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LED street lighting from a UK manufacturer
INDO designs and manufactures LED street lighting in Southampton: luminaires, retrofit lamps and gear trays for local authorities, highways contractors and lighting engineers. Direct Drive® runs the LED string straight from mains power, so the driver and its wet electrolytic capacitors are not in the fitting to fail. Around 500,000 units are installed across the UK and Europe.
- 15-year warranty
- 25-year design life
- Around 500,000 units installed
- Designed and manufactured in the UK
Why specify LED street lighting from INDO
LED street lighting has a predictable weak point. The LEDs are rated for 100,000 hours, but the driver is not: it carries wet electrolytic capacitors that dry out in service. Driver failures typically start arriving after 8 to 10 years, sooner in fittings that run hot, and by then the original part is often obsolete.
INDO’s answer was to take the driver out. The control circuitry regulates the LED current directly from mains voltage. That is the whole argument, and it has been in the field since 2010.
Direct Drive®. No more driver changes. Ever.
The driverless advantage
Removing the driver changes what a street lighting asset costs to own.
Nothing to schedule
There is no driver to replace, so there is no mid-life bulk change to programme, no access visit to fund, and no obsolete part to source in year 12. Maintenance planning comes down to cleaning and electrical testing, not a programmed electronics replacement.
Warranty that matches the asset
A 15-year warranty as standard, covering the whole luminaire. The luminaire is engineered to a 25-year design life, matched to the rated life of the LEDs themselves.
Less heat where it does the damage
A traditional driver runs 30 to 40°C above ambient inside the housing. With no driver in the fitting, the thermal design can be built around the LEDs.
Direct Drive® first came to market in 2010 and won the Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2017.
The range
Residential roads, distributor routes, motorways, footpaths, subways, crossings and heritage schemes. If the format is not listed here, it is worth asking: much of what INDO builds is specified to suit existing column stock.
ION Road
Post-top and side-entry luminaire for residential and distributor roads.
- Ultra-lightweight fitting, under 2kg single
- Compact, low-windage design with integrated photocell
- IP66, 15-year warranty, 25-year design life
View ION Road
AIR1
Direct Drive® streetlight for roads, car parks and residential areas.
- 500 to 4,500 lm at 193 lm/W
- Integrated photocell, constant light output
- ENEC approved, super lightweight
View AIR1
AIR2 and AIR3
Highways and high-mast luminaires where column loading matters.
- AIR2 at 7.9kg, AIR3 at 11.2kg
- Universal integrated mounting, no external spigot required
- Wide dimming range, 15-year warranty, 25-year design life
Browse luminaires
LED retrofit lamps
Keep the lantern, change the light source.
- Direct Drive lamps for SOX, SON, PL and fluorescent formats
- LPSX: up to 75% energy savings against the lamp it replaces
- Installs in the existing lampholder, no lantern change
Browse retrofit lamps
Belisha beacon lamps
Direct retrofit lamps for zebra crossing beacons.
- 6W circuit wattage, 90g
- B22 or E27, fits existing beacon housings and globes
- 5000K, L80B50 80,000 hours
View Belisha beacon lamps
Replacing what is already on the street
There are three routes, and INDO builds all three.
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Retrofit lamp
The lantern, the bowl and the column all stay. A Direct Drive® lamp goes into the existing lampholder.
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Retrofit gear tray
The original lantern is kept and a drop-in Direct Drive tray replaces the original SON or HPS gear, matching the photometry at a fraction of the energy. This is the standard route for heritage and conservation schemes. INDO builds retrofit gear trays for 300+ heritage and street lanterns, one of Europe’s largest ranges, and a tray carries the same IP66 rating and 15-year warranty as a new luminaire. The heritage retrofit page covers that route in full.
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New luminaire
Where the lantern is beyond economic repair, a new Direct Drive luminaire goes onto the existing column. Weight and windage are on every INDO datasheet.
Got a lantern that is not on the list?
Send us a photograph of the bowl and the gear and we will come back with a fit and a quote.
Designed and manufactured in Southampton
INDO designs and manufactures at its own factory in Southampton, next to one of the UK’s busiest ports. That is how the specials work: a non-standard optic or mounting is a conversation with the people who build it rather than a change request sent overseas.
Around 500,000 Direct Drive® units are installed across the UK and Europe, on residential streets, distributor roads, motorway corridors, footpaths and listed structures. The technology has been in service since 2010.
- Queen’s Award for Innovation, 2017
- On public sector procurement frameworks
- Supplied to UK local authorities, highways contractors and lighting engineers
Getting a price
Three things set the price: lighting class, column spacing and quantity. Send those and you will get a price back.
If it is easier to talk it through, leave your details and a member of the team will call you back, usually within one working day.
What to send us
- Road or lighting class
- Column spacing, mounting height and existing lantern type
- Quantity, and whether this is a rolling programme or a single scheme
Or call the team on 023 8098 2022, or email info@indo.co.uk
Common questions
What is Direct Drive®?
Direct Drive is INDO’s patented driverless LED architecture. The LED string runs straight from mains power, so there is no driver and no wet electrolytic capacitor in the luminaire. It came to market in 2010 and won the Queen’s Award for Innovation in 2017.
Why does removing the driver matter?
The driver is the component that sets the maintenance interval. Failures typically start arriving after 8 to 10 years, sooner in fittings that run hot, which is well inside the life of the LEDs and usually outside the warranty. Take the driver out and that whole event goes away.
If there is no driver, how do you dim it?
The control circuitry regulates LED current directly from mains voltage. Dimming as low as 10% output is possible while maintaining a power factor close to unity, and the range includes DALI, pre-set dimming and Zhaga D4i sensor-ready options. The technology page explains how the circuit works.
What warranty do INDO street lights carry?
A 15-year warranty as standard on every Direct Drive luminaire, covering the whole luminaire. The luminaire is engineered to a 25-year design life.
Can I keep my existing lanterns?
Usually, yes. A retrofit lamp changes only the light source; a retrofit gear tray replaces the gear inside the original lantern and keeps its appearance, which is the normal route for heritage and conservation areas. INDO builds retrofit gear trays for 300+ heritage and street lanterns, one of Europe’s largest ranges.
Do you supply UK local authorities?
Yes. Local authorities and highways contractors are INDO’s core exterior customers, and the Direct Drive range is on public sector procurement frameworks. Recent schemes are published on the projects page.
Where are INDO products made?
Designed and manufactured at INDO’s factory in Southampton, Hampshire.
Talk to the specification team
Send the scheme, the class and the column spacing and you will get a price back.