Comments on: Sleek Solar and Wind Powered Hybrid Street Lamps

By: lynn

lynn — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:39:11 +0000

I was on ebay and noticed that similar led solar or wind powered street lights were for sale for $1,000.00 to $1,500.00 each. It’s here NOW and cheep.
I thought that if you crashed into a street light it would cost you about $1,000 to replace.
YEA!!! YEA!!! (LED light means that the draw is insanely reduced)

By: joshuayoshida

joshuayoshida — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:17:23 +0000

There are so many great ideas, especially on this website. I just wish people would take the initiative and put these things together! Decrease our dependence on foreign oil and all that…

By: hubermania

hubermania — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 19:17:22 +0000

That is certainly an eye-catching design. However, I notice that all of the landscaping is immature. You would do well to fast-forward 30 years to mature, deciduous trees. They will block the wind and shade the solar panels. Although the concave solar panels look nice, convex panels would do a much better job of shedding rain, leaves, and snow.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:29:04 +0000

This is really a ground breaking update to an everyday city object. Dragonbutterfly has a point when he/she said that aesthetics must be given some consideration before this becomes a standard in every city, Perhaps, we can can have a stone wind-mill like structure in your city. Well, lets just wait for designers to concoct their own solutions.

By: naglis

naglis — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:59:13 +0000

“The street lamps save excess energy generated in a battery so that it has enough power for times when the sun and wind aren’t cooperating.”

Yes, I do understand that. What interests me is, would the battery save enough energy for the lamp to shine overnight (assuming that night lasts 15-17 hours), even if it was cloudy and there was no wind ?

By: roxolar

roxolar — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:56:54 +0000

Naglis

I think it’s still sustainable because even in winter, there is still sunlight even if the days are not sunny and shining. Remember solar electricity is generated by photons from the sunlight, not heat.

Yaya
http://www.roxolar.com

By: roxolar

roxolar — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:49:36 +0000

Also, even n the winter, the day lights from the sun (even if it’s not sunny) are still able to generate electricity. Remember, it’s the photons that are transformed into electricity, not heat. I think it is totally sustainable in most parts of the world.

Yaya
http://www.roxolar.com

By: dragonbutterfly

dragonbutterfly — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 17:51:37 +0000

Technologically it sounds like the sort of idea that should have been the standard long ago. Bravo. Aesthetically, it would be nice to have some models that were a bit more contextual. I’ve lived in older parts of cities with beautiful 100-300 year old buildings and placing these street lamps in those areas would look like invading with alien space ships. Any plans for aesthetics variety beyond color choices?

Also, the computer renditions of the generic suburbs with huge asphalt streets and driveways is just scary. All the solar/wind powered street lights in the world aren’t going to save us if we don’t make other more fundamental changes to the way we live. I understand the images from a marketing perspective, but I’d really have loved to also see a more forward looking rendering.

By: Yuka Yoneda

Yuka Yoneda — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:26:49 +0000

Hi Naglis,

The street lamps save excess energy generated in a battery so that it has enough power for times when the sun and wind aren’t cooperating.

By: naglis

naglis — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:19:09 +0000

Let’s assume that it was winter, the day was cloudy and with no wind, the sun went down at 5PM. What then?