Windsor On, Dec 14 2013 – The City of Windsor Ontario commissioned its first Windsor built Solar Powered LED Street Lighting today in Ward 8 – Shawnee Park, manufactured by Unconquered Sun Solar Tech.
As referenced in the Mayor’s State of the City Address there are currently 22, 417 street lights in the City of Windsor, and each one costs approximately $90.00 per year in operational electricity costs alone. This means that it cost The City 2.1M in electrical this year, and every year residually simply for Street Light illumination.
‘Fiscal austerity continues to be the number one challenge facing North American Cities into the 21st century and The City of Windsor is no different. So I applaud The City for choosing a grid independent solution to eliminate lighting costs, and the best part is,.. These units are manufactured right here in Windsor/Essex’ – Sean Moore, Founder and CEO Unconquered Sun Solar Technologies Inc.
The IESO currently forecasts electricity price increases up to $10.00/MWhr or 30% in 2014 with continuing increases beyond. These price escalations will soon be passed on to the consumer as utilities across the province continue to apply for rate increases. Simply converting traditional bulbs to LEDs only reduces energy consumption by one third…In monetary terms the cost of operating a single 150W HP Sodium streetlight is only reduced from $90.00/yr to $60.00/yr.
After paying the upfront costs for LED retrofits, The City would still be left with a residual energy bill of $60.00/yr for each and every street light… Facing imminent rate increases of 2-5% per year for the next 20 yrs ..soon Windsor’s initial savings from a simple retrofit would be nullified.
It is for this reason that Solar LED Street Lighting is seen as the superior alternative, since it offers municipalities a long term vision of grid independence and zero residual costs after installation.
In addition, Solar LED Street Lights can be installed in the most remote of areas, are completely carbon neutral, and provide lighting completely independent of the grid, even in an emergency or total black out.
