US smart tech giant pays €9.5m for ESB-backed street light firm

The firm was backed by the ESB's Novus Modus clean technology investment fund, which received about €2.7m from the proceeds of the sale.

A spokesman said: "We can confirm that ESB Novus Modus has exited SELC but we cannot comment on the details of individual investments." It is believed the directors of the firm also shared in the windfall.

SELC - an abbreviation for smart efficient lighting controls - employs about 55 people between Fermoy and Dublin, and had worked on the biggest installation of networked smart street lights in the world, in Florida, for utility the Florida Power and Light Company (FPL).

The project, which started in 2014 involved nearly 500,000 smart street lights, using 'Internet of Things' (IoT) technology throughout 35 counties in the state.

In 2016, SELC supplied technology for a smart street lighting project involving about 20,000 connected devices in Copenhagen, in conjunction with US IoT firm Silver Spring Networks and French city lighting systems company Citelum.

Smart lighting enables local authorities and properties such as college and university campuses to save up to 30pc on their electricity bills for outside lighting. The same amount can be saved on maintenance costs, the companies claim.

A reduction in the time when lights are not working also improves public safety, they add. The brightness of the light is also set according to how dark it is.

SELC designs and manufactures sensors and other equipment which are linked by wi-fi and radio signals.

These are then run on user-friendly 'Streetlight Vision' management software that it has developed that shows the lights on a detailed map in real time.

A spokeswoman for Xylem added: "Sensus, a Xylem brand, recently acquired SELC. The acquisition strengthens our portfolio of smart infrastructure solutions for utilities, cities and municipalities."

Sales for Xylem were $83lm in 2015, while revenues were $3.7bn.