The Caribbean island nation of Grenada has installed a wind and solar powered off-grid streetlight. An Irish company called airsynergy has developed the underlying technology which it calls a Remote Power Unit or RPU.
The use of hybrid technology – combining a small wind turbine and a solar panel – provides the flexibility of generating electricity at times when one or the other of the renewable technologies is not effective. Built-in battery storage in the streetlight allows it to operate for up to 5 days in the absence of wind and sunshine.
The new Granada streetlight is positioned at a heavily-trafficked intersection on the island that is handling traffic between the airport and university and the center of town where it is likely to become the subject of lots of attention.
Airsynergy’s RPUs have also been installed in a number of locations in New York including an athletic field and corporate headquarters in Mount Vernon, an elementary school and public housing facility in Tarrytown, and on a public street in Breezy Point.
There are planned installations in 20 other sites in New York, Chicago, California, Florida and New England. These units are designed to work in challenging urban locations where they provide off-grid power that is suitable for lighting, water pumping and potentially other critical applications such as CCTV and cell phone charging stations. These RPUs are also ideal for providing reliable, independent power on roadways, walkways, parking lots and recreation areas as well as on agricultural sites.
As renewable energy sources become increasingly common, the use of hybrid renewable power – that combines multiple power sources – is also starting to find its way into the world.
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First Wind-Solar Hybrid Streetlight Installed in Caribbean
Photo courtesy of AirSynergy.
‘Wind-Solar Streetlight’ from Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.