Product: Solar LUA
Location: Merthyr Tydfil
To protect the safety of local authority lighting engineers, all 530 illuminated road signs in and around the Welsh town of Merthyr Tydfil are switching from mains electricity to solar power.
The drive to install Simmonsigns’ solar LUAs across the County Borough Council area is to remove the risk of the Direct Labour Organisation’s (DLO) engineers from being injured by live power when installing and maintaining sign lighting.
The dangers are particularly acute when engineers are called out by the emergency services to road traffic accidents, or collisions, when the lighting columns have been struck.
The team of six electricians operates a very rigorous and structured risk assessment process when out on site but the introduction of solar as a power source removes the dangers associated with live power altogether.
Solar – the ultimate safety choice
The initiative is being led by Chris Ridout, Senior Lighting Engineer at Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. He worked with Simmonsigns’ Area Sales Manager Martin Kelly and Street Lighting Supplies to realise his ambition with the product specification.
Chris explains: “A key concern is what we are going to find when a post is hit. Quite rightly a lot of work and testing has gone into making the aluminium posts passively safe to minimise harm to the motorist and passengers.
“The issue for us is when they collapse or fold over, the door in the base of the column often becomes inaccessible. At that point you don’t know what affect the impact is having on the cable inside and we don’t know if the column is live.
“We had an incident recently with a post with a speed camera that was hit by a car and the column folded down blocking the access door. To make it safe we had to isolate the electricity supply and cut around the column to get access.
“You have to think about the team,” emphasised Chris. “Often the call out will be at night. They are working in the dark and the police will call them if there is any concern about live electricity. We do an immediate risk assessment and then work accordingly. You can’t see electricity but it can kill you and if you use solar you eradicate the problem. You have certainty, it’s the ultimate position of safety.”
Testing!
As a thoroughly tested solar powered light illuminating signs up to 600mm, the solar LUA’s low energy LEDs will operate every day from dusk until dawn with nine days autonomy. The solar LUA is IP54 rated and testing on the solar panel exceeds IK10.
Supplied as a kit, it fits on to a pre-installed 89/168 column. The round solar panel was designed to combine efficient solar power generation with low visual impact so that the solar LUA is not obtrusive and sits comfortably alongside other street furniture.
To ensure the solar LUA performed as needed, Chris and his team tested it over a winter in the Welsh valleys and it passed with flying colours.
Installing and adapting
The opportunity to review the council’s sign lighting was prompted by the introduction of the 20mph speed limit in Wales and the need to install new gateways signs which, if they were in a lit area, needed to be illuminated.
“The solar LUA looked to be the perfect option,” explains Chris. “But I wanted to be sure that there were no issues with the solar charging the battery throughout the winter when light levels are low because of grey skies and rain.
“But we had no problems – everything worked perfectly so we have continued the roll out. Currently we are half-way through.”
Chris added: “It’s always difficult to know how residents will react to seeing new lighting, particularly with the solar LUA as the panels can sit quite high. We’ve got a row on a splitter island in a busy traffic area but there have been no issues.
“We did have a had a complaint from a resident close to one of the roundabouts as they could see the solar panel from their garden. Fortunately, we’ve got flexibility with the poles as the batteries are in the base of the posts so we were able to cut 2m off the top of the pole without affecting the solar panel performance. Now the resident’s view has been restored and I think the roundabout looks more in proportion.”
A series of firsts
As well as the safety of the DLO team, the move to solar also helps to meet the Welsh Government’s sustainability and decarbonation plans. In playing its part to become carbon neutral by 2030, Merthr Tydfil CBC has already introduced a number of initiatives. This includes fitting more than 7500 units of LED street lighting resulting in a saving of street energy use of 74%. The focus is now ensuring all traffic signals are changed to add to the savings already achieved.
Making the bold move to switch all sign lighting to solar is the latest in a series of firsts for Chris during his 20-year tenure heading up the lighting team at Merthyr Tydfil CBC. Constantly looking at new product developments and trends in the sector, Chris is keen to see the industry work with manufacturers to adopt new technology.
The authority was the first in Wales to move to aluminium for its columns. “The first products we had were very coarse,” explains Chris. “But we stuck with it and it has improved tremendously. Now extruded in one piece they are a much better design and have a 50 year lifespan. Everyone is using them!
“The old steel posts we used to use would rot from the inside. At the time we were told they had a life span of 30 years but were lucky if they made 15.
“It’s great to see that we are now being proved right. Our oldest aluminium posts are still going 20 years after we installed them and they’ve got plenty of life left in them.”
He added: “I’ve been told the oldest aluminium post is on the sea front in Norway and is 100 years old!”
Also, as the first country’s first local authority in Wales to have a CMS for its street lighting, Chris is an expert in weighing up the pros and cons of being an early adopter of technology.
Chris concluded: “It is a risk when you go with new technology but when you are constantly looking at the future and taking the views of people around you in the industry who know what’s coming you can anticipate much better. That’s what I’ve always done and I think it has worked.”