Latest update February 7th, 2025 2:57 PM
Latest News
- AFC Leader Nigel Hughes welcomes any investigation into lands he acquired
- Pres. Ali defends Jagdeo’s attacks on critics
- VP Jagdeo tries to compare 75 acres of jungle lands Nigel Hughes wants to acquire with 35 acres of prime city lands sold to Ed Ahmad and others
- Greaves tells Govt ‘clean money’ used to acquire New York properties- Jagdeo
- Trump says Israel would hand Gaza to the US after fighting is over
GEA touts solar powered street lights
The Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) is exploring the opportunities for using solar energy as an alternative to conventional street lighting powered by electricity from the public utility, Guyana Power and Light (GPL).
According to the GEA, street lighting is an important service that helps to contribute to the safety and security of the public, businesses, and residential spaces. Street lights also aide in crime prevention and recreational activities. “Over the years, this service has significantly contributed to the energy consumption from the utility at a considerable cost.”
The stand-alone solar-powered street light at the corner of Thomas and Quamina Streets
Based on a study done by the entity, “there are about 14,000 street lamps installed throughout Guyana. The main types of street lamps are the 250 watts high pressure sodium vapour (HPSV) lamps and 175 watts mercury vapour lamps. These 14,000 street lamps consume about 12 million kWh of energy annually at an estimated cost of G$670million per year.”
The GEA posits that it is possible to significantly reduce the cost that the current street lighting systems occur with the use the use of stand-alone solar-powered street lighting and the use of light emitting diode (LED) lamps.
“These lights utilize photovoltaic (PV) technology which harnesses the sun’s energy by converting it into electricity. The abundance of sunlight in Guyana, and the region at large, therefore makes solar-powered street lighting a very attractive alternative to street lighting powered by electricity from the public utility. The LED lamps also have an estimated lifetime that is five times longer than conventional HPSV lamps and energy savings of 80% or more” the GEA stated.
The body highlighted that there is a capital cost attached to converting HPSV street lights to Solar Powered LED. “However, this can be recouped from the monthly payments which otherwise would have been paid to the electric utility over the lifetime of the lights.”
GEA’s engineers designed and with the assistance of Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL), installed one stand-alone solar-powered street light at the corner of Thomas and Quamina Streets in front of the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs.
A computer generated image of what the lamp looks like
“The stand-alone solar powered street light consists of a 140W solar panel, 40W LED lamp, 105Ah battery, charge controller, timer, enclosure and mounts. This, the first unit installed by the GEA, cost G$278,300. It is estimated that these costs can be further reduced to about G$200,000 based on optimization of the design and lessons learned. The estimated simple payback for the stand-alone solar-powered street light is about 3 years” said the GEA.
According to the Energy Agency, apart from monetary savings, there are many additional advantages associated with the use of this type of street lighting. Given that it utilises the sun’s energy, the power generated is continuously available. During the sunlight hours, energy generated by the PV panels is stored in batteries; at nights when sunlight is no longer available the energy stored in the batteries are then delivered to the lamp.
Additionally, because they use solar energy, which is renewable and sustainable, standalone solar-based, street lighting is environmentally desirable.
Other major advantages the Agency outlined are “that the LED lamp provides a truer colour representation, more depth of field, and greater peripheral vision, which improves safety for drivers and pedestrians, additionally solar-powered LED street lamps have a major advantage in that they are not affected by utility failure and operate at low voltages hence making them cost effective and a safe option for workers.”
GEA said it will continue to monitor research and record the performance of solar-powered street lighting. The information obtained from data gathering, and experience gained from the installation process, will be used to guide decisions with regards to street lighting.
The Energy Agency is encouraging “all Municipalities, Neighbourhood Democratic Councils and civic groups to observe this pilot lamp as street lighting falls within the mandate of the ‘owner’ of the streets.”
The body did say, however, that the Ministry of Works and Communication is responsible for any lighting of the national main roads, while Local Government organs are responsible for any lighting of local roads and streets.
Similar Articles
THE BLUNT OF THE DAY
Sports
Features/Columnists
What Guyanese leaders can learn from Donald Trump
Peeping Tom… Kaieteur News-There is little dispute that Donald Trump knows how to make an entrance. He does so without... more
OAS Secretary General Election and renewed OAS Consensus
Antiguan Barbudan Ambassador to the United States, Sir Ronald Sanders By Sir Ronald Sanders Kaieteur News- The upcoming election... more
Weekend Cartoon
