Wind & Solar Powered Sign Lighting
Signs are changing. Modern high efficiency solar powered signs
are allowing lit signs to be installed in locations that were
previously classed as being too far away from the power grid. Solar and
wind powered sign lights have a 'zero carbon footprint' - reducing
pollution and improving sustainability.
A solar powered sign is designed to run all year round, often running
more in the winter when there is less light. The pv solar panel is
sometimes assisted by a small wind generator. 'Hybrid' systems have a
more steady power output across the year, however a wind generator is
more costly to install than solar panels.
As sign lighting technologies progressively get more efficient, through
the use of LED lights and electro-luminescent materials - it becomes
more and more viable to consider solar or wind as a source of power.
Solar Powered Traffic Signs
Proof of concept can be seen with the numerous successful
installations of solar powered vehicle activated warning signs which
now can be found in all parts of the UK road network. These solar &
wind powered traffic warning signs, developed by Westcotec, have been
repeatedly proven to have a hugely positive impact on road safety. The
signs use an ultra-high efficiency speed sensor to ensure that the LED
light unit only operates when required.
Solar sign lighting offers the convenience of minimal civil works,
avoiding the need to lay long cables at huge expense from the nearest
mains connection point. Solar or wind powered signs are also
re-deployable, or in some cases even designed to be mobile, such as
solar powered traffic lights.
All off-grid solar & wind powered lighting uses batteries to store
the energy, very often a specialised deep cycle gel or AGM battery.
Both of these technologies offer safe & efficient power storage,
with the advantage that they are not classed as hazardous goods for
transport purposes.
To ensure maximum efficiency, most sign lights are powered from either
12v or 24v dc, which eliminates the need for a mains inverter and it's
associated losses.
Custom Designed Sign Lighting Power Systems
At the EDC, we have helped to develop & supplied equipment
for many of the solar and wind powered signs you see on the UK roads.
We offer to design bespoke solar or wind power systems for your
specific sign lighting application. We can also supply pre-wired
enclosures and customised 'plug & play' cable sets. Our fully
tested power systems are exceptionally simple to install, saving your
installation engineers many hours of on-site work.
If you would like us to design a suitable system for your
application, please establish the operating voltage range and the
amount of power required by the lighting you have selected, as well as
the average mid-winter daily running time. We'll also need to get some
idea of where the system is likely to be installed, or at least the
region, so that we can use local meteo data in our calculations.
Please see the information
section of our site for guidance on how to establish your average
daily energy needs.
More
about our system design service...
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