China’s capital Beijing has installed 28 streetlights enhanced with advanced graphene material technology in Tongzhou District, which can slash energy consumption by 20% to 30% compared to current lamps on the market, reported China Daily.

The graphene streetlight technology originated from Zhongguangcun, and the material itself has very strong electric and heat-conducting properties, and can reach a lumen output of 140 lumens per watt.

The exterior of the graphene road lamps installed appear black and grey with composite materials and actually most of the heat-conducting adhesives and chips inside are made with graphene, said an employee of the Beijing Municipal Road and Bridge Group.

Graphene composite materials comprise the exterior of the lamp and heat conducting adhesives and chips inside.

Founder of heat dispersing materials research firm MS Technology, Chen Wei, noted the first invented graphene lamps that entered mass production was based on technology from Zhongguancun in Beijing.

The graphene is melted into adhesives to make a new composite material to better utilize the heat conducting properties of graphene. Integration of the heat-conducting adhesives with the graphene is one of the most difficult procedures.

Since graphene is a good heat conductor, it can lower more energy than existing lamps, which directly shrinks the size of the heating panels. The miniaturized heating panels leaves more room for street decoration.

About eight or nine models including sails will be integrated on the road lamps to improve the city’s aesthetics.