Florida Town Invests in Solar-Powered Street Lights
by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg, St. Louis, MO 
on 02. 5.07
Solar power in the Sunshine State -- sounds like a winner to us! The town of Dania, Florida has taken a page from Treehugger, and decided that solar-powered street lights would be a good investment, considering the threat of hurricane-caused power outages. Dania will invest $1 million in the improvements, and city officials believe that's money well-spent after the power outages caused by 2005's Hurricane Wilma:
[City public words director Dominic] Orlando said the project, expected to be completed within four months, is among infrastructure improvements requested by residents of the area, which the city annexed in 2001....The city decided to launch the solar program after [Florida Power & Light] couldn't quickly restore power and repair damaged poles following Hurricane Wilma in October 2005. [Project manager Oscar] Bello said the system uses solar panels mounted on poles designed to withstand hurricanes."They wanted to ensure that if we're hit by a 150 mph wind, the city would maintain its streetlights," he said.
The project is being funded by a grant from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. That's money well-spent in our book -- we hope that we'll see other projects like this that help towns and cities brave the weather... and increase their energy independence. ::South Florida Sun-Sentinel via Unplugged Living
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That sounds great. I'm impressed that they found a way to secure solar panels on a pole to withstand 150mph winds.
It looks like one good hurricane would snap that solar panel right off.
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Writer's note: That's a stock photo of a solar-powered street light... couldn't find any specifically of the model they're using in Dania... if I do, I'll replace it.
Is that picture at a weird angle? The panel looks huge and awkward up there. It barely looks like it could survive gravity, and certainly not a storm. I hope that's just some stock photo :)
I would think for the panel to survive the storm they would want to make the panel a part of the crossbeam, arm or whatever you call it.
I would assume that panel orientation cannot always match street lights orientation. They have constructed some solar panel powered street lights in a local park and they suffer the same aesthetic defect. These lamps are in desparate need to a designer.
Inevitablly, Some of these lights will be damaged. But the important thing is making the panel survives as long as the light is still standing.
I would assume that panel orientation cannot always match street lights orientation. They have constructed some solar panel powered street lights in a local park and they suffer the same aesthetic defect. These lamps are in desparate need of a designer.
Inevitablly, Some of these lights will be damaged. But the important thing is making the panel survives as long as the light is still standing.
Yeah, but who needs a streetlight when it's sunny out?
We have had solar-powered street lights in most major metropolitan cities in India for some time now. Glad to see FL catch up with the rest of the green world. :P
i think that is great. I just hope they are brighter than my solar powered garden lights. those aren't very bright
My congratulations to Dania, but solar lighting isn't new to the Sunshine State. There are isolated billboards carrying solar cells on Interstate 4 between Orlando and Tampa that are at least a decade old. Naval Air Station Jacksonville is using solar streetlights on a service road that parallels US 17 just north of Interstate 295, and I've seen other solar-lit areas around the city at points too inconvenient to run wires to. And illuminated mobile traffic detour signs carryin their own panels and battery packs are standard equipment.
Nearer to home, we brought in the solar walkway lamps to protect them from the hurricanes, then ended up using them to help light the house when the lights went out. The latest crop with the 6-inch panels charging AA NiCDs running a string of triple LEDs is quite effective, both as emergency indoor lighting and as its intended use as outdoor spotliighting.
Pretty much every park in South Florida has solar panels on all the lights already. I guess it's only natural that they extend this to street lights.
I've been through a few hurricanes and a crap load of big storms down in Miami, and believe me, there's no way those panels are going to survive a hurricane In fact, the old school street lights like the one pictured wouldn't even survive. I haven't even seen a street light like that in ages--most of the South Florida street lights have been replaced with concrete monoliths that are pretty indestructable.
seems like a great idea. Just hope the solar panels aren't a eye sore
Not sure why I who live in North Carolina or the the rest of the country for that matter should be funding it. A local municipality can't find funding for a project that will pay for itself? It's a great idea, but it solves a local problem and should be solved from local sources.
I agree that the aesthetics are terrible and it appears that the system was poorly designed. By the way, these are not solar street lighting systems sold by our company.
The picture shown is definitely not the product that would withstand 150 MPH winds. This picture is cut and pasted from somewhere and is not even a streelight photo from the company who was awarded the project. The company who was arwarded the project can be viewed at sepconet.com. The project was awarded to the company who proved to have the most reliable product in the industry and who had wind loading calculations completed on the system.
Hi,
Can anyone tell me where to find those lamp posts cause i'm currently looking to buy a few thousands to modernize my city please if anyone knows anything pease contact me At Shadowking3@hotmail.com
I live in Dania Beach and they just (as in the last month) put these lights in on my street. As far as I know, we are also the only street to currently have them. They're really nice, but the contractors that installed them are numbskulls and placed a few dead center in people's properties, rather than on the property line.