This is a streetlight in a parking lot. It has a wind turbine on the bottom, and a solar panel on the top. The lights appear to be LEDs.
It struck me as sort of overkill to have two energy sources (unless the solar electricity was used to turn the turbine to fan the parking lot...). Especially, since the light fixtures were in a parking lot of a state park that closed every day at 6 (darkness comes at 7). What exactly was being illuminated?
It struck me as a federal funding project in search of an application.
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Actually, electricity rates in Hawaii are 11 times what they are in Ontario (44c/KWhr, vs 4), because nearly all of the power in Hawaii is generated from sources like Coal, or Natural Gas, that has to be shipped over from the mainland, so if these lights are used at all (were you there at night?) they're probably saving somebody a good amount of money. They strike me as rather ingenious.
ReplyDeleteMatt: we noticed the thermal generating plants on Maui. The hotel rooms have magnetic breakers attached to the doors and windows, rather like burglar alarm contacts, so that as soon as you open a door or window or leave one open, the A/C in your room goes OFF. I went out on a short errand one evening leaving the living room lamp on and on my return noticed the room was dark. They know when you are reading ...
ReplyDeleteAs for the parking lot, I was not there at night. I made a point of not driving a car after dark as I dont know the roads. But the example shown was in a park that closes before it gets dark ... it would have been interesting to see if they provide bright light or a night light effect.
On Maui, there are important observatories in the crater of the volcano, and the whole island runs on a no-spillover-light basis: all lights shine down (not out, not up), there are no back lit sign boxes, minimal highway lighting but lots of reflectors, no floodlighting but lots of pin point lighting. It made for a gorgeous night sky and lively evening atmosphere as opposed to the washed out nightscapes here.
Thanks for reading,
Eric darwin
re: the hotel rooms, I saw the same thing in my motel in Nevada, as well, my hotel, along with many others these days, have lights and AC activated by the door key, so when you put your door key in a separate slot the lights can be turned on, but without the key in that slot, the lights and TV are all turned off. It's pretty ingenious.
ReplyDeleteAs to what was being illuminated in that park, I can imagine many reasons why you would want some light in a park, even closed, ranging from security, to some kind of Park policy, to possibly even a law.
This could be useful over here too, perhaps.
ReplyDeleteI know that Carmanah technologies in Victoria markets its solar LED lights all over the world for areas with no grid connectivity. They promise equivalent candlepower to a normal streetlight
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