Solar-powered streetlamps are a great idea, but what happens when nightfall arrives after a cloudy or rainy day? There’s no light for the street, that’s what. And that’s where the Holonic Streetlamp comes in.
María Jesús Ávilais, a student at the University of Seville in Spain has invented a new kind of streetlamp which is powered by both solar and wind energy. The unit is comprised of two top-mounted photovoltaic panels, a small vertical axis wind turbine, two 12-volt lead gel batteries, and LED bulbs providing 3,520 lumens. Mounted atop a steel structure, it can withstand temperatures ranging from -22 to 104ºF and wind speeds up to 87 mph.
The name “holonic” is derived from the Greek word holos, meaning something that is simultaneously both a whole and a part.
By combining both solar and wind power solutions, the streetlamp can provide light during the evening no matter if the day before was cloudy and windy or sunny and without wind. According to Gizmag, the lamp can operate independent-of or tied-to the grid, can be remotely managed for on and off timing, and its bulbs should last for 50,000 hours, about 10-15 years of average overnight use.
The university’s Oficina de Transferencia de Resultados de Investigacion (which loosely translates to Research Results Transfer Office) has a working prototype of the Holonic Streetlamp and is shopping around the concept to potential buyers.
[Source: OTRI via Gizmag]