...
written by rob , January 30, 2008

I'm not convinced about this. It might work in the summer, when the nights are short, but will it produce enough power for the winter, when the light is on from 4pm, to 8am?
While the turbine might give a reasonable output if it's windy, the photovoltaics aren't going to contribute much, especially in dull weather.

...
written by RhapsodyInGlue , January 30, 2008

Powerful messages can change the world... however, hard nosed critical analysis is also needed, especially when it comes to a dwindling energy supply. The embedded energy needed to construct something like this would be much higher than a simple grid connected street light and neither the solar nor the wind generator is likely to be optimally sited. It probably would be much better to consider more efficient light bulb technology for standard grid connected street lights, or even the very reasonable idea of modulating the amount of street lighting based on the available moon light and making sure the light is really necessary not just light pollution.

A small step...
written by weee , January 31, 2008

in the right direction.
It intrigues me that whenever a new greener idea/design is created it gets the why bother/ it could be greener/ it's not as good as it could be/ it took energy to build it series of responses.
Our world is likely to improve through a series of incremental improvements in both outlook and technology as opposed to a magic bullet.
Let's face it that we wouldn't have a Boeing 747 without a Wright Flyer.
Back to the streetlamp - anything which starts with the concept that you can't just attach it to the grid and forget it is a damn good start.
So what if it runs out of light at 5am!

First public lightning in France
written by Angelie , January 31, 2008

Thanks for this article. I would also mentioned the supposedly world first public lightning using such technology. It is a street lamp (named Windela) installed in Issy-les-Moulineaux (Paris suburb) at the end of last year:
It is using a non-polluting and silent wind-generator which can start with a wind speed of 2.5 m/s and will stop at 20 m/s. Lighting is fully autonomous (no need of external control). The system uses 42 LEDs (3500 lumens at 5.5 m high)optimally orientated so as to cover the largest possible area.

To answer Rob's question (I suppose the japanese lamp is similar), the lamp is equiped with batteries which can offer the equivalent of 4 to 5 days of energy. Additional photovoltaic cells provides another night of energy. The mast can also resist high wind speed up to 200 km/h.

For those understanding French, more information are available on this website: http://www.enviro2b.com/enviro...ticle.html

a good idea
written by Danno , January 31, 2008

Even if this thing can't produce enough electricity for itself all of the time, the cost of producing it will *eventually* be recouped by the savings in supplying it with electricity. I don't see how that's a bad thing. Just because something doesn't get you off the grid doesn't mean it can't contribute. And this kind of thing has to start somewhere. It's baby steps to renewable energy, not leaps and bounds.

Evergreen Energy
written by M. King , January 31, 2008

Gadgets like this are being sold and distributed in the Southeast US by a company that just started up this year. I don't know all the details, really, but supposedly they're selling them for a small fraction of the price that bigger companies sell them for. They also do air conditioners and water heaters that are all off the grid.

Anyway, just wanted to point out to anyone near by that they're not just in Asia and Europe.

So far behind
written by chuck , February 01, 2008

We are so far behind everyone else. Even if we design something. It takes an act of congress to put it into production.

...
written by KD , February 01, 2008

Hey Hank

We saw something very similar in Hawaii at Hanauma Bay: solar and wind turbine lights were used in the parking lots there.

Can M. King or anyone else tell us where we can buy them? My town's environmental commission would be interested

lab biochemist
written by khalid , May 09, 2008

i want to have an idea of the cost price and if its cn be used in countery like sudan in africa

lab biochemist
written by khalid , May 09, 2008

i want to have an idea of the cost price and if its cn be used in countery like sudan in africa

sparkling idea
written by soloo , May 12, 2008

well i read about windela first at my local
news paper although i dont have avast idea about
the advantage and dis advant of it but i would
like to have more information on it ......
who is the sponser if i want to make adealership

Hanauma Bay Lighting
written by LightMan , May 12, 2008

We sold and installed the lighting at Hanauma Bay in early 2002. They work great with their 10W PV and 12W savonious rotor wind generation and their relatively small batteries (12Ah) only required replacement this year. While we spec'd them for 2 hours operation every 14 days, they have been running dusk-to-dawn since their installation. Unfortunately, the company is no longer selling these due to low demand (then). To make a comment on an earlier post, we were operating wind and solar powered street lighting in the UK as early as 2000. Customers include the US Coast Guard, USAF in Iraq, Okinawa, several other military installation and of course, Hanauma Bay.