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UK startup transforms streetlights into distributed AI hubs
A British company has secured a deal to deploy 50,000 smart lampposts in Nigeria, converting them into a network of solar-powered AI data centres.
The concept: Lampposts as mini data centres
Conflow Power Group (CPG), based in Warwickshire, has designed the iLamp-a streetlight equipped with a low-power AI chip, solar panel, and battery. When networked, thousands of these units are intended to function as a decentralised data centre, processing AI tasks while reducing reliance on traditional grid-powered facilities.
CPG chairman Edward Fitzpatrick told the BBC that NVIDIA's energy-efficient chips, requiring just 15 watts, make this possible. "We can power the chip with solar energy and embed it inside a streetlight," he said.
Dual-purpose technology: Surveillance and revenue
Beyond computing, the iLamps double as AI-enabled surveillance cameras. In Nigeria's Katsina State, they will monitor traffic violations, including speeding and seatbelt non-compliance, generating fines as a revenue stream. CPG will take a 20% cut of these earnings after three years.
The lampposts can also perform facial recognition, though Fitzpatrick noted such deployments would only proceed with "relevant authority" approval and legal compliance. Critics, however, warn of privacy risks and potential biases in facial recognition technology.
In the UK, iLamps are already operational in a Warwick hospital car park, providing CCTV and number plate recognition. Fitzpatrick suggested future uses could include public polling via gestures-such as a victory sign-to interact with social media.
Expert scepticism and industry limitations
While CPG markets the iLamps as a green alternative to conventional data centres, experts question their scalability. Data centre veteran Professor Ian Bitterlin highlighted concerns over physical security, noting the risk of theft. Fitzpatrick acknowledged this but said the chips would "fry" if tampered with.
John Booth, managing director of Carbon3IT Ltd, described the technology as a "low-cost solution for small AI applications," but not a replacement for high-performance data centres. Bitterlin added that latency issues-due to the distance between lampposts-would make them unsuitable for training large language models.
Instead, experts suggest the iLamps could serve as edge computing nodes, acting like "mobile phone masts" to bring AI processing closer to users while offloading intensive tasks to larger facilities.
African expansion and economic model
CPG sees Africa as a prime market due to abundant sunlight, fewer regulatory hurdles, and demand for infrastructure. The iLamps will be manufactured in Morocco, Taiwan, and Latvia, with an assembly plant planned in Katsina State.
Dr Hafiz Ibrahim Ahmad, Katsina's Special Adviser on Power and Energy, hailed the project as a first for Africa, promising "safer streets, real-time crime prevention, free public internet, and a new revenue stream for the state."
The company's business model involves funding installations through a green bond, with investors earning returns from leasing the lampposts' processing power to AI firms.
AI's growing energy demands
The project emerges amid rising concerns over AI's environmental impact. Some estimates suggest AI systems already consume energy comparable to the entire UK. While solar-powered lampposts offer a partial solution, experts argue they cannot replace the concentrated computing power of traditional data centres.
