street lights powered by solar and wind energy are an emerging trend in china

 street lights powered by solar and wind energy are an emerging trend in china

designed for primary use in parking lots or over highways, hybrid street lights are more frequently seen in china. since they’re grid connectable, the lights can send excess power from the wind turbines and solar panels back through the grid. the constantly moving turbine technology in the lights should last twenty years, requiring just an annual maintenance check-up, barring natural disasters or accidents. (not including the batteries) the LED lights and other parts within should endure as long as the turbines.the hybrid street lamps guarantee a stable supply of electricity even when it is cloudy. the lamp will automatically start lighting when the environment becomes dark through the use of an intelligent sensor system. the lamp is turned off by an automatic controller which can be set to a specific time as per your requirements with an average lighting time of 8-10 hours per day. so the whole system is virtually maintenance free and there are NO daily running costs totally off-grid.

images courtesy of wade shepard

china intends to become not simply a low-cost manufacturing base, but a source of innovation, a green-technology leader. the problem with the wind and solar industry is that china didn’t have a strong domestic market while the manufacturing capacity of the chinese industry was overwhelming. ten years ago, foreign firms owned 80% of china’s wind-turbine market, according to energy consulting firm IHS cambridge energy research associates. today, chinese companies own three-quarters of the country’s market, thanks to companies which make turbines a third cheaper than american and european competitors. and china’s vast market and economies of scale are continuing to bring down the cost of solar and wind energy, the so-called ‘china price’ (the combination of cheap labor and capital that rewrote the rulebook on manufacturing) is spreading to green technology.

china’s government is backing the trend: under the current 5 year plan, where environmental protection industries will receive funding from the government in an effort to stimulate technological innovation, the environmental protection sector will grow by 15% on average annually, reaching an output of 4.5 trillion yuan. the new plan should prioritize the development of a domestic market.