The Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) is exploring opportunities of using wind energy as an alternative to conventional street lighting powered by electricity.
GEA’s engineers, together with the Traffic and Highway Light Unit, have designed and installed one stand-alone, wind-powered street light to the tune of G$247,553 on the Georgetown Sea Wall. The new equipment utilises a wind turbine and generator which harnesses energy from the wind and converts it into electricity.
A design of the new initiative
The wind-powered street light consists of a 500 Watts wind turbine, 40 Watts light emitting diodes (LED) lamp, 105 ampere hour (Ah) battery, hybrid charge controller, timer, enclosure and mounts.
This new initiative by the energy agency has been deemed advantageous, given that the lamps are not affected by utility failure and operate at low voltages, hence making them cost effective and providing a true colour representation, more depth of field, and greater peripheral vision— which improves safety for drivers and pedestrians.
The installed wind-powered street light
In addition, the abundance of wind along Guyana’s coast makes wind-powered street lighting a very attractive alternative to street lighting powered by electricity from the public utility. The LED lamps also have an estimated lifetime that is five times longer than conventional HPSV lamps and energy savings of 80% or more.
The GEA has reassured that information obtained from data gathering and experience gained from the installation process will be used to guide decisions with regards to street lighting, as it continues to monitor, research and record the performance of wind-powered street lighting.
