A combination of built-in wind turbine and solar panels can keep the streets bright without energy costs.
Spanish startup Eolgreen has developed a streetlight with an entirely self-contained power source. A built-in wind turbine and two 100-watt solar panels atop the lampposts provide the energy necessary to run the lights from sunset to sunrise.
Eolgreen is marketing the devices as having zero energy costs, making installation and maintenance the only expenses associated with the lights.
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The lamps stand at just shy of 33 feet tall and boast a lithium-ion battery pack that can power the lights for 58 hours in the absence of any sun or wind. In addition, Eolgreen has reportedly engineered the wind turbines to be able to generate energy at only two thirds windspeed most turbines require.
Eolgreen’s lamps make possible completely off-the-grid public lighting for roads and parks. So now street lights can be self-contained and self-sustaining units—a potential boon in disaster situations when power lines might be downed.
Eolgreen plans to introduce 700 of their prototype units throughout 2015, having reached deals with a handful of Spanish municipalities.
This feature originally appeared in Fast Company.
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