Everlight : public solar light for everyone
by Erwan Pianezza, Locronan, Brittany on 07.17.05
There's no denying that public lighting is bound to remain an unavoidable evil in modern cities of the world. A quick zoom at the "Earth at night" map, sold by National geopraphic won't contradict this very basic truth. Imagine the energy needed to enlight the earth like that : in an article about the city of Albi who has started reducing electricity costs, french research institute CNRS estimates that global consumption of lighting equals more than 2,000 TWh in electric energy per year, which sums more than one-tenth (approximately) of global electricity production.
Obviously the realistic solution is not to aim for a complete removal of streetlights around the planet. The city of Albi (France) has chosen a light system that is better adapted to the human eye and produces the necessary light with less energy. That's one part of the solution to reduce global impact of public lighting.
Everlight, a swiss company, has a second solution to go forward, simple enough : photovoltaic panel take solar input and send electricity to batteries drum that give it back at night. Besides generating economies, this system is easier to install as, obviously, it requires less underground cabling. Simple and efficient, I don't know. I have personnally tried the individual lights available in most DIY shops around, and yes you can see them at night but I'm not sure you'd save your eyes reading your favorite magazine on them. Does everlight provide sufficient light to have the "prevent crime" effect and comfort citizens ?
