand across municipal, utility, and community lighting systems nationwide.