Wind powered light the first of its kind

NEW technology has been used in Memorial Park, Tuncurry with the installation of a wind powered solar light on a Surefoot foundation system.

Designed in the US by Urban Green Energy (UGE), the SANYA Streetlamp was donated to Great Lakes Council for the upgrade of the park by local company Innovation ReCreation.

The streetlamp is a first of its kind on the east coast of Australia and just the third system to be installed in Australia. It was donated to council for trial and evaluation.

The streetlamp has a vertical axis 600 watt wind turbine on top, a small 150 watt backup solar panel and an LED light. The standalone system is not connected to the electrical grid.

The streetlamp harnesses the power of the wind and the sun to charge the LED light, providing clean, renewable energy that removes the cost to light the area.

The customised system has been incorporated into the design of the playground which is a boat theme, with the tower being the mast, the banner the sail, and the turbine the crows' nest.

The streetlamp was installed on the Surefoot foundation system, an Australian invention that does not require concrete or large excavation. The designer, Neil Despotellis installed four Surefoot foundation plates on his own with a steel grid structure on top. It took about three hours. The pile foundation system reduces carbon emission and labour requirements.

The system featured on the New Inventors last year. It has the potential for many different applications and can be easily removed and reused.

Its bending moment is reportedly greater than anything else currently on the market.

Each plate has a load capacity from seven tonnes to 20 tonnes, subject to design and location.

All up it took about 10 hours to install the UGE Sanya Streetlamp and Surefoot foundation.

The combination of streetlamp and foundation system allows the system to be environmentally friendly.

Mr Gleeson said although it was difficult to quote a price per se, the recommended retail price for the streetlamp - LED light, turbine and solar panel is about $9,500 to $10,000. With additional costs for foundation, installation, circuit breaker, enclosure and batteries, total cost is between $15,000 and $17,000 depending on location.

With street lighting being a big part of a council's costs, Mr Gleeson believes the hybrid system is cost effective.