A Wind Powered LED Street Lamp
Originally published on the ECOreport.
Noordforce’s Proceed 1 wind generator comes with lithium batteries that are fully charged after a half day of moderate winds and do not require another charge for ten days. Company spokesperson Anna Wätjen said it is difficult to imagine there being ten days without wind in this blustery region. Their data shows that the coastal regions of Northern Germany have enough wind to recharge the batteries at least every 5-7 days. A wind powered LED street lamp is being installed on the tiny island of Juist.
The First Wind Powered LED Street Lamp
By the end of the year, there could be as many as ten lamps on Juist, and other orders are coming in.
“Due to the wind-data we analyzed, we assume there is a market for about 3000 lamps across coastal areas in Northern Germany,” said Wätjen.
The city of Oldenburg in Holstein plans to install a dozen this fall, and another lamp is going to Stipsdorf, Segeberg.
“Every place that has little sunshine but wind is suitable for the Proceed 1 wind generator. Other than from places in Northern Germany, we have direct inquiries from places in Sweden and the Netherlands, Spain and Canary Islands, South America (Chile, Argentina), Iran, South Africa and Namibia,” said Wätjen.
In the company sales brochure, it says:
“Think of rural and structurally weak regions in our vicinity and all over the world: Unlit bike- and footpaths between villages and small settlements; wide areas in Africa, South America and Australia, which are, if at all, supplied with loud, smoky fuel generators. Where else: airstrips in the outback, shelters in the mountains, the Lodge on the desert island. There are many alternative solutions for interior lighting, but as a German saying goes: at night it‘s just darker than outside. Unless you have a PROCEED 1 that illuminates the darkest night self-sufficient and quiet as whisper.” [2. noordforce, PROCEED 1 Windgenerator Green Lighting to Save the Climate]
Remote Villages lacking adequate Lighting
Schleswig-Holstein based designer Peer Langemak and his Noordforce team spent a year developing their product [3. noordforce, Der Sturm ist da…] after discovering that many remote villages still lack adequate lighting.
A similar product, combining wind and solar energy, is in use in Spain’s Catalonia region.
Wätjen said solar is not a good solution in Northern Germany because “there is rarely enough sunshine during daytime to power solar cells.”
Wind powered street lamps cost less than €4,000 and do not require grid connection.
Representatives from Juist discovered a Proceed 1 model at a lighting fair.
Find out more at noordforce’s website.
Top Photo credits: Image from the brochure “Self-Sufficient Outdoor Lighting with the Proceed I Windgenerator” – courtesy noordforce; Two photos of noordforce’s self-sufficient wind-powered LED street lamp – Courtesy noordforce
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This could work as a niche product because of the extreme thriftiness of LED lamps and the high cost of cabling for new streetlights. Normally microwind is a waste of money.
Hopefully they are constructed well to avoid bearing noises after a few years. Otherwise they’ll end up in dystopian horror movies. Opening shot showing a small town with a lone squeaky wind powered street light that flutters on and off.
That could drive people crazy. I know it would me.
If the battery got low a simple logic to turn off the light at the least busy hour could help tide it over.
Yeah, you know how it works here in America. Like the roads built in the 50s that never get maintained unless there is an earthquake or bridge collapse despite the fact they are rated F for unsafe and dangerous. These streetlights will possibly never get maintained and need all sorts of up front planning so they fail gracefully over time.
Even in the cloudiest parts of Germany I doubt they beat solar on price, even given the fact that the wind blows at night which is when the electricity is needed which will save on battery use and extend its life. But if they do somehow do beat solar on price, that’s wonderful. And even if they don’t, people might just like the look of the things and think that it’s neat to have wind powered street lights, even though things with moving parts are going to wear out faster than PV cells. And maybe they will help lower the cost of microwind and make it a little bit more practical than it is at the moment. (Note, I wrote “more practical” and not “become practical”. With PV and battery storage continuing to fall rapidly in price it will take one of five other things done before breakfast to make microwind practical.)