Tokyo Tower Saves Energy on Christmas Illuminations

Copyright Nippon Television City Corporation

Tokyo Tower was illuminated with holiday lighting from Nov. 3 until December 25, 2011. The year 2011, however, the festive lights were more energy-efficient than those used in previous years. The lights were turned on at 4:00 pm and turned off at 12:00 am, with lighting performances held nine times a day.

2011's highlight was the 14-meter-high Christmas tree -- a real fir and one of the tallest in Tokyo - decorated with 50,000 light bulbs, surrounded by ornaments of trains, reindeer and a sleigh heading for the "land of lights". These decorations were brilliantly lit up at night, with the number of light bulbs totaling 150,000.

Thirteen percent of the electricity used was covered by solar power generation, and surplus power accumulated during late-night hours. Furthermore, the lighting hours was shortened to eight hours from previous year's 15 hours, thereby reducing power consumption by 42 percent.

Posted: 2012/01/30 06:00:15 AM